Ronald J. Resmini Law Firm Wins $1.3 million Case In Providence,
R.I. Courts
Providence lawyer , Ronald J. Resmini, (Call The Firm That Wrote The Book On Personal Injury In
R.I.) knew he was up against significant challenges when he agreed to represent
Fatima Delacruz in her slip-and-fall suit against Rhode Island Hospital (R.I. Superior Court docket #PC084977).
For starters, Delacruz’s case had failed before an
arbitrator, after which her lawyer of six years declined to represent her
further. But there was more. There had been difficulty contacting a key
witness, and Resmini knew that arguing lost capacity of earnings would be
objected to by defense counsel because Delacruz had stated earlier that she had
no “lost wage” claim.
Resmini took the case anyway, alleging theories of mode of
operation, breach of contract and common law negligence. On June 7, a Superior
Court jury found that Delacruz was entitled to medical expenses, lost capacity
for earnings, and pain and suffering damages. It also awarded her youngest son,
Dano Delacruz, loss of consortium damages, for a total verdict of $678,519.
With interest, the award comes in at $1.3 million.
At the end of the day, Resmini says, the jury found his
client’s testimony credible when weighed against the word of a hospital
employee. The worker allegedly had told Delacruz — who slipped exiting an
elevator in an area where she had been just minutes earlier without incident —
that he observed a wet, freshly washed floor but saw no warnings posted until
later; he later backtracked and said he could not remember.
Though pleased with the verdict, Resmini downplays its size.
“Is it a high dollar value? Not really,” he says, noting that his client is 45
years old and has a long-term injury. “That dollar amount is very conservative
for the injury she sustained.”
According to Attorney Resmini, a highly experienced Rhode
Island personal injury lawyer, the “biggest challenge is the jury as it is
always applying the doctrine of common negligence law”, and how am I going to
approach showing the jury the hospital had constructive or actual knowledge of
a defect and didn’t do the things they should have to secure it? My argument
was if they are washing the floors outside of an elevator, they should have put
the notice in the elevator. You have to put the sign where someone has an
option to exercise good judgment. We asked the jury to be fair and tell them to
apply the law. It is not an easy task beyond a reasonable doubt, but telling them
and letting them adopt and accept it is not the same. In reality, the standard
is beyond a reasonable doubt, not for preponderance of the evidence. If you
don’t establish that, you’re not going to win. This time we were successful.
