It started out as a normal workday for our client, a 50 year old, married, father of two. A resident of Baldwin borough, and a copier and fax repair man, he had parked his car on the seventh floor of a parking garage in downtown Pittsburgh to make a service call to a downtown client. Two juveniles, who were skipping school in the middle of the day, were permitted to canvass and walk the entire garage in broad daylight looking for someone to rob. On one of our client's return trips to his car while servicing his clients, the juveniles spotted our client, attempted to rob him, and proceeded to shoot our client in the neck. The bullet shattered our client's vertebrae, paralyzing him from the chest down. Our client lay on the floor of the garage, conscious, but unable to move, for another 20 minutes, until another patron discovered him.
Our investigation revealed that the owner of the parking garage had hired a security firm that was supposed to provide safety services at the garage. Upon filing suit against the garage owner and the security firm, we further learned that the garage had a history of crimes and both defendants were aware that there was insufficient staffing at the garage to deter and prevent criminal acts. When our client was assaulted, we established that the security guard, who was suppose to be making rounds of the building, had been pulled off his rounding duties, and had spent the morning hours directing traffic in and out of the garage. Without appropriate camera surveillance and no physical presence in the garage, our client paid a dear and unnecessary price for the defendants' negligence.
Because of the extent and severity of his injuries, our client requires constant medical care. Since being shot, other than a hospital, he has spent his life in a nursing facility equipped to meet his special medical needs. He is confined to either a motorized, computer-assisted wheelchair or a bed. By filing a premise liability suit and uncovering what really happened, we were able to obtain a substantial multi-million dollar settlement that ensures that our client's medical needs will always be met. The settlement also provided monetary relief to our client's wife and children.
