Metro Detroit Law Firm Secures Six Figure Settlement on Behalf of Injured Client

Oct. 2, 2012 - PRLog -- In the fall of 2010, a 28-year-old woman slipped and fell in the store of a major national retailer. The accident occurred in one of the retailer’s local stores in Michigan, but more detailed information regarding the defendant cannot be disclosed due to a confidential settlement agreement. When this client came to the Law Offices of Freedman & Freedman, she was facing a very difficult legal situation. Premises liability law in Michigan is not only complex, but current laws often make it extremely difficult for victims of negligence to recover the compensation they deserve.

Premises liability law can be defined as a set of laws which govern the responsibility of property owners towards those on their premises. In a dwindling number of states, these laws may favor an individual injured on the property.  However, in the vast majority of states, including Michigan, the laws overwhelmingly favor property owners rather than innocent victims.  In order to prove negligence in a premises liability case, it first must be established if the victim was an invitee, a licensee, or a trespasser. This designation is important as it defines the duties a property owner owes that person by law.  An invitee, for example, is someone who is on property for business or commercial reasons and is owed the highest duty by a property owner.  In the case of the female client injured at the national retailer, she was considered to be an invitee.  Therefore, by law, if it can be proven that the property owner knew, or should have known, that there was a hazard on their property that placed invitees at unreasonable risk, they could be found negligent.  The defenses available to a property owner in Michigan, however, are numerous and successful arguments are often made that a particular hazard was “open and obvious” to a reasonable person or that the property owner did not have notice of the hazard.

Due to her fall in this case, the client suffered from complex cartilage and ligament tears in her left wrist. The joint in the wrist is made up of eight bones and when the cartilage or ligaments within the wrist are injured, it can often lead to problems with the bones as well. In this case, the tears affected her ulna, also known as the elbow bone - one of the two long bones which make up the forearm. Due to the injury to her wrist, the ulna bone ultimately became unstable. Surgery was performed to shorten her ulna as well as insert a compression device with screws. This device, unfortunately, caused the client chronic pain and another surgery was necessary in order to remove it.  In fact, not only was her left wrist injured, but a previous injury to her right wrist was severely aggravated by the fall and the client had to have surgery on her right wrist in order to attempt to fix the damage.

When the team at the Law Offices of Freedman & Freedman became involved in the case, it looked hopeless.  Due to their tireless and dedicated representation, however, they were able to secure this injured victim a six figure settlement. The team is happy and proud to have been able to be a part of securing justice for this deserving young woman. You can learn more about their firm by visiting their website at http://www.freedmanattorneys.com.