(2017) Evesham Carmichael vs. Happy Hour Bar, et al. In this devastating personal injury case, Evesham Carmichael, age 53, slipped and fell on “black ice”. He broke his leg in two places and required surgical implantation of a rod and screws, which left him with significant scarring, residual pain, and limitation of movement. Here is what happened.

Late one winter evening, Evesham Carmichael was on his way to a concert at a local eatery. It was 10 p.m. He parked his car in a parking lot and walked carefully into a dimly lit and snowy walkway (alley) between two commercial buildings on his way to Main Street, Freehold Boro, Monmouth County. Evesham could have parked on the street, or in another area, but he knew this way well, having lived in the community his whole life.

The buildings that created the walkway were occupied by restaurants, and Evesham was on his way to one of them, to attend an Open Mic night that the establishment advertised with flyers and on the internet. The eateries shared ownership of the right-of-way between the buildings, and were legally responsible to keep the walkway free of snow and ice. Due to a significant snowfall from a week ago, followed by warm and cold spells, snowmelt from rooftop drainage froze into a thick sheet of black ice on the alleyway.

Evesham saw the snow, but not the “black ice”. The building owners were aware of this wintertime danger, because it happened almost every year, but they did nothing to correct it. They also failed to block the walkway’s entrance and exit on both ends, to prevent pedestrian traffic. There were no warning signs placed on either end of the walkway.

As he walked in the semi-dark, Evesham tried to walk around a dilapidated stoop projecting from the side of one of the commercial buildings. This caused him to walk onto the thickened ice, and he fell straight down and hard on his leg, breaking it in multiple places. EMTs were called, but the ice was so thick they had to crawl up the sidewalk with a sled so they could slide Evesham down the sidewalk to a waiting ambulance. Fortunately, Evesham made substantial progress post-surgery and after extensive rehab, yet he has residual pain and discomfort at the injury site, plus significant scarring that will never go away. As legal counsel for Mr. Carmichael, we negotiated a successful settlement for a significant yet undisclosed sum.