Our client, who recently retired, was going to check into a hotel. He was directed to park in a particular area of the parking lot, which was behind a parking arm. The valet attendant opened the parking arm for our client, who parked and began to walk back towards the front entrance. As he was underneath the parking arm, it came down, hitting him in his head. He had a bad cut and we claimed a traumatic brain injury.
We sued the hotel and the valet company. We hired an expert to offer opinions on the parking arm, including that it would have required the valet attendant (who was also a hotel employee) to push a button on a remote to open and close it. The issues of liability and damages were extensively defended. They wanted to blame our client for walking in the path he did and not being more careful. However, based on how we worked up the case, both defendants eventually settled for a total of $1.75 Million.
