On May 9, 2018, plaintiff Janet Kwon, an unemployed woman in her 30s, walking to a Nordstrom department store in Westfield Santa Anita, a shopping mall in Arcadia. As she was walking near a large stand in the middle of the mall, where SomiSomi sold Korean-style soft serve ice cream and taiyaki, a Japanese fish-shaped cake, Kwon slipped and fell. When she got up, she found that there was ice cream on her pants. Kwon claimed to her neck, left shoulder and lower back. Kwon sued the operator of SomiSomi, South Korean-based Creative Kitchen Co. Kwon alleged that Creative Kitchen was negligent in the maintenance of the floor around its stand, creating a dangerous condition. Kwon claimed that she slipped and fell on ice cream that was left on the floor near Creative Kitchen’s stand in the middle of the mall. She alleged that there was sufficient notice of the dangerous condition, but that Creative Kitchen failed to timely clean up the condition. Creative Kitchen had a lease with Westfield Santa Anita, which provided Creative Kitchen with a 3-foot radius around the stand in the mall. Plaintiff’s counsel attempted to use language from the contract to apply principals of negligence and premises liability against Creative Kitchen. However, at trial, Judge Holly Kendig ruled that since the mall was not a named party in the suit, Kwon could not use language from the contract in regards to her claims against Creative Kitchen. Thus, plaintiff counsel only argued that Creative Kitchen had sufficient notice of the alleged dangerous condition. Defense counsel argued that there was insufficient notice of the alleged condition. Specifically, counsel noted that a witness testified at trial that she obtained ice cream from another vendor and happened to be walking in the subject area where Kwon fell. The witness admitted that she dropped her ice cream in the subject area, prior to Kwon’s fall, and that she went back to the other vendor to get napkins. She claimed that it took her five to 10 minutes to return with the napkins, but by that time, it was too late and Kwon’s fall had occurred. Thus, defense counsel argued that the ice cream spill was due to the third-party witness and that the witness did not inform Creative Kitchen’s employees about the incident, so there was no way for them to have any notice about the floor’s condition., Kwon went home after her fall. One week later, she presented to a physician for treatment of pain in her neck, left shoulder and lower back. Kwon claimed she suffered a herniated lumbar disc at the L4-5 level with radicular pain, and soft tissue to her neck and left shoulder. She initially underwent three months of chiropractic treatment. She was then evaluated by a pain management physician, who recommended a home exercise program and additional chiropractic treatment. Kwon underwent acupuncture treatment and an EMT nerve conduction, which showed radiculopathy to the left S1 vertebra. She then continued with acupuncture and chiropractic treatment. The plaintiff’s expert orthopedic surgeon testified as to what he observed. He also testified that he recommended that Kwon receive a nerve root injection and undergo a laminectomy. Kwon maintained that she is limited in a variety of activities. Kwon waived her past medical specials. At trial, her counsel asked the jury to award Kwon $770,000 in total damages, which included her future medical costs and general damages for her past and future pain and suffering. Defense counsel argued that Kwon’s acupuncture was redundant and not necessary after her chiropractic care. Counsel contended that Kwon’s MRI only showed an impingement of the L5 nerve. Thus, defense counsel argued that Kwon had sufficient treatment with her initial chiropractic care and that anything after that treatment was unnecessary. In addition, defense counsel argued that any treatment received three years later was also unnecessary. Defense counsel noted that Kwon’s husband and daughter testified about being with Kwon on long trips in vehicles and going through amusement parks and that those things did not seem to impact Kwon. The defense’s expert orthopedic surgeon noted in his report that he observed annular tears in Kwon’s back, but that it had been three years since Kwon’s MRI. Thus, he opined that any complaints Kwon had were not caused by the subject accident. Although he agreed with the initial recommendation of chiropractic care and a home exercise program, the expert noted that Kwon did not follow that advice. In addition, the expert opined that since Kwon’s pain should have subsided three years after the accident, Kwon’s acupuncture was not reasonable or necessary.