Articles by Lawrence C. Dinoff

Michael H. Gladstone, Director at McCandlish Holton, and J. Matthew Haynes, Jr., Director at McCandlish Holton, recently worked with Larry Dinoff, Premises Safety Expert at Robson Forensic, to obtain a successful case win for Big Lots Stores, Inc.


Details of the case are outlined below, originally published by the International Association of Defense Counsel.

A premises safety expert at Robson Forensic was retained to investigate a case in which the plaintiff slipped and fell on an icy walkway. Our expert was tasked with determining whether the plaintiff fell on the sidewalk or the parking lot, and whether or not the defendant’s use of cat litter on the parking lot, as a treatment for icy conditions, created a dangerous condition.

In this article, the premises safety experts at Robson Forensic provide an introduction to the 2009 International Building Code stairway design requirements for new buildings. Particular attention is paid to the aspects of stairway design and construction that are most often associated with slip, trip, and fall injuries.

Falls are the most common and costly accident type for many commercial businesses. In the following article, published in the April 2011 Newsletter for HospitalityLawyer.com, the Premises Safety group at Robson Forensic provides a narrative regarding some of the most common causes of slip, trip, and fall injuries at hotels and retail establishments. The article also provides valuable precautions that should be taken to reduce the likelihood of fall injuries on stairs and walkways.

In this case, a patron at a nightclub climbed up on top of a 3 foot high speaker box platform and danced off the edge. Many people were sued. Robson Forensic was engaged after it was claimed that the developer’s architect, who reviewed the tenant drawings for the club, should have required guard rails around the top of the platform.

In this case, a woman was struck and killed by a vehicle in a doughnut shop parking lot. A Robson Forensic architect was retained to evaluate the design and maintenance of the parking lot.

Unprotected display hooks pose an unnecessary threat to shoppers and most especially to young children. In this article, premises safety expert, Larry Dinoff, AIA, discusses the risks associated with display hooks and how these injuries can be prevented.