On Jan. 5, 2013, plaintiff Janet Skeens, 44, who was pursuing a business partnership with a start-up company, walked out of the front door of the house she was renting in Half Moon Bay to retrieve some patio furniture that the wind blew into the yard. As she stepped down onto the front stairs, her left foot broke through the wooden stairs and became lodged. Skeens then began to fall forward, causing a shin to strike the wooden step and a knee to strike the concrete platform at the base of the steps. In addition, Skeens reached back to try to grab something to cushion her fall, but there was nothing there. As a result, she landed on her left side while still twisting backward and her foot still caught within the step. Skeens claimed to her back, left leg, and left hip. Skeens sued the property owner, Mary Lee, and the property manager, Kathy Caloca, who was doing business as Crown Properties. Skeens alleged that the defendants failed to properly maintain the stairs, creating a dangerous condition. Specifically, she claimed that the wooden steps were dry-rotted. About one month before trial, Caloca was dismissed from the case in exchange for a waiver of costs. Lee, via her counsel, accepted 100 percent liability., Skeens alleged that she sustained life changing to her back and left hip. After her fall, Skeens lay on the ground for several minutes, and was allegedly disoriented and unable to move. She eventually was able to pull her left foot from the step, and she rolled into the dirt next to the concrete platform so that she could try to sit and stand up. Skeens’ wife eventually found her sitting on the back porch. Skeens claimed that within a few hours, her foot began to feel numb, but that she thought the numbness was from bruising and subsequently treated it with heat and ice. Although she was able to return to work the following Monday, she walked with a limp. Skeens claimed that in the following weeks, she required a cane, as her leg gave way when she put weight on it. She also claimed she had back pain and spasms, which prevented her from driving out of fear of causing an accident. In mid-January 2013, Skeens saw her primary care physician due to her increasing back pain, back spasms, and leg pain. She also went to an anesthesiologist, who found an annular tear, as well as signs and symptoms of sacroiliac joint mediated pain. Skeens continued to see physicians and pain specialists over the years, and ultimately underwent multiple epidural steroid injections and a radiofrequency medial branch neurotomy. However, she claimed that pain returned within months and was accompanied by a burning sensation down her left leg. She alleged that her symptoms continued to worsen until she eventually underwent a sacroiliac joint fusion by an orthopedic surgeon on Dec. 7, 2015. Skeens claimed that she then began having left hip pain, and significant numbness and swelling in her left leg. She claimed that by March 2016, her leg swelling was so severe that she stopped working due to the significant travel her job required. Plaintiff’s counsel contended that Skeens will undergo a laparoscopic surgery to determine the cause of her pain. The plaintiff’s physical medicine expert performed an independent examination on Sept. 8, 2016, and opined that Skeens suffered from chronic pain syndrome, cervical and lumbar radiculopathy, left peroneal nerve neuropathy, bilateral sacroiliac dysfunction, left hip pain with internal derangement, and left acromioclavicular joint dysfunction. He also opined that Skeens’ condition caused an exacerbation of her depression, and impaired her daily activities and recreation. The expert further opined that Skeens’ were related to the subject accident and that Skeens would need physical therapy, pain management, future testing, future injections and therapy, and medication. Skeens was previously an engineer employed by a consumer electronic manufacturing company, where she managed software company accounts. She left that company to pursue a start-up with her business partner, who offered her five percent ownership of the business. During closing arguments, plaintiff’s counsel asked the jury to award Skeens $6 million in total damages, including $65,000 for Skeens’ past medical bills, $2 million in future medical care (based on Skeens’ life care plan), $2 million in future loss of earnings, and an unspecified amount of damages for Skeens’ past and future pain and suffering. Defense counsel argued that Skeens suffered no injury in the fall. Counsel noted that Skeens did not seek medical care for 10 days and did not report the fall to her doctor when she did first seek medical care. Defense counsel also contended that Skeens had a significant, pre-existing medical history of back pain, including the need for three prior back surgeries. The defense’s medical experts opined that all of Skeens’ current and future medical complaints were due to a chronic degenerative condition and not due to the alleged fall.