Catherine Darlson and Michael Hersh of Kelley|Uustal in Fort Lauderdale are litigating a personal injury lawsuit against the wife of retired Florida Panthers hockey star Roberto Luongo, after a woman was hit by a car in front of their house.

Plaintiff Jessica Provost, 52, was walking through her Parkland neighborhood on Dec. 19, 2018, when she approached Gina Luongo's new multimillion-dollar home on Stonegate Boulevard, which was being built from the ground up and having its driveway paved by Broward company Terence Cudmore Builder Inc.

The lawsuit, filed Jan. 9 in Broward Circuit Court, claims there was no warning sign or a safe walkway for pedestrians to get past Luongo's blocked driveway, allegedly leading to disastrous consequences for the plaintiff.

"As soon as she was forced from the safety of the sidewalk into the road, she was struck from behind," Darlson said.

Provost suffered life-threatening injuries, including brain swelling, warranting emergency surgery. She also fractured her hip, femur and arm, according to the complaint.

Darlson, her attorney, points to Parkland's ordinances, the Florida Department of Transportation's construction standards and the Florida Building Code, which dictate that individuals or businesses involved in property construction are in charge of providing pedestrian walkways and directional barricades.

"The city can't be responsible for maintaining appropriate walkways for every avenue of construction that happens anywhere in the city or the country, so it's really on the owners and the construction companies to make sure that their construction sites are safe for pedestrians," Darlson said.

Canadian Roberto Luongo is not involved in the lawsuit because the property, its permit and the construction work is solely under his wife's name. The couple own other properties jointly, according to Darlson, who said it's not yet clear why the ownership structure of the Parkland house is different.

The co-defendant is Cudmore Builders. Both defendants have retained attorneys Gregory Anderson and Kera Hagan, of Anderson, Mayfield, Hagan and Thron in West Palm Beach. The attorneys did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Roberto Luongo is commonly considered the most popular Panthers player in history, and his club took the unprecedented step of retiring his jersey number when he left the National Hockey League last year after 19 seasons as a goaltender. He also played for the New York Islanders and Vancouver Canucks.

Cases such as this are common in the personal injury realm, according to Darlson, who said defendants have often cut corners and dodged rules, codes or ordinances because doing so was easier or cheaper.

"I think they generally think, 'What's the big deal? It's only for a short period of time, or nothing's really going to happen,'" Darlson said. "Unfortunately, those are always the cases we see where somebody totally innocent ends up hurt."

The attorney said her client is still recovering, and will likely require significant surgery and therapy in the future. The lawsuit accuses the defendants of negligence, and seeks damages that could reach into the millions.

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