Salt Lake City, Utah April, 2002 - A settlement in excess of $800,000 was reached in a case involving the death of a skier on the slopes of a local ski area. The 42-year-old skier died when he fell skiing and slid a long distance, finally striking his chest on an unpadded permanent tower for a snow-making gun. He left behind a wife and an 8-year-old daughter.
The defendant ski area argued that the skier was skiing out of control and that the snow-making tower was a known hazard on the ski slope. Investigation showed that the accident may have been prevented with the installation of a fence around the tower, and that the ski area had at one point decided not to order certain pads for the tower, due to their cost. In addition, the ski area attempted to blame the accident on the condition of the rental skis used by the deceased skier at the time of his death.
A compromise settlement was reached just prior to commencement of the trial. The settlement was accomplished due to the fact that the Eisenberg Gilchrist & Morton team of attorneys were able to discover just before trial that the ski area representative may have had information about the case that was not being divulged. Eisenberg Gilchrist & Morton's attorneys worked with the victim's widow to invest some of the money on behalf of her daughter, to not only pay for the daughter's education, but allow her to have a successful start in life.
"Our goal in this case was not only financial, but to show that there was wrongdoing that will be corrected so it cannot happen again," noted attorney Jeff Eisenberg, lead counsel in the case. Other Eisenberg Gilchrist & Morton attorney working on the case was David Cutt.
