LUDLOFF TRADING AS IRVIN LUDLOFF & COMPANY v. Hanson

This is an action for personal injuries. Frank Hanson (Hanson or customer) sued Irvin Ludloff trading as Irvin Ludloff & Company (Ludloff or storekeeper) in the Superior Court of Baltimore City for damages he sustained when he fell from the second floor down the rear stairway of a furniture store. A jury awarded damages to Hanson for his injuries, and when the trial court denied a motion for judgment n.o.v., Ludloff appealed.

The parties, who owned businesses a few doors from each other on West Pratt Street, had been acquainted for years. Hanson had been in Ludloff’s store a number of times,…