$321,905 Settlement

Our client left her apartment and was headed towards the stairs leading to the outside door when she slipped on a puddle of water causing her to fall down the stairs. The 17-year-old instinctively went to grab onto the staircase handrail, but it was not there. As a result of the fall, our client suffered a fractured ankle.

The building owner argued that a handrail was in place at the time that she fell. There were no photographs documenting the “missing” handrail. This became the typical “he said/she said.” Utilizing digital photographs that were demanded by Finz & Finz, P.C.,  of the defendant, a photographic enlargement showed an additional screw hole near the handrail bracket of the handrail that the landlord claimed had always been in place. With this piece of evidence, Finz & Finz, P.C., argued that there in fact was a prior handrail that had been removed from the stairway, and it was during that period of time that our client fell. Armed with that evidence, the defendant, who originally took a no-pay position, was forced into settlement discussions. When the case could not be settled, it was prepared for trial. Just prior to jury selection in Nassau County, Finz & Finz, P.C., attorneys were able to obtain a favorable settlement in the sum of $321,905 from the landlord.