November 7, 2002

David Strite and Mark Hammond were successful in defending an Elizabethtown, KY automobile dealership accused of negligence pursuant to the slip and fall injuries suffered by Plaintiff in the car dealership’s parking lot. The proof set forth by the Plaintiff did not establish that the Defendant or any of its employees undertook to clear the parking lot in which the Plaintiff slipped and fell of snow.  Thus, the dealership owed no duty to remove or warn the Plaintiff of the snow and ice that caused her fall. Natural outdoor hazards which are as obvious to an invitee as to the owner of a business premises, do not constitute unreasonable risks to the invitee which a landowner has a duty to remove or warn against. Strite and Hammond successfully argued that the Defendant was entitled to a directed verdict over Plaintiff’s strenuous objection. The decision was appealed to the Kentucky Court of Appeals and the trial court’s decision was sustained.