Partner Carrie L. Christie and Associate Courtney Marcelo Norton won summary judgment in Putnam County State Court on April 6, 2017, in a trip-and-fall case that arose when Plaintiff, while visiting Friendship Baptist Church with her choir, ascended a single carpeted step flanked by prayer rails that led to the church’s pulpit area. The Rutherford & Christie defense team successfully argued that expert testimony of alleged code violations could not circumvent the longstanding rule that successful negotiation of an obvious, static hazard, including a step up, bars recovery for injuries sustained in a fall on the way back down where the condition of the step remained unchanged between ascent and descent.