A team of South Florida lawyers secured $2.1 million for a 10-year old girl who slipped and fell at Davie bowling alley SpareZ LLC, injuring her knee during a family birthday party.

It wasn't a straightforward slip-and-fall narrative for John P. Fischer and Ian G. Ward II of Fischer Redavid in Hollywood, and Kara Ferrier of the Vaval Ferrier Law Group in Davie. The case was subtle, hinging more on emotional damages than physical injury.

Miami resident London Paris was 7 years old at the time of the accident in 2015 and was following her great-aunt to an arcade room when she slipped in dirty water, landing hard on the floor, according to court pleadings.

The spillage was away from the lanes, in the bowler's circle — where spectators sit with food and drinks. It was also peppered with footprints, according to Paris' great aunt, suggesting it had been there a while.

Two years on, Paris' parents brought the negligence suit against bowling alley company Schumacker Recreation Co. LLC. Fischer, Ward and Ferrier soon discovered that staff hadn't used an inspection checklist that day, though company policy mandated it. And a few depositions later, it emerged no one could say they'd recently checked the area, even though two other customers had slipped there in recent years, the attorneys said.

Defense attorneys Ramon Javier and Richard A. Vargas of Ramon E. Javier & Associates in Miami did not respond to requests for comment before deadline, but argued their client wasn't to blame and had no idea about the spillage, which they claimed the plaintiff would have noticed if she'd been careful.

Though staff claimed no one knew the water was there, Fischer, Ward and Ferrier argued that didn't matter under the theory of constructive notice, which asserts they should have known. The way Fischer saw it, a bowling alley hosting multiple kids' birthday parties on one day should have been more careful, so he pushed the company's corporate representative on that point during cross-examination.

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Click here to read the complaint

“I asked him a simple question,” Fischer said. ” 'Can we agree that water on the floor in an area where there's a little kid's birthday party, where they're running around, that that's dangerous?' And his response was that 'it could be.' ”

John P. Fischer. Courtesy photo. John P. Fischer. Courtesy photo.

Fischer followed up with, “When is it not dangerous?” — a question he later discovered the jury foreperson had memorialized in notes.

It wasn't easy talking damages, according to Fischer, as Paris' medical treatment had been sporadic and, structurally, her knee was OK. Paris went to the emergency room after the accident and again months later, complaining of pain in her knee, but her injury wasn't obvious.

The doctor eventually discovered what looked like a bone density issue in Paris' X-ray and worried it could be a loose bone fragment. After an MRI scan, he was convinced and suggested surgery.

But it didn't go to plan as the pediatric surgeon couldn't find any loose fragments in Paris' knee. According to Fischer, that's because it had either fused back into place or hadn't been there to begin with. The surgery left physical scars on her knee, which Fischer argued will eventually stretch.

“She's not going to stay that size forever, so they're going to get bigger,” Fischer said.

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The invisible scarring

At trial the plaintiffs' team zeroed in on the aftermath of the fall, which Fischer said created “scarring on the inside.” Paris was nervous before going under anesthesia, and her parents agonized over whether to go through with the surgery but decided to trust the surgeon, the way Fischer tells it.

“There was testimony from the dad that [Paris] said, 'I'm going to wake up, right?' ” Fischer said. “ It was a tough decision for the parents.”

Ten-year-old Paris testified at trial, describing her knee pain to the court. She recalled struggling to keep up with classmates while starring in a school play and being confused at the injustice of not being able to do what everyone else could.

“When you take a child at such a young age, at early developmental stage, and you convince them that 'something's wrong with you, you're broken, you're not the same, you're different,' that kind of stuff can cause effects and ramifications for the rest of their life,” Fischer said. “That's what this fall did.”

The defense's medical expert, however, highlighted that was the only incident Paris could recount, despite having said that she often felt pain in her knee. That didn't fly well with jurors, in Fischer's opinion, as it insinuated a credibility problem with a young child.

Aside from being upset about missing a full day of school, Paris did a great job, according to Fischer.

“She talked about whether to tell the truth or not,” Fischer said. “And she said, 'Yes. It's important to tell the truth.' Why? She said, 'Because the truth will set you free.' ”

Paris' mother also testified, becoming emotional when recalling that some employees had allegedly laughed when she first told them about the fall, her attorney said.

The plaintiff waived medical bills to seek between $3 million and $5 million in pain and suffering damages. Jurors found SpareZ was negligent but landed on a lower number, awarding $300,000 for past pain and suffering and $1.8 million for future.

“ Kids are supposed to grow up being kids, not in and out of doctors' offices, not having surgery and being unable to do the things that everyone else did,” Fischer said.

Parents like Paris' are often judged as being greedy by some who assume the case is about money, according to Fischer, so he made it clear to jurors they won't get a penny.

“This is all for the child. It's hard enough being a plaintiff but then subjecting your child to that and being there for them throughout is a lot,” Fischer said. “I commend them for having the strength to do that for her.”

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Read the full jury verdict:

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Case: Kenny Paris and Nikeya Jenkins, parents of L.P., a minor v. Schumacker Recreation Co. LLC, doing business as SpareZ.

Case no.:  2017-CA-003139-09

Description: Premises Liability

Filing date: Feb. 13, 2017

Verdict date: March 20, 2019

Judge: Broward Circuit Judge Jeffrey R. Levenson

Plaintiffs attorneys: John P. Fischer and Ian G. Ward II, Fischer Redavid, Hollywood; Kara Ferrier, the Vaval Ferrier Law Group, Davie

Defense attorneys: Ramon Javier and Richard A. Vargas, Ramon E. Javier & Associates, Miami

Verdict amount: $2.1 million

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