Appellate Court Upholds Summary Judgment, Cementing Win for Peter Syregelas and Kate Crouch

The Illinois Appellate Court recently upheld summary judgment in favor of a property owner and property manager accused of allowing a parking lot to fall into disrepair, thus resulting in an unnatural ice accumulation.  Plaintiff slipped and fell on ice, sustaining serious orthopedic injuries and resulting in significant medical specials and a large wage loss claim.  Kate Crouch earned summary judgment in July of 2023, and Plaintiff appealed the Court’s ruling.

On appeal, Peter Syregelas successfully demonstrated the propriety of the trial court ruling due to Plaintiff’s failure to effectively show that the condition on the land caused an unnatural formation of ice.  It was true that Plaintiff slipped and fell in the parking lot, and it was also true that the parking lot exhibited cracking and other defects.  However, Plaintiff failed to link these two truths conclusively.

In its ruling, the Appellate Court provided new guidance as to the minimum evidentiary threshold a plaintiff must meet to overcome a motion for summary judgment.  LPP successfully petitioned the Court to publish its decision, given its valuable and instructive discussion for future cases. We look forward to citing to this helpful precedent in future premises liability matters.  Rossmid Lopez-Arana v. Brian Properties, Inc. and Salem Plaza Center II, LLC, 1-23-1652.