Kelley Kronenberg Partner/Business Unit Leader Kelly Lynn Ferron, with key support from Legal Assistant Diana Villanueva, secured an agreed voluntary dismissal, with prejudice, on behalf of a commercial property owner in a Palm Beach County general liability case arising from a propane explosion within a food truck, without paying a cent. 

The plaintiff, a renowned chef and culinary director, was preparing the food truck for its grand opening at a popular West Palm Beach venue when the explosion occurred. He sustained first degree burns to his face, neck, head, ears, arms and hands with nerve claimed damage and dysfunction, and alleged cervical and lumbar spine injuries. Claimed damages included past and future medical expenses and significant claims for non-economic damages, including permanent disfigurement and scarring due to the burns. 

The plaintiff asserted a wide range of theories against the commercial premises owner, including general negligence, failure to warn, failure to maintain, failure to inspect, claims sounding in products liability, and negligence per se. Specific allegations included failure to properly maintain the propane tank and gas lines, failure to address alleged recalls, failure to install a fire suppression system, and failure to comply with various building and county codes and regulations. The case also involved issues pertaining to workers’ compensation immunity, agency, cause and origin analysis, and foreseeability. 

Kelly recognized early that the first deposition in this case, her client, testifying as the Corporate Representative for the property owner, could provide a unique opportunity to gain a strategic advantage and set the narrative of the case to her tune from the jump.  Thoroughly preparing her client to easily clear all potential hurdles, including reptile-type questioning, and crafting a precise line of questioning, largely drawn directly from controlling case law, allowed her to set the case up that preemptively and systematically eliminate the viability of all theories of liability claimed (and those that could potentially have been). Kelly and her client seamlessly established the complete lack of involvement as to the ownership, purchase, maintenance, setup, inspections, or the hiring of contractors including those who connected the propane.  

Kelly also used the testimony to draw the clear and vital legal distinction between an allegedly dangerous condition or defect with the property itself versus the circumstances involved here, i.e. a food truck merely parked on the property.  The foreseeability standard was preemptively addressed and neutralized as well. She and her client were able to establish that there were no issues with the property itself; and therefore, Kelly obtained the leverage necessary to convince Plaintiff’s counsel to voluntarily dismiss her client, with prejudice, the following day. The result illustrates what thorough deposition preparation and a well-executed strategy can accomplish, even in a complex, multi-liability theory explosion case.  

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