A slip and fall accident can happen in an instant, but the injuries can affect every part of your life for months or even years. A wet supermarket floor, an icy sidewalk, a broken staircase, poor lighting, or an uneven parking lot can cause serious injuries that require surgery, rehabilitation, time away from work, and ongoing medical treatment.
When a fall occurs because a property owner or another responsible party failed to maintain reasonably safe conditions, the injured person may have the right to pursue compensation.
At Moran Law Group, we represent people who have been seriously injured because of unsafe conditions on properties throughout Scranton and Northeastern Pennsylvania. If you are looking for a slip and fall attorney in Scranton who residents can turn to after an accident, our attorneys can investigate what happened, determine who may be responsible, and help you understand your legal options.
Slip and fall cases are often more complicated than they initially appear. It is not enough to establish that you fell on another person’s property. A successful claim generally requires evidence showing that a dangerous condition existed, that the responsible party knew or should have known about it, and that the condition caused your injuries.
That makes careful investigation particularly important.
What Is a Slip and Fall Accident?
A slip and fall is a type of premises liability case. Premises liability generally refers to the legal responsibility that property owners, businesses, landlords, and others may have when someone is injured because of an unsafe condition on property they own, occupy, manage, or control.
These accidents are not limited to situations where someone literally slips. A person may trip over an uneven surface, fall because of a defective stair, lose their footing because of ice, or be injured because of another dangerous property condition.
Common hazards that can lead to slip and fall accidents include:
- Wet floors
- Spilled liquids
- Food or debris in aisles
- Ice and snow
- Uneven sidewalks
- Broken pavement
- Potholes
- Loose carpeting
- Torn flooring
- Defective stairs
- Missing handrails
- Poor lighting
- Water leaking from refrigerators or freezers
- Rainwater tracked into entrances
- Broken floor tiles
- Loose mats or rugs
- Construction debris
- Unmarked changes in floor elevation
The circumstances surrounding the hazard are critical. Property owners are not automatically responsible for every accident that occurs on their property. The issue is whether the person or business responsible for the premises acted reasonably under the circumstances.
Who Is Responsible for a Slip and Fall Accident?
Determining responsibility is one of the first steps in a premises liability investigation.
Sometimes the answer appears obvious. If you fall inside a grocery store, you may assume the grocery store is responsible.
However, the legal situation can be considerably more complicated.
A commercial property may involve several different parties, including:
- The property owner
- A commercial tenant
- A property management company
- A cleaning company
- A maintenance contractor
- A snow removal contractor
- A landscaping company
- A construction contractor
The party responsible for the condition that caused an injury may depend upon who controlled that particular area and who had responsibility for maintaining it.
For example, a shopping center owner might be responsible for structural maintenance while individual stores maintain their interiors. A separate company might be responsible for clearing snow and ice from the parking lot.
A slip and fall attorney in Scranton that injury victims consult can investigate leases, maintenance agreements, service contracts, property ownership records, and other evidence to determine who may bear responsibility.
What Must Be Proven in a Pennsylvania Slip and Fall Case?
One of the biggest misconceptions about slip and fall cases is that an injury automatically means the property owner must pay compensation.
That is not how premises liability claims work.
The injured person generally needs to establish that another party was negligent. Although every case depends upon its individual circumstances, that usually involves establishing several important elements.
A Duty of Care Existed
The person or business responsible for the property must have owed the injured person a legal duty.
The precise duty can depend upon why the person was on the property and other circumstances surrounding the accident.
Customers entering a supermarket, restaurant, retail store, or similar business are generally there because the business has invited the public onto the property. Businesses are expected to take reasonable measures to protect customers from dangerous conditions.
The Responsible Party Failed to Act Reasonably
The next question is whether the property owner or another responsible party failed to use reasonable care.
That might mean failing to repair a known hazard, failing to inspect the property appropriately, failing to clean up a spill, failing to treat an icy walkway, or failing to warn people about a dangerous condition.
The Dangerous Condition Caused the Fall
The unsafe condition must have actually caused or contributed to the accident.
That is why documenting exactly what caused you to fall can be so important.
The Fall Caused Damages
Finally, an injured person must have suffered damages as a result of the accident.
Those damages might include medical expenses, lost wages, pain, physical limitations, and other consequences of the injury.
Did the Property Owner Know About the Hazard?
Notice is often one of the most important issues in a slip and fall case.
A business may argue that it could not have corrected a dangerous condition because nobody knew the condition existed.
That leads to several important questions.
Did the Property Owner Create the Condition?
Suppose an employee mops a floor and leaves the area wet without placing warning signs nearby. The business may have directly created the dangerous condition.
