Premises Liability

Scranton Premises Liability Attorneys

Injured at the Store or a Friend’s House? Call Us

Property owners need to make certain that no one who visits their property is hurt by a dangerous hazard there. If an accident does occur, then the property owner could be liable for the resulting damages, like medical bills, lost wages, and pain and suffering.

At Fellerman & Ciarimboli Law PC, our premises liability attorneys in Scranton can help you seek compensation and justice after you were hurt on someone else’s property. We have more than 20 years working on cases much like yours, whether you were hurt in a grocery store, retail store, public park, or friend’s house. Across the decades of legal experience, we have secured more than $110 million in great case results, and some of our biggest wins came from premises liability claims.

Want to know more? Call (800) 513-8941 to find out what to do after being hurt while visiting a store, friend, or stranger. You can also fill out our online contact form.

Property Owners Must Fix Foreseeable Hazards

poorly lit parking garage at night A cornerstone of a successful premises liability claim is proving that you were hurt by a “foreseeable hazard” that the property owner should have addressed. If you were hurt in an accident caused by an issue that the property owner would not have reasonably known about, then your claim’s validity could be weakened.

For example, you visit a neighbor after being invited over for lunch. When you step into the kitchen, you slip on a puddle of water that pooled on the tile after leaking from the kitchen sink. Your neighbor should have known about the puddle before you set foot into their kitchen, even if the leak started recently.

On the other hand, if you slipped on orange juice in a grocery store mere moments after another customer spilled it, then your case would be more complicated. The grocery store owner would likely have no time to notice and clean up the mess if you slipped on the puddle a minute or so after it happened. When the “foreseeable” nature of a hazard is unclear, it becomes all the more important to work with an experienced premises liability lawyer in Scranton.

Three Types of Visitors in Pennsylvania

Who you are and why you are on someone else’s property matters in a premises liability claim filed in Pennsylvania. The state categorizes visitors into separate categories, which changes a property owner’s duty of care to that visitor.

There are three different types of visitor:

Invitees: When you are invited officially or unofficially to someone’s property to conduct, you are an invitee. Customers and clients are invitees.
Licensees: When you visit someone’s property for mutual benefit or recreation without official business, you are a licensee. Friends and relatives are often considered licensees, even if they receive an official invitation to visit the property but do so on a whim.
Trespassers: Anyone who enters someone else’s property without invitation and/or through illegal means is a trespasser.

Property owners owe the highest duty of care to invitees and the lowest to trespassers. In other words, if you were trespassing on someone’s property and were hurt by a foreseeable hazard, then you will have a more difficult time proving liability and seeking compensation.

Commonplace Property Dangers

Foreseeable hazards are all around us when we head to the store or a friend’s private home. While you do have the duty to try to avoid foreseeable hazards, the property owner or landowner has a generally stronger duty to notice and correct those hazards before they can hurt anyone.

What are some of the most common property dangers in many settings?

Lifted carpeting
Slick tile flooring
Ice or snow outside an entry or exit
Cords or cables in a walkway
Missing handrails for steps
Poorly lit corridors
Unfenced swimming pools
Aggressive dogs with no leash

What Are the Elements of A Premises Liability Claim?

In order to win a premises liability claim in Pennsylvania, you will need to prove the following:

That you were owed a certain duty of care by the property owner
That the property owner failed to exercise that duty of care
The property owner's negligence led to your injuries
Your injuries resulted in actual monetary damages (medical bills, missed work, etc.)

If you are able to prove the above elements of premises liability, you will have a strong case. The good news is that our attorneys are standing by to help build your case.

What Does a Premises Liability Lawyer Do?

A skilled premises liability lawyer can do the following to help move your case along and get you the compensation you deserve:

Investigate the details surrounding your accident and develop a strong case on your behalf
Draft a demand letter detailing your damages and the compensation you require
Continue to accumulate evidence to support your claims and build a strong case
Enter negotiations with the property owner on your behalf or, if negotiations fail, take your claim to court

Filing a Claim Has Never Been Easier

When you are hurt on someone else’s property, you probably do not want to get caught up in legal paperwork while trying to recover. To avoid that headache, come to Fellerman & Ciarimboli Law PC and let our Scranton premises liability lawyers manage your case from start to finish. Someone else’s negligence shouldn’t cause your financial hardship. We are here to help see that it doesn’t.

Please arrange a free consultation with our firm today.