On May 17, 2016, plaintiff Jennifer Welsh, 46, a vocational college’s employee, visited an office park located at 123 Camino de la Reina, in the Mission Valley area of San Diego. She claimed that a second-story exterior walkway collapsed beneath her feet. She claimed that her left leg slipped through the decking and that she fell backward. She claimed that she suffered of her face, her head and a leg. Welsh sued the premises’ owner and controller, San Diego Commercial Real Estate Services Inc. She also sued several related entities: Mission Grove Office LLC, John Anewalt LLC, Mary Anewalt Perrine LLC and Woodside Avenue LLC. The lawsuit alleged that the defendants were negligent in their maintenance of the premises. The lawsuit further alleged that the defendants’ negligence created a dangerous condition that caused Welsh’s accident. San Diego Commercial Real Estate Services accepted a tender of the other defendants. Thus, for the purposes of the trial, San Diego Commercial Real Estate Services was the sole defendant. Plaintiff’s counsel contended that San Diego Commercial Real Estate Services failed to repair and/or maintain the walkway. Welsh’s safety expert opined that the walkway violated building codes since it failed under a foreseeable load of a pedestrian. Defense counsel claimed that Welsh cut the hole in the walkway and feigned falling into it. The defense’s safety expert opined that it was unreasonable to expect San Diego Commercial Real Estate Services to investigate every square inch of the 70,000-square-foot office park and that, absent destructive testing of the flooring, it could not have known that the floor would fail in the manner in which Welsh claimed that it did., Welsh was taken by her husband to a hospital, where she was treated for abrasions and/or contusions of her left leg. Welsh ultimately claimed that she suffered of her back, her left shoulder and her neck. She also claimed that the accident aggravated preexisting temporomandibular joint disorder. She claimed that she developed complex regional pain syndrome, also known as reflex sympathetic dystrophy or causalgia, a chronic pain condition. She further claimed that she suffered residual headaches. Welsh’s treating orthopedist contended that he followed Welsh’s orthopedic course for two years after the accident and that he administered single platelet rich plasma injections in Welsh’s left shoulder and left knee, and, later, an epidural injection in Welsh’s tailbone. The orthopedist also testified that he referred Welsh to neurology for treatment of her headaches, to a maxiofacial dentist for treatment of temporomandibular joint disorder and, later, to pain management. The orthopedist released Welsh from his care at the end of 2018. In 2019, Welsh began treating with an interventional neurologist, who diagnosed Welsh with "early features of complex regional pain syndrome," or "CRPS lite," as she referred to it at trial. The neurologist testified that she began managing Welsh’s chronic pain condition and provided Botox treatments for Welsh’s headaches. Welsh received no formal treatment in 2020, but she claimed that it was because of the COVID-19 pandemic. She eventually returned to her neurologist for pain management in 2021, and she saw her orthopedist again on one occasion in September 2021. Welsh claimed that she needs lifelong Botox injections for management of her headaches, along with future pain-management interventions, including injections. She also claimed that she may require implantation of a neurostimulator. Welsh sought recovery of past and future medical expenses, damages for past and future loss of earnings, and damages for past and future pain and suffering. Defense counsel argued that even if Welsh was hurt, she suffered nothing more than a soft tissue injury of her left leg and left shoulder and that Welsh’s neck and back complaints were preexisting. Counsel argued that Welsh should have recovered from her soft-tissue within six to 12 weeks. Defense counsel contended that Welsh never complained of neck, back or shoulder pain in the emergency department and that those complaints only manifested weeks later, when Welsh began treating with her orthopedist, who was referred to her by her attorney. Counsel also contended that none of the pain-management treatment provided to Welsh was reasonable, necessary or related to the fall incident. Defense counsel similarly contended that Welsh should have returned to work within three to six months after the incident, but that Welsh has never attempted to go back to work. Defense counsel argued that Welsh suffered no meaningful earnings-capacity losses as a result of the incident. In response, Welsh blamed her inability to work on her chronic pain condition that she has endured every day since the incident.