11.09.10
Recently I had an interesting case. My client fell off a ladder suffering a serious head injury. The case eventually settled for the defendant’s insurance limits for $300,000.00. Several issues arose in this case. The defendant and his insurance company claimed that plaintiff lost his balance and fell off the ladder. Many people believe that strict liability applies to homeowners. This is not true.
If a plaintiff is to prevail, he or she must show negligence on the homeowner. In this case, the plaintiff believed that the defendant bumped the ladder causing him to fall. One major issue is that the plaintiff has the burden of proof when proving his case. No one else was present during the accident. Therefore, it comes down to the credibility of the witnesses. Fortunately, the plaintiff, in my opinion, was a good witness. As a result, the case did eventually settle in plaintiff’s favor.
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