$1.9 Million - Luis R

Fall in Driveway Catch Basin

A 53-year-old car service driver, got out of his car to retrieve money dropped by another driver in the drive-thru lane of a Burger King.  As he stepped out of his vehicle, he fell through a broken sewer grate into a 4-foot-deep opening.  He was treated for back, wrist and hip injuries. Approximately 5 weeks later when he had trouble breathing, he presented to the hospital with a massive lung infection and a collapsed lung.  By that time, he had lost 50% of his lung capacity, which we claimed was a result of the fall.  The Defendants contended that the fall had nothing to do with the lung condition. At the trial, we showed with the use of medical experts in pulmonology that Luis R’s lungs were injured, and the infection was caused by the trauma he sustained to his chest in the fall into the driveway catch basin, and the jury unanimously agreed.