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An Ottawa court has awarded more than $330,000 to an aspiring lawyer who tripped on a curb and injured her shoulder.

Michelle Botosh caught her left foot on the inch-and-a-half high curb slope and tripped, throwing her right arm forward to break her fall on Nov. 8, 2003. The Byward Market sidewalk had been under construction, but there were no signs warning pedestrians of the changes to the curb.

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She successfully sued two construction companies and the City of Ottawa by convincing the judge she did not know construction was still ongoing. Ms. Botosh has a mild form of cerebral palsy, which limits movement on the left side of her body. With her right shoulder now experiencing chronic pain, those limitations are greater and have squandered her dreams of attending law school and being eventually called to the bar, she told court.

Ontario Superior Court judge Barbara Warkentin, who split liability between two construction companies and the City of Ottawa, was not convinced the shoulder injury has kept Ms. Botosh from a career as a lawyer. The judge said her pre-existing limitations due to cerebral palsy and her grades have played a larger role in keeping her dream career out of reach.