Salvi Law obtains $800,000 settlement for natural accumulation of ice in DuPage County

Settlement reached three days before jury trial was set to begin

CHICAGO (July 16, 2019) – Salvi, Schostok & Pritchard attorneys Patrick A. Salvi II and Heidi Wickstrom obtained an $800,000 settlement on behalf of a doctor who was seriously injured when she fell on an icy sidewalk at a medical office building in Elburn, Illinois.  The property owner contracted with defendant Sebert Landscaping to provide snow and ice removal services at the property. West Bend Insurance paid the settlement on behalf of Sebert Landscaping.

On January 26, 2015, Dr. Nicole Moses was leaving the medical building where she worked, located at 905 N. 1st Street in Elburn, Illinois, when she slipped and fell on an icy sidewalk adjacent to the building. As a result of the fall, Dr. Moses suffered a serious fracture to her leg that required six surgeries and caused her to miss more than a year of work. To this day, she continues to suffer from arthritis and severe pain and is not able to perform many of the athletic activities she enjoyed prior to her fall.

Dr. Moses’s attorneys argued Sebert Landscaping had a duty under their contract with the property owner to pretreat all sidewalks in anticipation of and during the beginning of a winter weather event.  The winter weather event began in the late morning hours of January 26, 2015, and Dr. Moses fell on the icy sidewalk at approximately 5:15 p.m.  Sebert Landscaping had an employee at the property at 6:00 a.m. to treat the parking lots but did nothing to pretreat the sidewalks.  Employees only came to the property after the plaintiff fell to apply de-icer to the sidewalks, despite having hours to address the falling precipitation that day.

“We are happy to get Dr. Moses the compensation that she deserves. The settlement amount should allow Dr. Moses to pay for past and future medical bills and to replace lost income. This was a very serious injury from which it has taken Dr. Moses a long time to recover. She continues to struggle with her pain to this day,” said an SSP attorney, one of Dr. Moses’ attorneys.

“A dangerous condition was not remedied when it should have been. This isn’t about a winter weather event coming through unexpectedly, Sebert Landscaping and their employees knew about the looming threat of a winter weather event and failed to treat the sidewalks,” attorney Patrick A. Salvi II said.

Defense counsel argued Sebert’s actions prior to Dr. Moses’s fall was sufficient under the terms of their contract.

On Friday, July 12, 2019, three days before a jury trial was set to begin in DuPage County court, the parties agreed to an $800,000 settlement. The settlement is believed to be the highest settlement for a fall on ice in DuPage County

For more information, please contact Marcie Mangan at (312) 372-1227 or mmangan@salvilaw.com.

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