Charlotte Injury Lawyers Blog
Personal injury Lawyer Matt Arnold answers the question: “What should I do if I have been injured by another party but I can’t afford a lawyer?”
A popular magician, David Copperfield, was found to be not liable by a Nevada judge for injuries an audience member sustained at one of his shows, according to The Washington Post. In an illusion knows as the “Lucky 13,” 13 audience members volunteer to be picked to go onstage and be ushered into a cage. After the audience members are in the cage, the cage is hoisted into the air while Copperfield engages in banter with the now dangling audience members.
The Lucky 13 illusion ends when Copperfield has the remaining audience members turn around so that they can no longer see the stage. The audience members turn around and find that those who were just in the cage are no longer in the cage. This is usually a popular trick that is given tremendous applause. However, one evening things did not go according to plan.
As one of the volunteer audience members participated in Lucky 13, the member slipped and fell during the performance and sustained injuries. The victim sued Copperfield for millions of dollars in damages for being negligent. A Nevada jury did conclude that the magician was negligent in his actions, but that he is not financially responsible to the victim for the injuries sustained. Not only can the victim not pursue damages from Copperfield himself, but he cannot recover from the MGM Grand Hotel where the act was performed, or the construction company that was performing renovations at the time of the incident.
Instead of being financially liable to the victim, Copperfield was made to reveal the secret behind the Lucky 13 trick. The illusion is mainly flashlights and a lot of running. The audience members in the “cage” are ushered into service corridors at the hotel and jogged to sneak into the theatre from the back.
The victim was in Las Vegas celebrating his birthday, but it quickly turned into a nightmare. The service corridor was filled with debris and dust that could cause injury. The victim alleges that someone, whether that be Copperfield, the hotel, or the construction company, should have known what would happen to someone traveling in the corridor under those conditions. The plaintiff claimed more than $400,000 in medical bills. The jury found Copperfield to be negligent, but not financially liable.
What Does This Mean?
You might be wondering how a magic trick gone wrong can be relevant to other personal injury cases. The jury determination could impact future cases and results because a standard might have been set. A jury might start finding that a defendant is guilty of negligence, but does not owe a victim any amount of money.
If you are considering a personal injury case because of an injury that you sustained as a result of the negligence or wrongful act of another, you need an attorney to help you. The personal injury attorneys at Arnold & Smith, PLLC are dedicated to your case and obtaining the best results. We understand that an injury can drastically alter the course of one’s life. As such, we work tirelessly so that you can try to get back to a normal life after injury. Now taking cases throughout the Charlotte region with offices in Uptown Charlotte, Mooresville and the new location under renovation in Monroe. Contact us, Arnold & Smith, PLLC for a free consultation, call us at 704-370-2828 or click here for additional resources.
The skilled personal injury attorneys at Arnold & Smith, PLLC are dedicated to maximizing the financial recovery and obtaining justice for every personal injury client injured by another party’s negligence. The issues our personal injury clients may be facing include, but are not limited to, slip and fall injuries, wrongful death, product liability, catastrophic injuries, dog bite claims, car and truck accident injuries, motorcycle injuries, traumatic brain injury (TBI), nursing home negligence, spinal cord injury, boating accidents, and defective medical device injury. Our personal injury attorneys understand the devastating impact such an injury can have on a person’s life, and that the effects so often go beyond physical pain and suffering. The personal injury attorneys at Arnold & Smith, PLLC are dedicated to helping clients determine the strength of their claims, and to aggressively pursuing the means necessary to achieve the best possible end result for each client’s particular situation.
Source:
https://financial-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/liability
Image Credit:
https://www.freeimages.com/photo/magician-s-hat-1167367
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