Premise Liability lawyer Joseph Sullivan recently obtained a $350,000 settlement just prior to trial from the City of New York for a 14 year old boy who fell from the monkey bars in the Lindower Park in Brooklyn, New York. The boy fell from the monkey bars onto a surface that was supposed to be cushioned. However, the surface under the monkey bars was deteriorated and the rubber material on top was missing. The boy landed on his elbow and sustained a fractured humerus, which had to be repaired with surgery. Fortunately, the boy made a complete recovery from his injuries.

We attribute our success in the case to an aggressive discovery strategy. While the City of New York initially took the position that it was unaware of any problems with the defective surface area under the play structure, depositions of numerous City witnesses and multiple requests for court sanctions ultimately uncovered inspection reports and photographs showing that the City was aware of the condition of the area for at least four months before the accident. The City also took the position that the child would have broken his arm regardless of the condition of the ground. To refute this argument, an expert was retained to conduct testing on the actual site of the accident. The testing revealed that the surface did not comply with government regulations and industry standards and that had the surface been properly maintained, our client would not have been seriously injured.

 In 2015, it was reported by the New York Daily News to be one of the highest recoveries in a playground accident case in the previous 10 years.