On July 28, 2008, plaintiffs’ decedent Mary Konakowitz, 89, was a guest at the residence of Dr. Sambiz Amini in Bel Air. While descending a staircase, Konakowitz lost her balance and fell a few steps to the ground, fracturing her right hip. On April 21, 2009, Konakowitz passed away. The decedent’s surviving children, Constance Pentek, Estelle Skouras and Viktoria Konakowitz, sued Amini. The alleged that Amini failed to properly maintain the staircase, creating a dangerous condition. Specifically, plaintiffs’ counsel contended that numerous building code violations existed concerning the subject staircase, including the lack of a handrail in the area where the decedent allegedly lost her balance and fell. Counsel also contended that since the decedent died from complications that resulted from sustained in the staircase accident, Amini was liable for the decedent’s wrongful death. Amini acknowledged the code violations regarding the subject staircase, but claimed that the code violations were not a substantial factor in causing the decedent to lose her balance and fall. He also claimed that the subject staircase was remodeled in 2000 and that he believed a licensed general contractor was hired to perform the work. Furthermore, Amini claimed that the decedent did not die due to complications from the subject accident., Mary Konakowitz sustained a fracture of her right hip in the fall. She died almost nine months later, on April 21, 2009. She left behind three daughters. The decedent’s family claimed that following the accident, their mother’s health began to spiral downhill, including contracting pneumonia, and that she died as a result of complications from the sustained in the subject staircase accident. The plaintiffs’ orthopedic expert testified that roughly 30 percent of elderly people who suffer similar falls die within one year of the accident, and that the data was consistent with the general decline of the decedent’s health post-fall. Thus, the decedent’s daughters sought recovery of $13.5 million in total wrongful death damages, including damages for their loss of the decedent’s society, companionship and support. Defense counsel argued that the decedent’s death was not caused by complications from sustained in the subject accident. Instead, counsel contended that the decedent suffered from a myriad of health issues, including chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, emphysema and malignancy of the lung, all factors that were unrelated to the accident and contributed to causing her death. Plaintiffs’ counsel responded that Amini referred the decedent to his cousin, another doctor, who diagnosed her with lung cancer in October 2008, even though proper testing had not occurred. Thus, plaintiffs’ counsel argued that the lung cancer diagnosis was not a proven cause of death and was likely diagnosed in order to protect Amini.