Partner Roy Garcia settled a case involving an injury from a fall from a defective porch in the City of Chicago. Our client was helping a friend move out of her third floor apartment. While throwing several empty boxes off the balcony, the hand rail gave way, causing our client to fall nearly 30 feet to the ground below. He suffered broken bones in his ankle, leg, arm and back, several of which required surgery to repair. Despite the seriousness of his injuries, he made a very good recovery.
McCreadyLaw investigated the property after his fall. We determined that an out of state investment company had purchased the property as a foreclosure sale. The actual owners had never been to the property. Instead they hired a “management company” to run the property and collect the rent. The property manager would come by once per month to pick up the rent, and that was it. While we were unable to introduce evidence of other violations, it was clear these were absentee slum landlords.
Rather than admitting their porch was defective and compensating our client, they claimed that their property manager would inspect the entire property every month and they were unaware of any defects with the porch. We hired an expert in porch construction who opined that the porch was poorly constructed, not maintained, and a clear hazard to anyone who put weight against it.
After many hard fought depositions, and right before trial, we were able reach a fair settlement with the insurance company which adequately compensates our client for the injuries he sustained. Landlords owe a duty to maintain their property in particular and their porches specifically in such a manner as to protect those lawfully on the premises. In this case, they breached that duty resulting in life changing injuries for a young man. We were proud to be able to give something back to our client for all he went through.
