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Jury awards $12.2M in slip-fall case A Williamsburg woman has received the largest money award by a jury in a slip-and-fall case in Virginia history, her lawyer said BY SETH FREEDLAND Daily Press 757-247-7840 May 1, 2007, 7:12 PM EDT WILLIAMSBURG -- A Hampton jury awarded a Williamsburg woman more than $12.2 million after she was unable to work after slipping and hitting her head while at a gas station convenience store. In August 2003, Annette Ritzmann was walking into what was then a Miller Mart on the corner of Monticello Avenue and Richmond Road to buy a newspaper and pay for gas when she slipped on a small puddle caused by a leaky awning. She landed on her chest and chin, and a witness would later say the impact sent her head snapping back. Days later she returned to her job on Richmond Road running European Beauty Concepts, where she also worked as a stylist. But she found herself unable to concentrate or do many things at once. Doctors eventually said she was suffering from post-concussion symptoms. Friends suggested she call Hampton attorney Stephen Smith, who specializes in brain injury lawsuits. On April 24, a jury in Hampton Circuit Court found Miller Mart and its insurance companies liable for her injury and awarded her more than $12.2 million. Smith, who worked on the case with Richmond lawyer Edward Scher, said he believes the award is the highest ever slip-and-fall verdict in Virginia history. Smith said Tuesday he and Scher were able to get the Miller Mart officials to admit in depositions that they knew the outside curb was dangerous. Recent medical advances were also key in showing the devastation to Ritzmann's brain, he said. And Smith said he was also able to paint the case to jurors as essentially a wrongful death suit. Ritzmann "died and a stranger emerged to her family and co-workers," Smith said. He compared losing the ability to multitask for a businesswoman like Ritzmann to a violinist losing three fingers. Legal representatives for Miller Mart, which no longer runs a convenience store at that location, did not return phone calls. An attorney for the insurance companies declined to comment. It was unclear if there would be an appeal. It's doubtful Ritzmann will ever return to the spa and she plans to hire a life coach to help her with her day-to-day life, Smith said. Ritzmann continues to suffer seizures in which she appears to stare into the distance for minutes at a time, he said. "There is no prosthetic brain," Smith said. "You could give her $100 million -- it's still not going to replace the brain cells she's lost."
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