Morrison Mahoney Partner John Knight and Associate Brian Morrissey received a defense verdict in the Barnstable Superior Court after a 3-day trial.
The plaintiff sustained a broken ankle as a result of slipping and falling on some wood flooring which the defendant had placed in a pile in his yard. The plaintiff was a tenant of the defendant, and she claimed that he was negligent in placing flooring material in his yard under circumstances where it was foreseeable that one of his tenants could fall upon the flooring and sustain injury. The plaintiff incurred $35,000.00 in medical bills and alleged $30,000.00 in lost earning capacity, and her attorney suggested to the jury that an appropriate verdict would be $210,000.00. After just 45 minutes of deliberation, the jury returned a defense verdict, finding that the defendant was not negligent.
