Lawsuit for Injury Caused by Falling Down An Alley Because of a Hole

In Khalil v. City of Chicago, 283 Ill. App. 3d 161, 164-65, 669 N.E.2d 1189, 218 Ill. Dec. 663 (1996), the plaintiff was walking down the middle of an alley in order to get from a parking lot to a restaurant when he tripped in a hole and fell. 283 Ill. App. 3d at 162. In essence, the plaintiff was using the alley as a sidewalk and there were no affirmative physical manifestations that the defendant municipality intended for pedestrians to walk down the middle of the alley. Khalil, 283 Ill. App. 3d at 164. Accordingly, the Court found that plaintiff was not an intended user of the alley and thus the municipality had no duty to maintain the alley in a condition suitable for pedestrians. Khalil, 283 Ill. App. 3d at 164.