Kelley Kronenberg Partner Vanessa Tobares and Attorney Taylor White secured a favorable settlement on behalf of their client in a trip and fall case filed in Orange County Circuit Court, resolving a matter with $1 million in commercial policy limits for a fraction of the plaintiff’s demand. 

The plaintiff, a delegate attending a conference at a major Orlando resort hotel, alleged she tripped on a cord that had been taped to the carpet on the floor of a banquet room while walking through the venue. She filed suit against the hotel and the audiovisual production company responsible for laying the cord, and the hotel filed a third-party claim against the firm’s client, the conference organizer, seeking contribution. 

Vanessa and Taylor pursued an aggressive defense strategy built around two core arguments. First, they argued that the cord on the floor was an open and obvious condition that the plaintiff should have seen and avoided. Under Florida law, a possessor of land is not liable for injuries caused by a dangerous condition that is known or obvious to the injured party unless harm was foreseeable despite that obviousness. Second, the team pointed the finger squarely at the audiovisual production company responsible for laying the cord, arguing that the client had no involvement in placing or securing the cord and bore no responsibility for the condition that caused the fall. 

The team also leveraged Florida’s modified comparative fault standard enacted under House Bill 837, which bars recovery entirely for any plaintiff found more than 50 percent at fault for their own harm, as an additional pressure point in negotiations. 

The plaintiff filed a proposal for settlement well into the six figures. The case resolved for a fraction of that amount, representing savings of approximately 80 percent against the plaintiff’s demand and a result that substantially protected the client against what a $1 million commercial policy could have produced. 

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