In Golden v. Carefree Services, Inc. (Hennepin County District Court, 2010), Ms. Golden sued our client, Carefree Services, for negligence in clearing and maintaining a walkway at Knollwood Mall in St. Louis Park. On January 22, 2008, it was an extremely cold day—a low of -4 and a high of 9. It had lightly snowed the day before. As Ms. Golden was exiting her vehicle to walk into the mall she fell. She suffered a broken hip and other injuries.

Ms. Golden sued, claiming Carefree Services should have taken additional steps to make the icy walkway safer. Deborah Eckland and Scott Johnson defended Carefree Services by showing that it had applied salt the day before, after it had snowed. The parking lot was in “good shape” when Ms. Golden fell; there was surveillance video available that proved as much. Other patrons had come in and out of the mall without incident.

Deborah and Scott tried the case to a jury, and the jury returned a verdict finding neither Ms. Golden nor Carefree Services negligent. Ms. Golden was responsible for Carefree Services’ costs and disbursements.