Scranton Slip and Fall Lawyer

As owners of homes and businesses, we all have an implicit legal responsibility to keep visitors on our property safe. If you’ve been injured on another person’s property, it may be because they were negligent. If you’ve suffered measurable harm, you may be able to file a lawsuit based on the legal concept referred to as “premises liability.”

Lawyers refer to the theory of premises liability when an illness or injury is the result of a defective condition on another person’s property. For this reason, it’s also known colloquially as “slip and fall” liability.

In terms of the law, slip and fall cases are in the realm of personal injury, in which all cases are rooted in the same idea: negligence. In a slip and fall case, a plaintiff’s legal team must prove that the owner of the property was negligent in its upkeep, which directly resulted in injury.

You may have been injured on another person’s property, but this doesn’t automatically make the owner negligent. We define “negligence” in slip and fall cases as when a property’s owner did, or should have, known that a dangerous condition existed, but failed to address it. 

Examples of Premise Liability Cases

Any accident that occurs as the result of a property’s defective condition may be a case of premises liability in the eyes of the law. Here are some of the most common examples of premises liability cases:

• Slip and fall accidents
• Trip and fall accidents
• Injuries resulting from inadequate maintenance
• Elevator injuries
• Swimming pool accidents
• Dog bites
• Playground injuries
• Household hazards in rental properties (asbestos, lead)

We often refer to premises liability as “slip and fall,” but in reality, it can encompass a wide range of accidents. Generally, we pursue a slip and fall case when we believe a property owner in the Wilkes-Barre area has violated their duty of care.

What Is Duty of Care, and How Will It Affect My Slip and Fall Case?

We each have an implicit, but legally binding, duty of care to one another. In other words, we must exercise reasonable caution in our daily activities. It’s why we can’t get behind the wheel of a car under the influence of alcohol or run out in front of traffic. Landowners similarly have a duty of care, which entails keeping it safe from hazards. Routine maintenance and upkeep are essential parts of a property’s care. If you’ve been injured on someone else’s property, the first thing we look for is evidence that the landowner violated their duty of care.

Here are some examples of violations of a landowner’s duty of care:

• Swimming pools are required by law to be adequately fenced and secured. If a fence falls into disrepair, or an owner fails to lock a gate, this might constitute negligence. If a young child gets into the pool and drowns, the owner would be liable.

• The Wilkes-Barre area sees its fair share of snow, and those who live in the city limits have a legally established time frame for clearing it. If you slip and fall on someone else’s sidewalk, and they have not adhered to city code, they may be guilty of negligence.

Exceptions to the Duty of Care Rule

There are cases in which you cannot file a lawsuit based on slip and fall liability, even if the property owner was negligent in a property’s upkeep. You cannot file a lawsuit if:

• You were trespassing
• You were in the process of committing a crime on the landowner’s property
• You were in an area that you had no legal right to be

Contacting a Slip and Fall Injury Attorney

If you believe you have legal grounds for a slip and fall liability lawsuit, your next step is to contact our law office for a free initial consultation. Slip and fall civil suits will help you recover damages from lost wages, medical bills, and emotional anguish. To see if you’re eligible for our contingency fee based legal services, contact Rosenbaum & Associates today.