Shared Parking Lot Raises Liability Questions in Slip & Fall Accident - Summary Judgment for the Defense

January 1, 2004

Richard D. Newman successfully defended a premises liability case wherein plaintiff filed a complaint against an outdoor shopping center for failure to maintain the parking lot.

Plaintiff stepped and fell into a pothole in the parking lot of a shopping center in Mission Viejo. The fall resulted in a fractured leg that required surgery. Plaintiff sued each building owner, totaling more than 40, within the shopping center alleging that under the master lease, each owner had an easement which covered the common area parking lot.

The defense filed for a motion for summary judgment based on the declaration that the defense's easement did not encompass the area in the parking lot where the accident took place. The defense also argued that even if there was a parking easement, it did not alone impose a duty to maintain. Although plaintiff opposed the motion for summary judgment, the court granted the defense's motion.