As an experienced Media Personal Injury Attorney, clients come to me all the time with questions regarding hazardous injuries from tripping. Tripping hazard cases like all premises liability actions require that you show actual or constructive notice on the part of the property owner of a dangerous condition or else you won’t be successful. What I want to talk about, and this illustrates why it’s so important to get an attorney involved to help you with your investigation early, is who the property owner is and correctly identifying that party. If it’s a residential property, it’s easy. It’s the deeded owner of the property and perhaps maybe a lessee if there is a landlord/tenant situation. If it’s a commercial property, you’re going to want to look to the property owner himself in addition to the business and also to the property manager if there is one.
The most important thing is if it’s a government entity be it state, local, or federal, your claim is going to be not necessarily barred but certainly impacted by the relevant tort claims act for that particular jurisdiction. Municipalities in most states including the federal government have blanket immunity from liability with the exception of certain enumerated circumstances. In Pennsylvania, for instance, there are nine including an injury regarding a government vehicle and a defective condition on government property.
The big thing this does is limits the amount of time you have to file the claim. Here in Pennsylvania under their tort immunity, you have six months as opposed to the general two-year statute of limitation, to put the government entity on notice of your claim. If you don’t do that, your claim will be barred. It will also impact what you can recover. Here in Pennsylvania for one particular plaintiff against a government entity, they’re capped at $250,000. It’s $1 million in the aggregate. If 10 people are injured and all have the same damages, they’re all going to be limited to $100,000 each in their recovery. All of these points illustrate why it is crucial to get an attorney involved very early after your accident.
If you have any questions regarding tripping hazard injuries, please contact our Media Personal Injury Attorney for a free case evaluation
This educational blog was brought to you by our experienced Personal Injury Lawyer. Our law firm proudly represents clients throughout Media, as well as Pennsylvania, the greater Philadelphia area, Delaware and New Jersey.