Premises Liability

• We represented a private Washington college in a claim brought by a contractor injured during property repairs. The plaintiff was an employee of a ranch manager retained to perform repairs to a grain auger on farm property that had been bequeathed to the college. The plaintiff fell into the auger causing severe leg injuries resulting in amputation. The court granted our motion for summary judgment, concluding that the ranch manager was an independent contractor and that a private landowner is not liable for injuries sustained by that contractor's employees. The plaintiff filed an expedited appeal directly with the Washington Supreme Court, requesting that court to resist stare decisis and vacate the line of case law based on the doctrine of “changed circumstances.” The case settled favorably following the exchange of appellate briefs.
• We defended a hotel corporation in a claim brought by a hotel guest injured in a fall. The plaintiff was a self-employed inventor who had fabricated an anti-lock device which enables tow-truck operators to quickly free and open automobile doors. Plaintiff had fallen from a chair in his hotel suite and struck his head on the metal and concrete base of a sliding door leading to a balcony. He allegedly sustained head injuries, including a pooling of blood and fluid in the brain cavity requiring neurosurgical intervention. The case involved whether the plaintiff had prior memory and cognition issues, whether the cranial pooling was a pre-existing, congenital condition not caused by the trauma, and whether the plaintiff’s lost income and opportunity claims had merit. After substantial pre-trial discovery, this matter was resolved on terms favorable to our client.
• We represented a pulp and paper manufacturer in Washington relating to "take home" toxic exposure. Plaintiff was the female spouse of a former employee who alleged that she contracted mesothelioma (cancer of the pleural lining of the lung) as a result of asbestos exposure from having hand-washed her husband’s work-clothing. This case focused primarily on medical causation and involved substantial briefing regarding the nature and extent of a landowner's "duty" to warn non-employees. On the issue of duty of care, the court granted the client’s motion for summary judgment, and this case is on appeal in the Washington appellate courts.
• We represented a high school senior and accomplished pianist whose hand was obliterated as a result of an explosion during a stage rehearsal of “The Screwtape Letters." We examined the chemical ingredients of the "special effects" powder at issue, the fire code and the school’s policy manuals pertaining to supervision of students. We established that the school had made the chemicals available during a chemistry class. Following the plaintiff's deposition, the parties agreed to mediate. We created a film which depicted the events leading to the explosion and a portrayal of the plaintiff, including footage obtained from a post-accident recital during which the client demonstrated his limited ability to play piano with one hand. The case settled in mediation.
• We represented an elderly woman who tripped on a stair step during her stay at a hotel and fractured her ankle. The case involved whether the stair met the applicable building code, and whether plaintiff was comparatively at fault. The case did not settle in mediation and proceeded to trial. We filed a Daubert motion to exclude defendant's bio-engineer from opining that our client should have observed the irregular stair and thereby avoided the fall. The court granted our motion, concluding that the expert’s opinion was lacking in scientific principles. The jury returned a substantial verdict in the client’s favor.