Likewise, if employees improperly stack merchandise that falls into an aisle or leave equipment where customers walk, the business itself may have created the hazard.
Did Someone Actually Know About the Hazard?
There may be evidence that the property owner or employees knew about a problem before the accident.
Perhaps another customer reported a spill.
Maybe an employee previously observed the dangerous condition.
There might have been earlier complaints about a broken stair, leaking refrigerator, or defective walkway.
Maintenance requests, emails, surveillance footage, witness statements, and internal reports can sometimes establish that a business had prior knowledge.
Should the Property Owner Have Discovered the Condition?
Even when there is no evidence that someone actually knew about the condition, there may be circumstances where the responsible party reasonably should have discovered it.
This often becomes an important question in supermarket and retail store accidents.
If a dangerous substance was present for a sufficient amount of time, reasonable inspection procedures might have identified the problem before someone was injured.
Determining how long a hazard existed can therefore become a major part of a slip and fall investigation.
Slip and Fall Accidents in Stores and Supermarkets
Retail stores and supermarkets are among the most common locations for slip and fall claims because conditions inside them can change constantly.
Customers move through aisles with shopping carts. Products can fall. Beverages can spill. Produce may drop onto the floor. Refrigerators and freezers can leak. Employees clean floors throughout the day.
Potential supermarket hazards include:
- Spilled beverages
- Dropped produce
- Broken containers
- Leaking refrigeration equipment
- Recently mopped floors
- Water near produce displays
- Rain or snow tracked through entrances
- Merchandise blocking walkways
- Loose mats
- Damaged flooring
When investigating these accidents, a supermarket slip fall lawyer may look at far more than the location where the customer fell.
Inspection procedures can matter. Cleaning records may matter. Employee testimony may matter. Surveillance footage may show when the hazard first appeared or whether employees passed the condition without correcting it.
Ice and Snow Slip and Fall Accidents in Scranton
Snow and ice are a reality of life in Northeastern Pennsylvania, but that does not mean every icy property condition is unavoidable.
Falls on snow and ice can occur on:
- Sidewalks
- Parking lots
- Store entrances
- Apartment walkways
- Exterior stairs
- Ramps
- Driveways
- Commercial properties
Pennsylvania snow and ice claims can involve unique legal issues. The origin and condition of the ice may matter, along with when the weather occurred, whether snow removal took place, and whether the property had recurring drainage or refreezing problems.
A slip and fall attorney for ice and snow accidents may examine weather history, snow removal records, maintenance agreements, photographs, drainage patterns, witness statements, and other evidence.
Sometimes the property owner handles snow removal directly. In other situations, an outside contractor has been hired. Determining who had responsibility for treating a particular location can therefore be important.
Slip and Fall Accidents on Government Property
What happens if you fall outside a municipal building, on a public sidewalk, or on other government-controlled property?
These cases can be considerably different from claims against private property owners.
Pennsylvania law provides governmental entities with significant legal protections. However, there are circumstances in which claims involving certain dangerous property conditions may proceed.
The rules and deadlines can also be different.
A government property slip and fall lawyer may need to determine:
- Which government entity controlled the property
- Whether another party was responsible for maintenance
- What condition caused the accident
- How long the condition existed
- Whether the government had notice
- Whether a particular legal exception applies
- Whether special notice requirements must be satisfied
Government-related cases should be investigated promptly because waiting can create additional legal problems.
How Do You Prove Negligence in a Slip and Fall Case?
Evidence can make or break a premises liability claim.
A dangerous condition may disappear almost immediately after an accident. A store employee may clean up a spill. Snow may melt. Ice may be treated. A damaged stair may be repaired.
For that reason, preserving evidence quickly is particularly important.
Photographs
If you are physically able to do so, take pictures of the exact condition that caused you to fall.
Photograph the hazard from several angles. Take close-up images as well as photographs showing the surrounding area.
Surveillance Video
Many stores, restaurants, apartment buildings, hotels, parking facilities, and other commercial properties have surveillance cameras.
Video may capture the accident itself, but footage from before the fall can be equally valuable.
For example, surveillance video may reveal when a spill occurred, whether employees walked past it, or how long an icy entrance went untreated.
Incident Reports
Report the accident to the property owner, manager, security personnel, or appropriate employee.
An incident report can document when and where the accident occurred.
Witnesses
Someone may have seen the condition before you fell or observed the accident itself.
Get names and contact information whenever possible.
Maintenance and Inspection Records
Businesses may maintain records showing when employees inspected or cleaned particular areas.
Property managers may have work orders documenting prior problems.
