THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, October 17, 1994 TAG: 9410170073
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B2 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Profile
SOURCE: BY MARC DAVIS, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH LENGTH: Medium: 68 lines
In the gray world of Virginia Lawyers Weekly, he stands out like a poppy in a sidewalk crack.
He's the slippy-fally guy, a goofy cartoon man heels-over-head, about to fall on his legal briefs.
It could happen to you. If it does, Cindy Snyman hopes your lawyer sees her ad with the slippy-fally guy in the legal newspaper.
Snyman is a full-time expert witness. She works out of a nondescript industrial building near Lynnhaven Mall. She testifies mostly for plaintiffs in slip-and-fall cases.
``It's not an occupation for the meek or the timid or for those lacking in self-esteem,'' Snyman says. ``They're going to attack you personally, attack your credibility, try to discredit you. You have to be able to weather all that.''
Timid, Snyman is not.
At 47, she is a self-made businesswoman. She founded Slip Free Systems in 1987 to help businesses with liability problems. Mostly, that means recovering slick floors and hotel bathtubs to reduce slip risks.
Among her clients were Busch Gardens, the Kempsville Recreation Center, and Constitution Hall at the Norfolk Naval Base.
``I sort of fell into it,'' Snyman says. ``Excuse the pun.''
Four years ago, Snyman - who has a Ph.D. in human resource management, owns several rental properties, and is a bank director - got into the legal consulting business.
It started with one request from the law firm Joynes and Beiber. Now Snyman has eight to 10 cases a month.
There was the case of the slippery bathtub. Snyman appeared for the defense.
The plaintiff was a heavy-set woman who slipped getting out of a Beach hotel shower, hurting her jaw. But the hotel had records for nine years of maintenance, Snyman says. They had used the same cleaners, the same staff and maintained the non-slip tub inlays.
The case was settled out of court after Snyman's report.
Then there was the case of the Texas water slide park. A guest slipped on a concrete walk, breaking his ankle.
Snyman appeared for the plaintiff. She found the concrete, once porous, had worn away. It was not maintained. Worse, she found, the concrete was painted over - pretty, but slippery.
``That's someplace you'd want to resurface your concrete as often as you could,'' Snyman says. ``The more porous a surface is, the less slippery it will be.''
Snyman made her report and the injured man received ``a very nice settlement,'' she says.
Her advice to business owners: ``Any place you know you're going to have water or grease or spillage, you need to take precautions. . . . If you don't treat the surface so it's slip-resistant, you're going to have a problem.'' MEMO: [For a related story, see page B1 for this date.]
ILLUSTRATION: PETER D. SUNDBERG
Cindy Snyman is a full-time expert witness. She testifies mostly for
plaintiffs in slip-and-fall cases. She places ads in Virginia
Lawyers Weekly with the slippy-fally guy, shown at left, to drum up
business.
by CNB