Verdicts by Attorney: Janowitz, Allison Ilene
On June 25, 2025, Senior Partner Allison Janowitz obtained an order granting Defendant’s Motion for Final Summary Judgment in the premises liability case styled Plaintiff v. Defendant Mall. Plaintiff filed suit against Defendant, alleging liability for a slip and fall inside the Mall. Plaintiff alleged that she slipped on a pink liquid on the floor while walking through the Mall's common area. Plaintiff could only testify to one streak mark through the liquid, which she stated was from her sandal. Video of the incident was retained, and the Court found it showed numerous individuals walking through the exact area where Plaintiff fell. Ultimately, Plaintiff complained of pain in her right hip, left knee, and right hand. She was diagnosed with a closed fracture of the distal end of the right radius. Medical specials were estimated at $6,000.00.
Fort Lauderdale Senior Partner Allison Janowitz obtained a Motion for Summary Judgment against the Plaintiff in Plaintiff C v. Retail Store and Defendant Mall. Plaintiff alleged that while she was shopping within Retail Store, she was struck by stock cart being pushed by a Retail Store employee who was pushing a stocking cart. Plaintiff tried to argued that Defendant Mall exercised custody and control over the area where Plaintiff was struck, despite the incident occurring within the Retail Store. The Court disagreed with Plaintiff, and under the lease agreement with Retail Store, granted the Motion for Summary Judgment on behalf of Defendant Mall.
On the same case, Senior Partner Allison Janowitz obtained a Partial Summary Judgment against Co-Defendant and Cross-Claim Defendant Retail Store under the lease agreement. The lease agreement between the two entities provides that Retail Store is to provide indemnity and defense to the Mall for incidents that occurred within their space. The Court agreed, granting the Motion for Partial Summary Judgment and ruling that the store had an obligation to indemnify and defend the Mall. This resulted in repayment of all fees and costs accrued by the Mall for the entirety of the case.
On December 3, 2024, Allison Janowitz, Senior Partner, obtained a final judgment in a premises liability case. Plaintiff was leaving a grocery store, when she failed to appreciate the existence of a curb over her highly packed grocery cart. As a result, the Plaintiff flipped over her cart landing onto the asphalt, causing claimed injuries to her neck and spine, as well as claims to pain in her shoulder. She ultimately underwent several radiofrequency ablations and various other treatments, with claimed medical specials of over $300,000.00.
Defendant filed a Motion for Summary Judgment on the grounds that a curb is an open and obvious condition that is inherently non-dangerous, based on the argument that curbs are everywhere, and not hidden dangerous. Further, the Plaintiff’s testimony was that the groceries were piled so high that she could not see over her purchases and did not appreciate that the curb was there. Plaintiff filed an affidavit from an expert indicating that the curb violated a multitude of building codes, and was a dangerous condition. However, based on the agreements between the Defendants, the Court found that the property owner had no custody or control over the subject area. Further, the Court found that the curb is not an open and obvious condition, and was not inherently dangerous, granting Final Judgment in favor of the property owner.
Favorable Verdict – Injury Law Firm - $113K Net Verdict - $300,000 Demand – Plaintiff Found 51% Negligent
On November 7, 2024, Founding Partner, Jack Luks and Senior Partner, Allison Janowitz obtained a favorable verdict in matter styled Plaintiff v. Defendant Retail Mall. Plaintiff alleged she tripped and fell in the mall’s parking lot over a dangerous condition that was caused by the mall’s negligent maintenance and failed to warn the Plaintiff of the hazardous condition about which Defendant knew or should have known.
Plaintiff alleged that on July 10, 2022, while she was an invitee on Defendant’s premises, she was crossing a parking lot when she fell on a raised piece of concrete near the curb of a landscape median. Plaintiff demonstrated through the use of Google Earth that the defect had existed for over three years and the Mall had failed to maintain or repair it.
During trial, the Defense presented evidence that the Plaintiff told three different healthcare providers that she fell due to tripping over her flip flops with no mention of broken or raised concrete. She further changed her testimony as to which defect in the parking lot caused her to fall. Plaintiff introduced a liability expert who testified that the area was in violation of multiple codes and standards.
Medical treatment was not contested. Plaintiff, upon landing on the asphalt, fractured her patella and underwent a surgery and extensive therapy for one year. Plaintiff alleges that as a result of the fracture and surgery she was unable to walk up stairs easily, work out or go for walks with her friends, walk on the beach, lift weights, run, jog, dance, or bowl. She has difficulty bending, standing for long periods of time and bathing. She had to add a chair in her shower and modify her toilet. Her pain was reported to be constant and she rated it as an 8/10.
Liability and comparative negligence were contested until the very end. Plaintiff requested $50,000 every year for the next 30 years of her life. Defendant admitted the hard cost of the medicals and miscellaneous damages, while arguing significant comparative negligence on the part of the Plaintiff. In addition to the undisputed medicals of $49,00, the jury awarded Plaintiff $182,000 in pain and suffering both in the past and in the future but found the Plaintiff 51% negligent resulting in a net verdict of $113,000.
