Pennsylvania Injury & Accident Attorney

Practice Areas

Blog

Legal Library

Premises Liability: The Slip and Fall

More Info

Vehicle and Automobile Accidents

More Info

Premises Liability: The Slip and Fall

10/27/2008
James R. Carroll, Jr., Esquire
Comments (0)

New case law on slilp and fall on icey sidewalks owned by a City

Attached is a link to a new Pennsylvania Supreme Court decision yesterday in Reid v. City of Philadelphia. The Court (Eakin, J.) holds that Section 8542(b)(3) of the Political Subdivision Tort Claims Act does not apply to sidewalks, even those abutting local agency property.

This was a case where the injured victim slipped and fell on an icey sidewalk and was initially allowed to recover after the City was negligent in removing ice and snow from a sidewalk. The trial court and Commonwealth Court held that the City could be liable under the "real property" exception of the Political Subdivision Tort Claim Act. The Pennsylvania Supreme Court reversed that decision.

Thanks to Scott Cooper, Esquire for providing this information.

Labels: ice and snow political subdivision tort claim act, premise liability, sidewalk, slip and fall,

8/1/2008
James R. Carroll, Jr., Esquire
Comments (0)

Drunken man paralyzed after fall down stairs gets $17M

A New York jury awarded nearly $17 million to a man who sustained a paralyzing spinal injury after he tripped through the entrance of his Bronx residence. The plaintiff, Juan Santa Barbara, tripped on a door saddle, fell through his doorway, over a small wall and down a stairway, fracturing his spine. Santa Barbara sued his landlord, claiming that the saddle was unreasonably tall and constituted a tripping hazard. The landlord argued that the area was safe, and it also noted that Santa Barbara was intoxicated at the time of the incident.

The jury assigned 70-percent liability to the landlord and 30-percent liability to Santa Barbara. It awarded $24,162,000, but that award was reduced by 30 percent, to reflect Santa Barbara's share of the fault.

Santa Barbara v. Migdol Realty Management, LLC

Go to VerdictSearch.com for the full report.

Labels: back injury, jury, landlord, lawsuit, new york jury, paralyzed, premise liability, slip and fall, verdict