Chester County Personal Injury Lawyers Recover Significant Settlement
Slip and falls make up a significant portion of personal injuries cases. A recent client of ours experienced such a slip and fall on the property of a local retirement home complex in Chester County PA . As our client was walking to her car, she slipped and fell backwards on an icy patch that was expanding due to uncontrolled drainage. Unfortunately for our client, she fractured her hip and needed surgery to fully heal her hip.
At this juncture, there are a number of decisions to be made throughout the upcoming year while an injured person is recovering from a potentially life altering injury. First, a person wants to make sure that they receive the medical treatment necessary. Our client took care of this and then looked to her legal options, to be compensated for the injuries she sustained.
Our client knew that any reasonable person would believe that the section of the pavement she was walking on should not have had ice on it. Therefore, she believed she could have a case as to who was responsible for her injuries. She decided to call Ciccarelli Law Offices for legal advice and we were happy to take her case.
As owners of the property on which our client lived, the retirement home was found to be responsible for our client’s severe injuries. Under Pennsylvania law, landlords like the retirement home, that reserve control over areas of a leased property, have a duty to maintain these areas. This includes their parking lots.
Slip and falls are governed by case law that has set forth a precedent of how the courts before a case have decided. In past Pennsylvania cases, like Devine v. Hollander, these sections of the property need to be “reasonably safe for the use of tenants…and a landlord becomes liable where he either had actual notice of a defective condition therein or was chargeable with constructive notice, because had he exercised reasonable inspection he would have become aware of it.” In our client’s case, this was absolutely true and the court and the retirement home agreed with our attorneys upon settlement.
The retirement home should have been aware of a drainage issue that was spilling into the parking lot. As a result, they should have realized the potential consequences of leaving it alone during the winter. There were a number of precautionary efforts they could have performed to prevent such an accident and, according to photos, did not take any such actions.
To get the compensation you need in a slip and fall case, Ciccarelli Law Offices are here for you. Located in Philadelphia, Lancaster, Delaware and Chester counties, our attorneys are here to help lead you through the legal process. Lee Ciccarelli and his experienced legal team will get the compensation you deserve if you slip and fall and someone else is liable for the injuries you have sustained. Call us for more information or any questions you may have at 610-692-8700 or toll free at 877-529-2422.