A 2007 New Year’s Eve party turned deadly when a 26 year-old male fell from a porch to his death. The male, a financial trader, was at a friend’s house in Lakeview, Illinois when he slipped and fell head first through the property’s deck. Just minutes prior, the male was sitting on the porch steps of a third floor deck on the back of a building at 3180 N. Clark Street. When he stood up to walk over to a table, he slipped and fell through the railing gap on the porch, which was 2 feet by 8 feet.
The man’s family filed suit against Kenard Managment, the building’s management company. According to reports, six months prior to the incident, the property manager was notified by its own insurance carrier that the space between the rails was too wide. It was recommended that the building manager close the gap with mesh. Although Kenard, the management company, received bids to have the mesh installed, the mesh was never installed prior to this fatal slip and fall.
It is likely that had the mesh been in place, the young man would have been prevented from falling through the railing. This death and resulting lawsuit could have been avoided. Last week, the family reached a $2.7 million dollar settlement with the property’s management company for the Illinois fall and death.

$2.7M settlement in death tied to faulty Lakeview porch, www.chicagobreakingnews.com. November 29, 2010.