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The ELA has a simple purpose:
To promote Encino as a center of excellence in legal services.
To provide local and low-cost educational opportunities (MCLE) for the local legal community. To facilitate quality cross-referral opportunities along the Ventura Boulevard corridor in the San Fernando Valley.



 


   
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March 14th
MCLE

Entertainment Law: Issues and Ethics
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THANK YOU to member, Vivian Yochelson for the beverages at our February board meeting.

THANK YOU to our Holiday Mixer sponsors. Bill Daniels and Marshal Oldman.

Our mixer was a fun filled evening with members and guests enjoying lively conversation and delicious food and refreshments. By the end of the evening our table was overflowing with the toys our members brought to donate so underserved children in our community could also enjoy the holiday season.

Click here to see photos of our fun event.

Message from the President, Bill Daniels:
At the October MCLE group we kicked around a potential trip and fall case that some members were considering. One potential issue that popped up was the trivial defect. Board member Marc Sallus handed me a case that you might take a look at if you'd like some more insight into trivial defect.







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Nationwide Court Reporters
www.Depo.com

 
Yochelson & Assoc.
Personal Injury
www.YochelsonLaw.com

In Cadam v. Somerset Gardens Townhouse HOA, 2011 WL 5110249, plaintiff appealed after the trial court took away a $1.3 million jury verdict by JNOV. The trial court ruled that "[n]o reasonable person could find this was not a trivial defect looking at the photographs, . . . the height, [and] the surrounding circumstances." The Court of Appeal affirmed. 

In our de novo review of the evidence, the walkway defect here was trivial as a matter of law. (Stathoulis v. City of Montebello, supra, 164 Cal.App.4th 559, 569[court properly may determine whether defect is trivial if evidence is not in conflict].) The parties agreed that the walkway separation was three-fourths to seven-eighths inch in depth. Cadam testified that the accident occurred at noon on a sunny day. Cadam's photographs of the separation do not reflect a jagged separation, shadows, or debris obscuring the separation. (Caloroso v. Hathaway, supra, 122 Cal.App.4th 922, 927 [court should consider whether walkway had broken pieces, jagged edges, debris or water concealing the defect, and the lighting of the area, among other things].) There were no protrusions from the separation and other persons had not fallen there. The crack in the sidewalk does not appear to be on a slant as Cadam's counsel suggests. The walkway was newly constructed and the view of the separation was not obstructed. Moreover, Cadam testified that she did not see the separation because she "wasn't looking at [it]." Nor does she show where on the sidewalk she fell.
I know the lawyers on the plaintiff side; they are all excellent and extremely competent. To take a case all the way to trial and get a verdict, only to lose it in post-trial motions on an issue that probably should have been decided in pretrial law and motion is heartbreaking (also, expensive).

This does highlight why trivial defect is not a trivial issue. Since this opinion is brand new, we'll keep an eye out to see if there is any more activity before it becomes final.

 

  



Marketing Corner


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Sumner M. Davenport
ELA Executive Director
Solutions Consultant
 LawMarketingStrategy.com

 

Healthy Tips

Don't forget the importance of healthy outdoor activity. Click here for a special offer for Encino Lawyers Association Members

Ron Sarchian
ELA Fitness Consultant
SarchianFitness.com

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