The temperature began to dip as the sun set over Maryland one January day. In an apartment complex parking lot, puddles of water thawed by the midday sun returned to solid, slippery ice. Responsible property managers would have salted the ground for their residents’ safety. But the overseers at this complex neglected their duty, and the asphalt remained bare in a sheet of glass. A young, athletic resident left her apartment around 11 pm to fetch her driver’s license from her car. The night was as dark as ink, obscuring the black ice that had blanketed the parking lot. Despite wearing her winter boots, she slipped and fell onto her back with a sharp crack. She screamed in pain — her ankle had completely snapped in two places. For half an hour, she cried out for help, unable to get off the ice on her own. Eventually, someone across the street dialed 911. The police officer who arrived found the terrain too slippery and required the help of the woman’s boyfriend to finally help her up.

An ambulance whisked her away to the emergency room. Surgeons opened up her ankle and screwed in a metal plate to rejoin her fractured fibula. They also drilled in two long screws to secure her fractured tibia’s medial malleolus. For seven months, the victim was unable to work while the wounds healed. She reported the incident to the management complex, and the property managers expressed no sympathy for her injury. They offered the victim $5,000 to cover her medical expenses, but told her that they were not responsible.

Joseph Fah, a personal injury attorney and founder of Fah Law Group, has focused his practice on car accidents, pedestrian injuries, and slip-and-fall cases. Four months after the incident, a client of Joseph’s mentioned how her friend had slipped and fractured her ankle but did not believe she had a claim. He met with the injured woman and took on the case. To start, Joseph and his team took photographs, interviewed witnesses, and compiled an investigative report. He discovered that the parking lot should not have refrozen had it been properly salted that day. Joseph set out to make her whole again by suing both the property managers and the snow removal service.

Joseph needed to pin down liability on all possible Defendants. He aimed to prove that there had been hazardous conditions on the ground long enough for the property managers to know they needed to be addressed. He also found a witness who said the snow that day had been poorly cleaned up and not entirely removed. The snow removal company attempted to claim contributory negligence as well as an assumption of risk. However, the victim had only one entryway in and out of the building and had no other route options. She had also worn snow boots out, and Joseph knew the Defense would have been unable to argue that she should never have left her apartment.

However, by the time Joseph had become involved, it was already summer in Maryland. Collecting evidence was difficult, as was mimicking the weather conditions that had led to the slip and fall. The property management and snow removal company also claimed they had done everything they could. Initial mediation proved disappointing, as the Defense’s initial offer was only $10,000. Joseph hired a snow and ice removal expert, as well as two standard of care experts and an orthopedic expert. He determined that visuals would be the best way to demonstrate evidence of liability and damages. Having worked with DK Global for four years, he tasked the company with recreating the entire wintery scene based on weather reports from that day, as well as to animate the victim’s fall and her surgery. If the case were to go to trial, he wanted a jury to see and feel the victim’s injuries.

The DK Global animation began with a map view and photos of the apartment complex. An animated reconstruction of the complex and its parking lot showed a bird's-eye view of the snowstorm blanketing the area. The visual then showed the weather’s progression throughout the day. As time passed, the animation revealed the icy surface of the parking lot at night. The camera followed the victim walking out of her apartment and then slipping and falling on the black ice. A replay of the fall showed the bones in her leg and exactly how her fractures occurred. Following this, a 3D model of the victim displayed her skeletal fractures alongside her x-rays. Screws were seen being drilled into her tibia bone, and a metal plate was secured to her fibula. The demonstrative concluded with pictures of the victim's injured ankle.

More than three years passed, and the Plaintiff continued to suffer from pain, unable to fully re-engage with her active, hardworking lifestyle. Joseph was determined to attain justice. The court ordered one mediation, and the Defense suggested a second private mediation. However, neither attempt panned out. The most that the Defense offered in the second mediation was $30,000. Following deposition discovery, the Defense increased its offer to $50,000. Then, a motion for summary judgment was filed, which resulted in the two Defendants beginning to point fingers at each other. Joseph went on to settle the case with each Defendant separately. Once the snow remover company learned of the settlement with the property management company, they filed a separate complaint for contribution against them. The case went on to settle for a very favorable but confidential amount. Upon hearing the outcome, the victim felt vindicated and told Joseph she felt like she had finally been both heard and seen.

Joseph Mitterand Nde Fah founded Fah Law Group, which focuses solely on personal injury cases. He has been licensed to practice in New York and Maryland and holds three advanced law degrees. He earned an LL.B. in 2005 and his LL.M. in business law in 2006 from the University of Yaoundé II in Cameroon. He received an M.B.A. from Delta International University of New Orleans, Louisiana, in 2010. He further enhanced his academic credentials at the George Washington University Law School, obtaining an LL.M. in business and finance law in 2011. He earned another LL.M. in litigation and dispute resolution in 2014. He has recently been selected for inclusion in Super Lawyers.