Plaintiff asserted that the Defendant – our client – Mall negligently maintained its parking lot area and, as a result, was the direct cause of the incident. In arguments, Plaintiff attempted to establish liability based on failure to have additional crosswalks, stops signs and other safety traffic control devices in its parking lot. Nonetheless, in depositions, it was established that the Co-Defendant driver, was at a complete stop prior to making the left turn and was also familiar with the parking lot layout as he had been visiting the Mall since 1987. This key testimony aided in dismantling Plaintiff’s theory that the Mall was negligent in its design of its parking lot, which was the cause of the accident and injuries alleged. The Mall argued that the inclusion of most of the traffic control devices recommended by the Plaintiff’s liability experts would not have altered the outcome of the accident.
Further, Defense expert, Roland Lamb, testified that based on his expertise and experience, the parking lot design was reasonable. Despite naming the driver as a Co-Defendant, Plaintiff's counsel continued to argue that the driver should not bear any responsibility for the accident and solely focused Plaintiff's case on the Mall as the responsible party. Trial partners Jack D. Luks, and Allison I. Janowitz highlighted this fact coupled with their position that the Mall was not negligent in its parking lot design and/or it was not a legal cause of the accident.
Following closing arguments, the jury deliberated for two hours and returned a complete Defense verdict establishing that Defendant Mall and Co-Defendant driver were not the legal cause of loss or damage.
Fort Lauderdale Senior Partner Allison Janowitz, Esq., and Appellate Partner Daniel Weinger, Esq., obtained a summary judgment in a premises liability matter styled Escriche, Vilma v. SDG Dadeland Associates, Inc. and Tip Top Enterprises, Inc. Plaintiff arrived atDadeland Mall for the purposes of going to work. She parked next to a median and stepped out of her car. Instead of walking around the median, the Plaintiff crossed the median, tripping on a rope used to hold up the tree. The fall resulted in a right olecranon fracture and a radial head fracture, as well as severe ulnar neuropathy of the right elbow. She underwent two surgeries as a result of the fall, including surgery on her ulnar nerve. The total medical bills were an estimated $151,000 future medicals of approximately $250,000, and a lost wage claim of $900,000.
Broward County Circuit Court Judge granted the Defendant’s Motion for Summary Judgment on the grounds that the condition was open and obvious and landscaping features, such as this case, are found not to be dangerous conditions. Read More.
On December 10, 2020, Founding Partner Jack Luks, Esq., and Junior Partner Allison Janowitz, Esq., prevailed on a Motion to Strike Plaintiff’s Pleadings based on Fraud on the Court in Gandy, Anthony v. Florida Mall. This case arose out of a trip and fall in the parking lot of Florida Mall on December 23, 2017. Plaintiff asserted that Florida Mall failed to maintain the parking lot in a reasonably safe condition, resulting in Plaintiff’s injuries to his right shoulder, right knee, and lumbar spine. Plaintiff claimed medical damages of about $100,000 as a result of the fall. Throughout the investigation of the claim, the Defense found multiple surgeries on Plaintiff’s right knee that were not disclosed during deposition or discovery. Further, Plaintiff failed to disclose two subsequent incidents where he was admitted to the hospital complaining of pain in his right shoulder.
The Court found that the Plaintiff’s misrepresentations regarding the extent of his injuries, the limitations that had previously been attributed to other injuries, as well as failing to disclose the surgeries and post-accident falls, were intentional and that the misrepresentations were a scheme to mislead the Court. Accordingly, the Court granted the Motion for Dismissal based upon Fraud on the Court. Read more
On August 29, 2018, Fort Lauderdale, Senior Associate Allison Janowitz, Esq. prevailed on a Motion for Summary Judgment in a trip and fall matter styled Lisa Ruggiero v. Simon Property Group, Inc. This matter involved an alleged trip and fall at Boca Town Center, where Plaintiff alleged that as a result of tripping over roots she sustained an evulsion fracture requiring an open reduction ankle surgery. The Motion for Summary Judgment was based on the fact that Plaintiff cut through bushes in front of the Mall, and tripped over a tree root which was found among the bushes. Read More.
Fort Lauderdale Senior Associate Allison Janowitz, Esq. prevailed on a Motion for Summary Judgment and Motion for Sanctions for Fraud on the Court in a trip and fall matter styled Liliana Yanez v. Defendant Mall. This matter involved an alleged Trip and Fall at Boynton Beach Mall. Plaintiff alleged that she sustained extensive dental damage as a result of the fall. The Motion for Summary Judgment was based on the fact that the wrong entity was named in the Complaint. Read More
Founding Partner Jack Luks and Associate Allison Janowitz received a $4,500 net verdict on a slip and fall matter styled Michelle Santovito v. Defendant Store on October 21, 2016. Defense served a Proposal For Settlement and has filed a Motion for Entitlement of Attorneys’ Fees and Court Costs. Plaintiff Santovito, was walking in Defendant Store when she stepped in a liquid substance, and slipped and fell several steps later. Read More
Managing Partner Dan Santaniello and Fort Lauderdale Partner Allison Janowitz received a defense verdict on June 16, 2016 in the slip and fall matter styled De Jesus, Luciano v. Defendant Retail Store when jury found no negligence on behalf of the Defendant. Plaintiff alleges that he was walking through the lighting area of the store, when he slipped and fell, landing in the dark liquid on the floor. Read More