Separate calls to the MBA's Lawyer Referral Service helped two women gain substantial settlements for injuries they received after slipping and falling at two major businesses.
The calls were among thousands that come into LRS each year.
Boston attorney Jeffrey S. Ahearn received a call from a Boston woman who seriously injured her back after slipping and falling at a North Shore grocery store.
The woman was shopping late at night just after cleaning crews had come through the produce section to mop the floors. The store or cleaning crew did not put up any signs warning customers of the slippery conditions and the woman slipped on a puddle, Ahearn said.
"There had been a cleaning crew with an industrial cleaner in there and they didn't put up any signs," Ahearn said. "(My client) was not aware they were in there. She slipped in the puddle and an ambulance came and took her."
The woman injured her back and she subsequently needed physical therapy and medication to ease her pain. She sued the grocery store and the case settled for approximately $32,500, Ahearn said.
Another woman who called LRS looking for an attorney to help her after she was injured in a slip-and-fall accident also recently received a substantial settlement to compensate her for her injuries.
The woman who called LRS was put in touch with Lynn attorney Robert E. Mazow of Mazow/McCullough.
The woman was injured at a hotel north of Boston where her husband worked. The woman, who was dropping her husband off at work, was walking back to her car parked in a parking lot and she slipped and fell on ice. The woman broke her arm and also was taken to the hospital by ambulance, Mazow said.
"We were going to be able to prove it had stopped snowing much earlier in the day," Mazow said. "They had plowed and done a lousy job plowing and she slipped on the ice."
The case settled quickly, after a couple of months, before depositions were taken because the client wanted to settle the case, Mazow said.
"The client was pleased and I was pleased," Mazow said.
The LRS Case in Point will be a regular feature in Lawyers Journal. The feature highlights cases that pertain to interesting legal issues or large fee generating cases that were referred to attorneys through the MBA's Lawyers Referral Service.
LRS makes more than 25,000 referrals each year to its 1,200 attorneys across the state. If you are interested in becoming a member of LRS in order to obtain referrals please call the Lawyer Referral Service at (617) 338-0556.