New legal oddity from Overlawyered:



Pranksters poured soap into a Duluth fountain to create an eight-foot mound of bubbles, a woman who waded into the bubbles fell down and cut her leg because she couldn't see where she was going. According to this article:



"Under civil court rules, six of the seven jurors can arrive at a verdict after six hours of deliberations and Borich's fellow jurors arrived at the 70-30 split on the city's and Kelly's negligence. The jurors determined that Kelly should be awarded $37,645.68 for past pain, disability, disfigurement, embarrassment and emotional distress; $9,443.20 for past wage loss; $42,000 for past health care expenses; $74,569.50 for future pain, disability, disfigurement, embarrassment and emotional distress and $15,000 for future health care expenses."



On the one hand, it is a valid legal theory that the city had the duty to clean up a known hazard (someone had reported the bubbles at 5:41 am, about 4 hours before the woman's fall). On the other hand, can we say "open and obvious?" Come on, she gets only 30% of the fault here?



On a tangent - remember the days when the brick fountain in the ped mall constantly spewed froth after a Saturday night? It's a miracle no one killed themselves on that thing, what with wet brick, small steps, and drunk college students.



Does anyone know whether it was really supposed to represent three women peeing? Or that an Iowa City urban legend?