Premises Liability
The Firm has a large practice defending retail and other businesses in cases involving slip/trip/fall, drowning, and other dangerous conditions, negligent security and certain personal injury claims including defamation, false arrest, sexual molestation and other miscellaneous claims against the owners of real estate and the businesses they operate.
Recent Cases
- In a week-long trial in Florence County, Ron Diegel defended a homeowner in a premises liability case where a workman claimed that the homeowner had created a dangerous condition by leaving a sprinkler system on which wet the workman’s ladder and caused him to fall sustaining serious injuries to his back and neck. Total damages claimed were $650,000.00. The jury returned a defense verdict.
- In a case filed in Georgetown County, South Carolina, Ron Diegel and Ray Moore defended a restaurant against a claim that a dangerous step caused a patron to fall and injure his back, necessitating surgery. After considerable deposition testimony and expert discovery, the Court granted summary judgment to the restaurant finding that the step was not a dangerous condition, and even if it was, the step was not the proximate cause of the patron’s fall.
- Adam Neil obtained a directed verdict in Lexington County in favor of a national chain hair salon in a case in which the plaintiff claimed that a cut on his neck, which was received during the haircut, ultimately became infected and lead to a case of reactive arthritis. The plaintiff made no complaint to the salon at the time of his haircut. Additionally, the plaintiff had no medical evidence to establish either that the alleged cut became infected or that the infection ultimately lead to the reactive arthritis diagnosis. The Court found that the plaintiff failed to establish the causation element of the claim and granted directed verdict in favor of the defendant. Robinson v. The Hair Cuttery
- Adam Neil obtained a defense verdict in a premises liability action against a local automobile dealership. The case, which was pending in Richland County, involved a plaintiff who claimed to have fallen on icy steps leading to the dealership's office building. The employees of the dealership testified that they had been up and down those same steps several times prior to the fall without observing any ice. The jury returned a defense verdict in less than thirty minutes.
- Brent Boyd obtained a defense verdict in a negligence case in Aiken County when the jury found that the plaintiff's negligence exceeded the negligence of the defendant. The plaintiff had sustained a wrist fracture and, according to medical testimony, an approximate 30% permanent impairment. In closing arguments, the plaintiff's attorney requested in excess of $200,000.
- In a case in Horry County South Carolina, Ron Diegel defended a restaurant against a claim by a plaintiff who asserted that faulty drainage and a clogged air conditioning drain line led to the accumulation of water and slippery algae in a handicapped parking space located near the doors of the restaurant. When the plaintiff arrived at the restaurant he attempted to get out in the handicapped parking spot and was on crutches from a prior unrelated injury. The plaintiff fell and claimed that he slipped in the algae that had accumulated in the parking space. The plaintiff sustained a severe ankle injury which would necessitate future surgical fusion of his ankle, and damages alleged by the plaintiff approached one million dollars. After a four-day trial, the jury returned a defense verdict after Ron established through witness testimony that the accident could not have happened the way the plaintiff said that it did.
- Ron Diegel represented a retailer in a claim by a worker whose foot was run over and crushed by a forklift operator. After conducting discovery and taking depositions of the necessary witnesses, Ron moved for summary judgment on the grounds that the worker, though not an employee of Wal-Mart, was a statutory employee under SC Code of Laws Ann. 42-1-400 and was barred from pursuing the lawsuit since workers compensation was his exclusive remedy. The trial court agreed, granted summary judgment to Wal-Mart and this result was upheld by the South Carolina Court of Appeals in a reported decision, Hancock v. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., 355 S.C. 168, 584 S.E.2d 398 (Ct. App.2003, cert. denied 2004).
- In a trial in United States District Court, Ray Moore was able to obtain a defense verdict on behalf of his client who had been sued arising out of a fire that occurred at a gasoline/fueling station. The case was initially brought in state court, but after removal and several favorable rulings on Motions in Limine, including a ruling precluding proffered res gestae testimony that his client was on notice of the dangerous condition that caused the fire, the jury deliberated approximately ten minutes before delivering its unanimous defense verdict.
- In a trial held in Berkeley County, Anthony Livoti represented a used-car lot against a plaintiff who claimed he was injured on the property. The plaintiff was a deliveryman making a delivery to the used car lot when he claimed that he twisted his ankle in a hole on the property. The plaintiff ultimately required three surgeries to his foot and missed substantial time from work. Anthony argued that there was no evidence that the used car lot created the hole nor had notice of the existence of the hole on the property prior to plaintiff’s injury. After the plaintiff presented his case, the trial court granted the defendant’s motion for a directed verdict.