$600,000.00 Jury Verdict

In August of 2017, Mark Cantor of Cantor Injury Law obtained a $600,000.00 jury verdict in favor of their client in Morgan County, Missouri. Our client, Diana Buchanan, slipped and fell when coming out of a bathroom of a Versailles gas station after the employees mopped the floor while Ms. Buchanan was in the bathroom. During the investigation of the case, our attorneys discovered that the gas station employees did not follow their own policies and procedures when mopping the floor, creating a dangerous condition for Ms. Buchanan. The employees contended throughout the whole case that they did nothing wrong.

The entire defense to the case was that Ms. Buchanan walked within a few feet of a caution wet floor sign as she entered the store, and the defense repeatedly played a video to prove that fact. Plaintiff admitted that she must have seen the sign, but the sign meant nothing because the floors were “bone dry” as she walked to the bathroom from the entrance of the store. Due to the fall, Ms. Buchanan required a left knee replacement and underwent further surgery on her left ankle.

Our firm performed an electronic mock jury focus group to assist with the valuation of the case. The vast majority of the people in that focus group found that the employees of the gas station didn’t follow their own policies and procedures and were liable for Ms. Buchanan’s injuries. Due, in part, to the results of the mock jury, the firm turned down a significant offer of $175,000 prior to trial. After conducting a three-day jury trial, the jury found the defendant 70% at fault for Ms. Buchanan’s slip and fall, and awarded her damages in the amount $600,000, After the allocation of fault, Ms. Buchanan received a total of $420,000.

Click here to read the Missouri Lawyers Weekly article about this case.