Lately, I’ve been getting a lot of calls about ADA-related cases.

And not the kind you might expect.

These aren’t just about bathrooms or grab bars. These are real-world situations where design decisions in commercial spaces — casinos, stadiums, concert venues — are creating actual safety issues for real people.

And honestly? Most of them are completely avoidable.

What’s Really Happening in These Cases

Here’s what I’m seeing over and over:

• A wheelchair gets caught in a rope barrier at a casino

• Someone trips on poorly designed stadium stairs

• Temporary chairs at a concert block the path of travel

None of these are “design features.”
They’re breakdowns in basic planning and spatial awareness.

And when design doesn’t account for how people actually move through a space — especially in high-traffic environments — things go wrong quickly.

Why Commercial Spaces Are Different (and Higher Risk)

Designing a home is one thing. Designing a public space is something else entirely.

In commercial environments, you’re dealing with:

• High volume of people

• Constant movement and circulation

• Multiple user types (including mobility devices)

• Temporary setups layered onto permanent design

That’s where ADA issues show up fast.

Because even small miscalculations — a few inches too tight, a chair placed in the wrong spot — can disrupt the path of travel and create a hazard.

ADA Isn’t Just a Checklist — It’s How People Move

One of the biggest misconceptions I see is that ADA compliance is just about hitting measurements.

It’s not.

It’s about understanding:

• How someone approaches a space

• How they turn, pivot, and navigate

• Where they land, pause, and transition

You can technically “meet” a requirement on paper and still create a space that doesn’t function safely in real life.

That’s where experience matters.

Where Things Commonly Go Wrong

In many of these cases, the issues come down to the same core problems:

• Obstructed paths of travel

• Improper circulation planning

• Temporary layouts that ignore accessibility

• Design decisions that prioritize aesthetics over function

And in high-traffic environments like casinos and stadiums, those small decisions get multiplied thousands of times a day.

Why Attorneys Are Calling Interior Designers

This is where my work as an expert witness comes in.

Because these cases aren’t just about whether something looks right — they’re about whether it was reasonable, functional, and safe based on how people actually use the space.

Attorneys need someone who can:

• Translate design into real-world behavior

• Explain what a reasonable standard of care looks like

• Identify when a design crosses the line from choice… to hazard

The Bottom Line

Good design should never create risk.

In commercial spaces especially, every decision — from layout to furniture placement — affects how people move, interact, and stay safe.

And when those decisions don’t account for real human behavior, they don’t just fail aesthetically…
they can fail legally.