Snow removal companies may have records showing when a property was plowed, shoveled, or salted.
These documents can become important when trying to prove negligence slip fall claims.
Our separate guide, Proving Negligence in Slip and Fall Cases, examines the evidence used to establish property owner responsibility in much greater detail.
Common Injuries Caused by Slip and Fall Accidents
A fall can cause much more than temporary soreness.
Some victims require emergency treatment, hospitalization, surgery, and months of physical therapy.
Common injuries include:
- Broken wrists
- Broken arms
- Ankle fractures
- Hip fractures
- Knee injuries
- Shoulder injuries
- Torn ligaments
- Head injuries
- Concussions
- Traumatic brain injuries
- Neck injuries
- Herniated discs
- Back injuries
- Spinal cord injuries
- Cuts and lacerations
- Soft tissue injuries
Falls can be especially dangerous for older adults, but people of any age can suffer serious injuries.
A fractured hip may dramatically affect someone’s independence. A shoulder injury could make it impossible to return to physical work. A traumatic brain injury may interfere with concentration, memory, and everyday activities.
The seriousness of a slip and fall case should therefore be evaluated based on the full effect the injury has had on the victim’s life.
What Compensation Can You Recover?
The compensation available after a slip and fall depends upon the circumstances of the accident and the extent of the injuries.
Potential damages can include:
Medical Expenses
Compensation may include past medical bills as well as reasonably anticipated future medical treatment related to the injury.
This could include:
- Ambulance transportation
- Emergency room care
- Hospitalization
- Surgery
- Diagnostic testing
- Specialist treatment
- Physical therapy
- Medication
- Rehabilitation
- Medical equipment
- Future procedures
Lost Income
If your injuries prevented you from working, lost wages may be part of your claim.
More serious injuries can also affect someone’s long-term ability to earn a living.
Pain and Suffering
Physical pain, emotional distress, reduced mobility, and the loss of activities you once enjoyed can also be significant components of a personal injury claim.
Permanent Injuries
If an accident results in permanent impairment, disability, scarring, or other lasting consequences, those effects may substantially influence the value of the case.
What If the Insurance Company Says You Were at Fault?
Insurance companies frequently attempt to shift some or all of the blame to the injured person.
They may claim that you:
- Were not watching where you were walking
- Should have seen the dangerous condition
- Were distracted
- Wore inappropriate footwear
- Ignored a warning
- Were looking at your phone
- Chose an unsafe route
Pennsylvania’s comparative negligence rules can allow an injured person to recover compensation even when that person bears some responsibility for the accident, provided the legal requirements are satisfied.
However, the person’s percentage of responsibility can reduce the amount recovered.
This makes attempts to shift blame important.
You should not assume that an insurance company’s accusation means you are responsible for the accident. Determining fault requires evaluating all of the circumstances surrounding the fall.
What Should You Do After a Slip and Fall Accident?
The actions you take after an accident can affect both your health and your potential legal claim.
Seek Medical Attention
Your health should always be the priority.
Some injuries may not become fully apparent immediately after the accident, particularly head, neck, back, and soft tissue injuries.
Report the Accident
Tell the property owner, store manager, landlord, or appropriate employee what happened.
Ask that the accident be documented.
Photograph the Hazard
If possible, photograph the dangerous condition before it is cleaned, repaired, or removed.
Get Witness Information
Obtain contact information for anyone who witnessed the fall or saw the dangerous condition.
Preserve Your Shoes and Clothing
Do not immediately discard or alter the shoes and clothing you were wearing when the accident occurred.
Be Careful When Speaking With Insurance Companies
An insurance adjuster may contact you soon after the accident and request a recorded statement.
Before providing detailed statements or accepting a settlement, consider speaking with an attorney who represents injury victims.
Contact an Attorney Promptly
Evidence can disappear quickly in premises liability cases.
An attorney can take steps to preserve potentially important evidence and begin investigating the accident.
How Long Do You Have to File a Slip and Fall Claim?
Pennsylvania generally has a two-year statute of limitations for many personal injury claims.
However, waiting until the deadline approaches can create serious problems.
Surveillance recordings may be overwritten. Witnesses may become difficult to locate. Employees may leave their jobs. Property conditions may change. Maintenance documents can become harder to obtain.
Claims involving government property may also involve additional deadlines and procedural requirements.
The safest approach is to have the circumstances reviewed as early as possible.
Why Choose Moran Law Group After a Slip and Fall?
Slip and fall cases require careful investigation and an understanding of Pennsylvania premises liability law.
At Moran Law Group, we represent people who have suffered serious injuries because property owners, businesses, landlords, and other responsible parties failed to maintain safe conditions.
