On Feb. 28, 2014, plaintiff, Jose Luis Lopez, Jr., 36, an auto service technician, was walking down the driveway apron in front of Wally’s Wine & Spirits to get to his car that was parked in the street near 2136 Cotner Avenue, in West Los Angeles. It was raining, so Lopez was holding his jacket over his head and looking toward his car when he tripped and fell. He sustained to his left ankle. Lopez sued the tenant of the adjacent property, Southwest Wine & Spirits LLC, which was the operator of Wally’s Wine & Spirits; the believed maintainers of the street, the city of Los Angeles and the county of Los Angeles; and the owners of the adjacent property, Beatrice Kahn Boykoff, Milton Louis Miller and Northern Trust Bank of California, N.A., as co-trustees of the residuary trust of the Marvin A. Kahn Testamentary Trust. Lopez alleged that the defendants failed to properly maintain the area, creating a dangerous condition. The county was ultimately dismissed from the case. The matter continued against the remaining defendants. Lopez claimed he stepped into a 4-inch hole that was covered with rainwater and was located at the base of the driveway apron and next to a gutter. Lopez alleged the 4-inch hole constituted a dangerous, concealed tripping hazard. The plaintiff’s expert engineer opined that the hole was in a foreseeable path of travel for pedestrians and that it was located partly on the driveway and partly in the gutter area, but still constituted a tripping hazard. The expert engineers for all parties agreed the 4-inch depth of the hole was a tripping hazard. The city’s counsel argued that the city did not have notice of the alleged condition. Counsel for Southwest Wine & Spirits argued that Southwest Wine & Spirits did not own or control the property where Lopez fell. Counsel for the city and Southwest Wine & Spirits both argued that Lopez was comparatively liable for being inattentive and for stepping into a puddle without knowing what was underneath it. In addition, defense counsel contended that the hole was located in the gutter area, and not on the driveway, so it was a pothole. Thus, counsel argued that the pothole was safe for vehicles going in and out, but not for pedestrians walking in a gutter. Counsel for the trustees of the trust that owned the adjacent property contended that the hazard was located entirely on the city’s property and that the city previously had admitted that it exclusively controlled the hazard, the location of the hazard, and the repair of the hazard. The trustees’ counsel subsequently moved for a judgment of nonsuit in regard to the trustees, and the motion was granted prior to the case being submitted to the jury., Lopez sustained a trimalleolar facture and an acute dislocation of his left ankle. He subsequently went to the emergency room at Providence Saint John’s Health Center, in Santa Monica, immediately following the incident and was given pain medication. He was then discharged with instructions to follow-up with an orthopedic surgeon. On March 7, 2014, approximately one week after the incident, Lopez presented to Harbor-UCLA Medical Center, in Torrance, for an orthopedic evaluation. His ankle remained swollen, and he continued to complain of pain and tenderness. Doctors informed him that his required surgical intervention, but Lopez was hesitant about undergoing surgery. As a result, he got a second opinion from an orthopedic surgeon who confirmed that Lopez needed surgery. On April 14, 2014, Lopez arrived at Harbor-UCLA for his ankle surgery, but he was placed in a triage facility and was forced to wait to undergo surgery for five days, during which time Lopez was prohibited from eating and was only allowed water. It was not until April 19, 2014, that Lopez underwent open reduction and internal fixation surgery on his left ankle, and the surgery concluded without complication. Following the surgery, Lopez attended weekly physical therapy sessions at KNT Physical Therapy, in Encino, and received follow-up orthopedic care from the orthopedic surgeon he consulted. However, despite attending over 16 physical therapy sessions, Lopez’s left ankle continued to swell, and the area where hardware was placed remained painful and sensitive to the touch. As a result, Lopez received a consultation from his treating orthopedic surgery expert on Aug. 2, 2015 and, five days later, underwent CT Scans, MRIs, X-rays, and a bone scan of his left foot and ankle. Each of the tests confirmed that Lopez’s hardware was loose and that the first surgery resulted in a non-union of Lopez’s bones. The treating expert subsequently advised Lopez that he required a second surgery to remove and replace the existing hardware, and a bone graft from Lopez’s hip in an effort to correct the non-union of his ankle. Lopez’s second surgery went forward without complication on Oct. 26, 2015. After the second surgery, Lopez attended 14 additional physical therapy sessions at KNT Physical Therapy. He also continued to follow-up with his treating orthopedics expert. This time, the surgery resulted in a successful union of Lopez’s ankle. However, by July 2017, Lopez continued to feel pain and sensitivity in his left ankle. His treating orthopedics expert subsequently performed an X-ray of Lopez’s ankle on July 13, 2017. The expert opined that the X-ray revealed that Lopez was showing early signs of arthritis developing in his left ankle as a result of his . He also opined that Lopez will require future surgeries to remove the hardware in this ankle, as well as require an ankle replacement and/or fusion. Lopez was an automotive service technician at the time of his fall. He claimed that after the incident, he was off of work for approximately eight months. He alleged that he earned approximately $16 per hour at the time. Thus, Lopez sought recovery of $29,158 for his total loss of earnings. In addition, he sought recovery of $131,614.42 in past medical costs, $334,200 in future medical costs, and an unspecified amount of damages for his past and future pain and suffering. Southwest Wine & Spirits’ orthopedic surgery expert opined, during his deposition, that Lopez’s were caused by the allegedly dangerous condition and that all of Lopez’s medical care was reasonable and necessary. As a result, the expert was not called to testify at trial.