Results

Facing a 39-year-old plaintiff claiming permanent disabilities and seeking nearly $600,000 in lost future earnings, Lori Miller once again won over a Philadelphia jury to obtain defense verdict. The plaintiff was taking a smoke break in a fire exit alcove outside of a Philadelphia hospital building when a hospital employee opened the fire door into the plaintiff. The heavy steel door slammed into the back of plaintiff’s head, causing severe head, shoulder, neck, and back injuries. The plaintiff was diagnosed with cervical and lumbar radiculopathy, fibromyalgia, multiple disc bulges, and chronic myofascial pain. In the three years since the accident, the plaintiff underwent three cervical epidural injections, three thoracic epidural injections, one thoracic trigger point injection, three lumbar medial branch injections, three lumbar epidural injections and a rhizotomy. In addition to a $591,000 future wage loss claim, the plaintiff also had $181,000 in medical and wage loss liens. Yet despite plaintiff’s significant injuries and assertions that the hospital should have placed warning signs on the exit door, Ms. Miller successfully argued that the hospital had no duty to warn or protect pedestrians from their own carelessness. Ms. Miller also proved that the hospital door was not defective or dangerous, and that the hospital did not violate any laws, ordinances or codes in its design of the door.