Jerry Summers
On February 25, 2022, one of the area's most experienced litigators for insurance companies found himself falsely imprisoned in one of the elevators in an historic office building on Broad Street in Chattanooga, Tennessee.
The elevator stopped between floors, the door would not open and several unsuccessful attempts to extract himself from his site of incarceration took place. His many frantic unanswered calls for help resounded throughout the building and elevator shaft and he finally resorted to his own resources and pushed the Emergency button.
Using his experience as a trial lawyer he attempted to call for assistance with said alarm but after being placed on hold and routed through several channels the phone was finally answered by an inquisitive employee of the service who with a foreign accent (from the North) inquired if he was calling from Wisconsin for help.
“Hell no, I’m calling from a stuck elevator in the building, on Broad Street, in Chattanooga, Tennessee!”
The veteran attorney who has bravely faced lions, tigers, and rhinoceros on safaris in Africa and many plaintiff lawyers repeatedly hollered for help that echoed through the walls of his confined space.
Fortunately, his many shouts to be rescued were finally heard by a caring legal colleague with offices on the third floor and the period of confinement and his ordeal in the small cramped 4 x 5 space finally ended.
No broken bones or permanent injuries were sustained, and any potential psychological trauma has yet to be diagnosed and determined. The free legal advice of several of the more aggressive plaintiff law firms both locally and nationally offered to send a lawyer and suggested to the potential client that he immediately travel to the psychiatric ward of one of the local hospitals for immediate assistance and that they would meet him there to protect his legal rights.
He has been assured by a local firm that one of their board-certified attorneys in the specialty of “Elevator Entrapment” cases would immediately start an investigation into his traumatic experience before the evidence to prove his case could be destroyed.
Although the victim normally has only one year to file their lawsuit under applicable Tennessee law from the date of the horrendous event on February 25, 2022, if he should become mentally and permanently disabled it is anticipated that he will receive a substantial settlement based upon the expertise of the numerous lawyers that have contacted him within a few days of the tragic event.
A tenant in the building however seemed unconcerned about the harrowing experience of their fellow renter and exclaimed - “What’s the big deal – he was just a lawyer!”
Happy April Fools Day!
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You can reach Jerry Summers at jsummers@summersfirm.com)