Michael Balducci and Jennifer Levine Feld, of the West Palm Beach office, received an extremely favorable jury verdict in Palm Beach County on a premises liability case where the plaintiff tripped over a camouflaged rusted, metal stake in a landscaped median that should have been removed by the defendant years before. Nonetheless, they were able to pin 35 percent comparative fault on the plaintiff by showing she was inattentive while traversing the area. As to damages, the plaintiff had serious shoulder and ankle surgeries along with a cervical fusion, with close to $300,000 in medical bills. The case was complicated by the fact that the plaintiff had a severely developmentally disabled child. Plaintiff sought additional damages for the remainder of her life expectancy in order to care for the child since her accident-related physical limitations allegedly prevented her from doing so. Between the two parties, ten experts testified at trial. The jury adopted Mike and Jen’s no causation defense based on some prior complaints, delays in treatment and other causation issues, and only awarded $50,000, which was reduced to $32,500 with the comparative fault. A very hefty proposal of settlement had been offered of $850,000 which was triggered, so the final judgment will be in the defendant’s favor for around six figures.