Through years of neglect, a Los Angeles Koreatown parking lot’s gate slowly eroded, causing it to become damaged and dangerous. When the gate fell onto a woman, a contest of liability erupted amongst the landlord, a church, and the lot’s tenants.

Ms. Yi was attending a Friday night event at her local church. The last congregant to arrive, the church had run out of parking spaces, and she was instructed to park in an autobody shop’s lot across the street. The church and autobody shop shared the same landlord and had come to an off-the-books agreement allowing the church to use the lot for overflow parking.

Ms. Yi waited for help to cross the street as two deacons who were working as parking attendants struggled to close the old, damaged gate. Forcefully, they managed to move it. However, the gate’s wheels slid off their tracks. The 750-pound barrier fell onto Ms. Yi, striking her face and stomach, pinning her onto her back. The two deacons scrambled to lift the massive weight off her. Thankfully, good Samaritans heard the crash and helped Ms. Yi to safety.

Ms. Yi was taken by ambulance to a nearby hospital, covered head-to-toe in bruises. She complained of radiating pain in her knees and back. Doctors ordered MRI’s of her spine and found several disc protrusions. As weeks passed, persisting pain prompted doctors to prescribe a rigorous treatment plan of chiropractic sessions, steroid injections into her spine, and months of acupuncture.

Ms. Yi retained an attorney who attempted to resolve the incident with the three Defendants. Each of them denied responsibility for her injuries. The landlord stated his agreement delegated all maintenance and repairs to his tenants. The autobody owners claimed it was unfair to blame them since they weren’t present at the time and were only helping the church. Astonishingly, the church asserted the gate never fell on Ms. Yi and she was lying.

Unable to resolve the case, Ted Wacker of The Law Offices of Ted B. Wacker was referred to assist in Ms. Yi’s litigation. Ted felt each of the Defendants was responsible for his client’s injuries. To combat the church’s fraudulent allegations of Ms. Yi, Ted found the individuals who helped her from under the gate, proving the event did occur. He then focused his attention on the landlord and the autobody shop, which were under the same insurance policy. They offered a mere $150,000. Ted knew this amount was inadequate.

Ted showed that the landlord and tenants were aware of the gate’s defects. Using Google Earth photos, he revealed the Defendants had attempted to repair the gate. However, instead of replacing its essential mechanisms, they welded metal along its track to stabilize it.

In preparation for trial, Ted called on DK Global to create an accident reconstruction animation and a timeline of Ms. Yi’s medical care. He needed a clear way to demonstrate to a jury how the incident occurred, as well as the severity of his client’s injuries.

The presentation began with an establishing view of the parking lot and church. Then, it depicted Ms. Yi on the sidewalk, waiting for the attendants to close the gate. Document tear-outs from her deposition stated she attempted to help them but was told to stand by. Google Earth photos of the eroded track were displayed as the attendants attempted to shut the opening. Next, the iron barrier fell on Ms. Yi and injured her knees, shoulders, back, and neck. Finally, to demonstrate her painful and long-lasting damages, a custom timeline detailed a long list of the medical procedures Ms. Yi endured.

After Ted presented all his evidence to the jury, they returned with a verdict against all three Defendants, awarding Ms. Yi $929,000.

Trial attorney and Golden Advocate Award winner, Ted Wacker, has been litigating cases for nearly 25 years. He specializes in catastrophic injury cases, including medical malpractice, elder abuse, and mass torts. Ted is a member of the Million Dollar Advocates Forum and has been recognized as a top trial attorney by the National Trial Lawyers in 2012. Notably, he has been continuously named as a California Super Lawyer.