On December 13, 2021, the case of Cullen v. Cavallo Point, et al., (Case No. CIV18-01334, Marin Superior Court) was settled, awarding the plaintiffs $500,000. The plaintiffs were represented by Teresa Li, Law Offices of Teresa Li, PC.

According to court documents, on 1/2/2018, a 55-year-old real estate agent went to an upscale restaurant, Farley Bar, inside a luxury resort Cavallo Point Lodge in Sausalito, CA to celebrate his brother's birthday. As he stood up to make a toast, the bar stool, manufactured by J.S. Greene Associates, Inc. doing business as Lily Jack (an upscale American boutique furniture manufacturer) tipped backwards, causing the plaintiff to lose his balance and fall backwards. The fall was witnessed by his wife and his 14-year-old son. Attorney Li stated, "before the incident, Farley Bar received multiple complaints that the barstools were tippy and unstable; however no customer had fallen or gotten injured by the barstools before this incident." The plaintiffs brought a product liability claim against Lily Jack and premise liability claim against the restaurant, as they contend the barstool fails the ANSI BIFMA X5.4 standard for front loading stability.

Li went on to say, "My client suffered a fractured rib, two lung surgeries, had to replace his bioprosthetic heart valve, and sustained traumatic brain injury which was confirmed by his brain MRI."

According to court documents, Lily Jack contends that the barstool was not defective. Cavallo Point denies that it had any prior knowledge that the bar stool was defective. Both defendants dispute the extent of plaintiff's injuries: defendants contend that the heart valve replacement was not related to the incident because it was a 10-year-old bioprosthetic valve and the average life-span for the valve is around 10 years. Defendants also dispute traumatic brain injury, blaming it on the plaintiff's congenital condition. Defendants dispute the extent of plaintiff's wage loss claim.

The case was settled at the Mandatory Settlement Conference mediated by Diane Kruse. Li also said, "It is important for the restaurant and the furniture manufacturer to take responsibility for their defective product so that others will not suffer the same fate as my client."

About Teresa Li, Esq., Law Offices of Teresa Li, PC

Teresa Li has a decade of experience and success in personal injury cases. She has recovered over $20 million on behalf of injured victims. She has been repeatedly selected by Super Lawyers Magazine as a Super Lawyers Rising Star and has been included in the Top Women Attorneys in Northern California list. Practice areas include brain injury, truck, bike and motorcycle accidents, wrongful death and more. Li is a member of the Litigation Counsel of America, in which only 0.5% of attorneys are invited to join. For more information, please call (888) 635-3259, or visit http://www.lawofficesofteresali.com. The law office is located at 315 Montgomery Street, 9th Floor, San Francisco, CA 94104.