On the afternoon of Feb. 3, 2011, plaintiff Lorena Perez, an unemployed 33 year old, was walking to the mailboxes at Summer Ridge apartments, an apartment complex in Victorville, where she was living as a tenant. While she was walking on the sidewalk, she slipped and fell on ice that had formed there. Perez claimed that she sustained to her neck. Perez sued the apartment complex owner, Summerridge 121 LP; property manager, Investment Concepts Inc.; and a landscape service company, Liberty Landscaping, Inc. Perez alleged that the defendants failed to properly maintain the premises, creating a dangerous condition. Summerridge 121 and Investment Concepts ultimately settled out of the case. Thus, the mater continued against Liberty Landscaping only. Perez claimed that a misdirected sprinkler caused water to pool and form ice in the location where she fell. As a result, she contended that Liberty Landscaping was negligent for allowing the sprinkler to overspray onto the sidewalk. The plaintiff’s expert safety engineer opined that the subject area was left in unsafe condition. He testified that the sidewalk did not have the proper slope, which caused water to pool, and led to ice forming in colder times. Counsel for Liberty Landscaping contended that Liberty Landscaping was only at the complex once a week and that it only performed routine landscaping services. Counsel also contended that Liberty Landscaping was not at the apartment complex on the subject date and that there was no way Liberty Landscaping would have been aware of anything askew prior to Perez’s fall. Thus, Liberty Landscaping’s counsel argued that the alleged dangerous condition was the fault of the apartment complex owner and property manager, Summerridge 121 and Investment Concepts, as well as the fault of Perez., Perez claimed that she suffered a herniated cervical disc, as well as bruising and possible soft-tissue to her left shoulder and buttocks from when she braced herself during the fall. She was subsequently taken by her husband to a chiropractor, whom she treated with for one month. The shoulder and buttocks resolved. However, Perez claimed that she continued to experience neck pain that radiated down to her left shoulder. Perez’s chiropractor released her, as everything was resolved except for the radiating next pain, but referred Perez to a pain management specialist, who ordered an MRI. Perez claimed that the MRI ultimately revealed the cervical disc herniation. Defense counsel noted that Perez testified that she fell while walking, but that medical records showed that Perez had reported to doctors that she slipped when she stopped to bend over to tie her untied shoelace. Thus, the defense’s biomechanical expert opined that if Perez fell from a bent position, then the forces were not substantial to cause a disc herniation.