We investigate issues such as:
- Who owned or controlled the property
- Who was responsible for maintenance
- What caused the accident
- Whether the hazard was previously reported
- How long the dangerous condition existed
- Whether surveillance footage exists
- Whether inspection procedures were followed
- Whether similar accidents occurred previously
- How the injuries have affected our client’s life
We also handle communications with insurance companies so our clients can focus on their medical care and recovery.
Every case is different. Our goal is to understand what happened, identify the evidence necessary to establish responsibility, and pursue the compensation our client deserves.
If you need a slip and fall attorney Scranton residents can rely on after a serious accident, Moran Law Group is ready to listen.
Slip and Fall Resource Center
To learn more about slip and fall accidents, common injuries, liability, and your legal rights after a serious fall, explore our comprehensive resource center:
Store and Supermarket Fall Claims: What You Need to Know After a Retail Store Slip and Fall Ice and Snow Slip and Fall Accidents
Slip and Fall on Government Property
Proving Negligence in Slip and Fall Cases
Each article examines a different issue that can affect the investigation, liability, and potential recovery in a Pennsylvania slip and fall case.
Speak With a Slip and Fall Attorney in Scranton
After a serious fall, you may be dealing with medical appointments, pain, missed work, and uncertainty about your future.
You should not also have to investigate whether a business followed its inspection procedures, determine who maintained a sidewalk, track down surveillance footage, or negotiate with an insurance company determined to minimize its financial responsibility.
Moran Law Group can handle those issues for you.
If you or someone you love was injured because of a dangerous condition on someone else’s property, contact Moran Law Group for a free consultation. Our attorneys can review what happened, explain your legal options, and determine whether you may have grounds to seek compensation.
Frequently Asked Questions About Slip and Fall Attorney in Scranton, PA
1. Do I have a slip and fall case if I was injured on someone else’s property?
Possibly. Being injured on another person’s property does not automatically establish a legal claim. Generally, there must be evidence that an unsafe condition existed and that the property owner, business, or another responsible party failed to use reasonable care. Important questions include who created the hazard, how long it existed, whether anyone knew about it, and whether reasonable inspections would have discovered it. The condition must also have caused your fall and resulting injuries. A slip and fall attorney can investigate these circumstances and determine whether the available evidence may support a premises liability claim under Pennsylvania law.
2. What should I do if I slipped and fell inside a store in Scranton?
Seek medical care first, particularly if you hit your head or experience significant pain. If possible, report the accident to a manager and ask that an incident report be prepared. Take photographs or video showing exactly what caused you to fall and the surrounding area. Obtain contact information from witnesses and preserve the shoes and clothing you were wearing. Avoid giving detailed recorded statements to an insurance company before learning your rights. Because businesses may quickly clean up hazards and surveillance footage can eventually be overwritten, contacting a slip and fall lawyer Scranton residents trust promptly can help preserve important evidence.
3. Can I recover compensation if I was partially responsible for my fall?
Potentially. Pennsylvania follows a comparative negligence system, meaning an injured person may still be able to recover damages even when that person bears some responsibility for the accident, depending upon the percentage of fault assigned. Any compensation may be reduced based upon that percentage. Insurance companies sometimes use this rule to argue that an injured customer should have noticed a hazard or paid more attention. Those arguments do not automatically determine the outcome. All of the circumstances must be evaluated, including what the property owner knew, whether the condition could reasonably have been avoided, and what caused the accident.
4. How much is a slip and fall case worth in Pennsylvania?
There is no standard value for a slip and fall claim. Compensation depends upon the severity of the injuries, medical treatment, future care needs, lost wages, reduced earning ability, pain and suffering, permanent limitations, and the strength of the evidence establishing liability. A relatively minor injury requiring limited treatment will generally be evaluated differently from a fracture requiring surgery or a traumatic brain injury causing permanent limitations. Available insurance coverage and disputes regarding fault can also affect recovery. An attorney should evaluate the complete impact of the injury rather than simply multiplying medical bills or relying on an online settlement calculator.
5. How long do I have to file a slip and fall lawsuit in Pennsylvania?
Pennsylvania generally allows two years to file many personal injury lawsuits, including premises liability claims. However, certain circumstances can create different requirements, particularly when government property or public entities are involved. More importantly, waiting can make the case harder to prove even when the legal deadline has not expired. Surveillance footage can be overwritten, hazards can be repaired, snow and ice can disappear, and witnesses can become difficult to locate. Speaking with an attorney soon after an accident allows an investigation to begin while important evidence may still exist and helps ensure that any applicable filing or notice deadlines are identified.