Slip and Fall

If you go to someone’s property, whether that person is a friend or neighbor down the street or a restaurant or a store in your local community, you have the right to assume that the property is reasonably safe for you. Sometimes, however, property owners or those in control of the property fail to take reasonable precautions to ensure that the property is safe before they invite people over. When this occurs and if you injure yourself through a slip and fall or other type of accident, you have a right to bring a claim for money damages.

An experienced Pennsylvania personal injury lawyer can help you to better understand what your rights are after a Pennsylvania slip and fall. At the personal injury law firm of Lawrence R. Dworkin, we can review the circumstances surrounding your injury to determine if you have a legal case. We can help you to build evidence and prove that you are entitled to damages for pain and suffering, emotional distress, medical costs and lost wages, among other damages. To learn more about how we can help or for an evaluation of your slip and fall case, contact us today.

Slip and Fall Claims

In the state of Pennsylvania, a body of law commonly called “premises liability law” imposes the rules for when property owners or property renters/occupiers are liable for an injury that happens on their property. Under this law, the property owners have a duty to make the property safe for people coming over. However, the extent of this duty depends upon the relationship between the property owner/renter and the victim who is injured. For instance:

• Stores, restaurants and other public places that invite customers in owe the highest duty of care to their customers, who are classified as “invitees” under the law. When invitees are asked onto the premises, the property owner must regularly inspect the property to find any hazards. Any hazards that exist or that the property owner should know about must be corrected and made safe or the visitors must be given proper warning.
• Individuals who invite casual friends and acquaintances over don’t have to inspect for their guests, who are known as licensees. However, they do have to correct any dangers that they know about or reasonably should know about, or they must warn guests of these dangers.
• People who have trespassers on their property owe the trespassers a limited duty not to set traps for them and even to warn them of grave dangers when the property owner is aware that trespassing is occurring.

These rules are used to determine whether the property owner was negligent or breached a legal duty owed. If you can prove the property owner was negligent and breached a duty, and you can prove that the breach was the direct cause of some harm or injury you suffered, then you can make a claim for a slip and fall or other accident due to a dangerous property.

To learn more about whether you have a slip and fall case and for helping building your claim if you’ve been hurt on someone else’s property, contact the personal injury law firm of Lawrence R. Dworkin today. You can schedule your free consultation using our online form or via phone at 610-357-3506.