A Cheshire attorney has secured a $1.2 million settlement for a 62-year-old man who became a quadriplegic after slipping and falling on an accumulation of construction debris on a stairway.

Attorney Frank Bartlett Jr. reached the settlement with three defendants in April, and the Probate Court approved the deal Aug. 6.

According to Bartlett, owner of Bartlett Legal Group, and the second amended complaint, plaintiff Tommie Buchanon was on a stairwell at a small apartment complex on Collins Street in Hartford in November 2014 when the incident occurred.

Bartlett said Buchanon, a Hartford resident who was visiting his cousin at the complex, “slipped and fell backwards on the debris on the stairs. He stood up and attempted to grab the railing, but there was a curve in the railing that put the railing right up against the wall where he could not grasp it.” Buchanon then fell forward about 12 steps before striking his forehead and left shoulder, his attorney told the Connecticut Law Tribune on Monday.

Buchanon was lying on the ground for eight hours until 2 a.m. when a resident found him. He was rushed to the hospital in an attempt to repair the spinal cord injury to his neck, Bartlett said.

At issue during the two mediation sessions was how much alcohol Buchanon had consumed prior to his fall.

Test results showed Buchanon’s blood alcohol level when he was found was 0.015, which is less than the 0.08 legal limit in Connecticut. But defense attorneys argued it would have been higher eight hours earlier, suggesting the plaintiff was legally drunk at the time of the fall. They placed it at between 0.12 and 0.25 at the time of the fall.

The plaintiff’s side disagreed, presenting witnesses who said Buchanon had consumed one to two beers prior to the incident, and there was no evidence he was drunk.

“The toxicologist retained by us said that his blood alcohol levels were so low that it could not be calculated at a reasonable degree of accuracy what his blood alcohol level was when he fell,” Bartlett said.

Counsel for the property manager, owner and contractor raised several other arguments, including claims Buchanon had failed to keep a proper lookout, had not watched where he was stepping, and had worn improper footwear.

In the end, plaintiffs counsel called the settlement “a fair resolution,” and said his team set up a trust for Buchanon with the settlement funds.

Bartlett said Buchanon’s medical expenses to date are about $710,000, with future life-care costs expected to be between $2 million and $3 million.

Of the $1.2 million settlement, $500,000 came from State Farm Insurance, the carrier for defendant J & A Equities LLC, which was the property owner. State Farm also paid an additional $300,000 for an another client, defendant North Hills Equities Inc., which managed the property. Another carrier, National Grange Mutual Insurance Co., paid $400,000 for its client, defendant R & F Construction LLC, the contractor that the city of Hartford had hired to clean the apartment building.

Hartford was not a defendant, because plaintiffs counsel predicted sovereign immunity laws would shield it from liability.

Three other defendants—sister companies Imagineers LLC, Imagineers Property Management LLC and Imagineers Holdings LLC—reached a confidential settlement with Buchanon. The city of Hartford retained the entities to inspect the property prior to it being accepted for Section 8 housing.

J & A Equities and North Hill Equities’ attorney, Brian Frank of Penino & Moynihan in Danbury, declined to comment. And R & F Construction’s counsel, Sarah Christie of Hassett & Donnelly in Hartford, did not respond to a request for comment.