Slip and Fall Cases

Every property owner in Pennsylvania including Chester County, Montgomery County, Delaware County, Berks County and Philadelphia County has a responsibility to its guests, visitors and customers to ensure that their property is kept in a reasonably safe condition. This is not an absolute duty to make a property perfectly safe from every possible hazard – just a duty to make it reasonable. You must keep in mind that just because someone falls and is injured on someone else’s property, it does not necessarily make it a property liability case. For example, if you have suffered an injury from tripping on an uneven sidewalk; (think West Chester, Pennsylvania sidewalks); from broken or uneven stairs; icy conditions; wet floors or even falling in a hole, you may have a potential property liability claim against the owner of the unsafe property. Slip and Fall attorneys must prove that the injury was caused by a defective condition and that the property owner either knew or should have known of its existence and have taken steps to correct the problem or at least warn the visitor.

Property Liability for Owner

The duty of a Chester County, Pennsylvania property owner as indicated before, is to keep the property “reasonably safe.” This includes undertaking periodic inspections to ensure a safe environment. This is especially true when a person is a business owner. Business owners have the highest duty to the public. However, before a property owner can be liable for somebody’s injuries from a slip and fall, it must be shown that it was truly a defective condition and that the defective condition was either known to exist by the owner or, if the owner had been acting in a reasonable fashion, should have been known and either corrected it or placed warning signs.

If you slipped on a banana lying on the floor of a grocery store and broke your hip. Would the owner of the grocery store who has a duty to undertake periodic inspections, be liable for your injuries? It all depends. How long was the banana laying there? Had it just been knocked off the shelf by someone walking by or had it been there for a long enough period that it should have been spotted and removed by store personnel? These are facts which must be considered by a Chester County personal injury lawyer when deciding whether to pursue slip and fall cases or property liability cases.

What to do if you are injured from a slip and fall accident

If you are injured from a slip and fall, report the accident to the property owner immediately. Determine immediately exactly what you slipped or fell on or over. Get someone to take pictures of the scene as soon as possible and NEVER talk to an insurance adjuster before having spoken to a property liability attorney. This is so important because claims’ adjusters will usually try to put words in your mouth by asking you leading or misleading questions hoping you will answer without thinking the question through only to then use your statement against you later in an effort to build their case against you. Please contact us.

We handle cases in West Chester, King of Prussia, Honey Brook, Coatesville, Thorndale, Downingtown, Lionville, Exton, Frazer, Malvern, Paoli, Phoenixville, Devon, Berwyn, West Goshen, Chadds Ford, Kennett Square, Avondale, West Grove, Oxford, Parkesburg and the surrounding areas.