Slip & Fall Accidents Attorney in York, Pennsylvania

If you have recently been injured due to an accident that occurred on another party’s property, you may have grounds to file an insurance or personal injury claim against them. The expenses related to an injury like this can be extensive—including medical bills, lost wages, damaged property, or pain and suffering. If you think you have a case, call us today to get started. At Korey Leslie, Attorney-At-Law, LLC, we are committed to honest and direct communication and will work diligently to ensure every aspect of your case is investigated and that you seek the compensation you deserve. We serve clients in York, Pennsylvania, and Lancaster, Harrisburg, and Camp Hill.

Premises Liability in Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania requires individuals who own or manage a property to bear responsibility to keep it safe and free from hazards. In addition, if someone is injured on your property, you can be held liable. Some common examples of premises liability would be someone slipping on an icy path or falling down a flight of stairs that has no lighting. However, the owner will not always be entirely responsible since liability still needs to be determined.

If you are injured on another party’s property due to poorly or inadequately maintained grounds, you have two years to file a personal injury claim against them. Failure to file a claim promptly can result in a dismissal by the court.

Determining Liability

To determine liability, you must prove the property owner or homeowner neglected to keep their property reasonably safe. In most cases, if a person is invited on the property (such as a visitor or delivery person), the property owner must warn them of any potential hazards. If you have evidence that the owner acted with negligence and that their negligence resulted in your harm, then you generally have a liability case.

You will need to establish who possesses the duty of care that is breached. In some cases, this is the homeowner, but it could also be a landlord, a property management company, or a tenant. Slip and fall accidents can also occur in businesses like a store or a restaurant. In these cases, it is the business owner who is held liable. If the accident is on government property, you can seek damages from the responsible government entity. Both parties will note how negligence contributed to the accident, and a party will be partially or fully responsible for the injury.

Proving Fault

To prove fault you must show one of three things:

• Evidence that the owner caused the condition that led to the fall

• Evidence that the owner knew about the hazard yet did not fix it

• Evidence that the owner should have known about the unsafe conditions

Modified Comparative Fault

Determining liability gets more complicated considering the modified comparative negligence system in Pennsylvania. The law states that both parties can be held liable for the accident, and an investigation will take place to see the fault percentages of each party. If the injured person is at fault for a portion of the accident, the damages will reduce by their percentage of fault.

For example, if you are injured on private property but did not exercise reasonable caution when walking around a dangerous portion of land, you may be determined to have been 20% responsible. If the total damages awarded are $10,000, then you can only receive $8,000 to account for your part of the liability. Note that if the victim is more than 50% at fault, they have no standing to seek damages.