On Dec. 16, 2010, plaintiff Idalia Alcala, 46, was visiting a friend at an apartment complex located at 295 East Julian Street, in San Jose. While exiting the apartment through an interior cement walkway, Alcala tripped and fell, fracturing her left ankle. Alcala sued the property’s owners, Wakako Kono, Tom Kono, and the Living Trust of Annette Kono; and the property management company, Zell Associates Inc. Zell Associates was ultimately dismissed from the case. Alcala alleged that she tripped over a broken and uneven section of concrete, causing her to fall. She claimed that the property owners had constructive notice of the apartment walkway’s dangerous condition, but that they failed to repair it. Idalia Alcala’s daughter, Angelina Alcala, witnessed the fall and made a Dillon v. Legg claim for negligent infliction of emotional distress. Defense counsel denied that the Konos had any constructive notice of the alleged defect or that the walkway constituted a dangerous condition. Counsel contended that Idalia Alcala was contributorily negligent., On the day after the accident, Idalia Alcala presented to the emergency room at Santa Clara Valley Medical Center, in San Jose, where she was diagnosed with a fracture of the left ankle and given a cast. She then followed up with physical therapy. Several months after her last physical therapy visit, Idalia Alcala’s original representation, from The Dunnion Law Firm, referred her to a pain management specialist, who diagnosed Idalia Alcala with complex regional pain syndrome, also known as reflex sympathetic dystrophy or causalgia, a chronic pain condition. The expert subsequently instituted a treatment plan that consisting of sympathetic nerve blocks, followed by a trial installation of a spinal cord stimulator. Upon Idalia Alcala’s reported improvement, a permanent spinal cord stimulator was installed in a surgery performed by the plaintiff’s treating neurosurgeon. Although Idalia Alcala’s ankle healed from the fall, she complained of ongoing pain and difficulty while performing her daily activities. Thus, she sought recovery of $200,000 in past medical expenses and unspecified future medical expenses related to the possible future installation and maintenance of a second spinal cord stimulator. She also sought recovery of damages for her past and future pain and suffering. Idalia Alcala’s daughter, Angelina Alcala, claimed that she suffers emotional distress as a result of witnessing her mother’s fall. Thus, she sought recovery of emotional distress damages. Defense counsel asserted that treatment records suggested that a diagnosis of CRPS was also made at Santa Clara Valley Medical Center and that depositions of the medical center’s physicians demonstrated that Idalia Alcala presented with a few CRPS-type symptoms, but that the diagnosis of CRPS was never made.