Results

In a case where Plaintiff alleged to have fallen on broken and defective front steps, Attorney Jeffrey Tenthoff, successfully argued that his client satisfied any duty owed to Plaintiff as a licensee when he was traversing the shared steps.  The steps in question were shared front steps between two row homes.  The concrete steps began crumbling following a severe snow storm in January, 2014, with the majority of the crumbled portion being present on Mr. Tenthoff’s client’s portion of the stairs.  Plaintiff alleged fell two months later in March, 2014.  Mr. Tenthoff argued that by immediately contacting a contractor, having the stairs repaired at the first opportunity (due to cold weather the stairs could not be repaired immediately) and placing homemade signs in her windows, Mr. Tenthoff’s client satisfied any duty owed to the Plaintiff.  Moreover, Mr. Tenthoff argued that Plaintiff was or should have been aware of the condition of the stairs as they were open and obvious and he had been to the property on a handful of occasions prior to his fall.  The arbitration panel found in favor of both Defendants and against Plaintiff.