$525,000 Settlement for Pedestrian Knockdown

John Molinari represented a 50-year-old woman who parked her car in a garage and was walking to a train station on her way to work. She walked in the area where a crosswalk would have been painted if present. She was struck by the defendant driver in the garage. The defendant driver contended that the plaintiff walked into the side of his car. The plaintiff further maintained that the defendant failed to make proper observations and that the lighting in the garage was insufficient. The plaintiff, who would not have produced expert testimony on the issue, would have pointed to the findings of the investigating police officer, whose report reflected that the lighting in the garage was inadequate.

The garage maintained that the area was sufficiently well lit, and that the causes of the accident were the negligent failures of the defendant and plaintiff. Our client suffered a cervical herniation and required a spine fusion surgery; will permanently suffer some pain, restriction, and the surgical scar is very noticeable. The plaintiff also sustained a lumbarspine herniation that required surgery as well, and, she will permanently suffer pain and some difficulties ambulating from that injury. Our client, who missed approximately six months from work, was paid for her lost time, and the plaintiff therefore made no loss of income claims. The case settled prior to trial for $525,000, including $500,000 from the defendant driver and $25,000 from the parking garage.