How Do You Know?
After you are hurt on someone else’s property, one question tends to haunt you: was this my fault, or theirs? Property owners and their insurance companies work hard to make you believe it was yours. They will suggest you were careless, that you should have seen the hazard, that it was just an accident. It is a powerful message, and it stops many people from ever asking whether they had a real case.
Often, they did. Property owners have a legal duty to keep their property reasonably safe, and when they fail that duty and someone is seriously hurt, they can be held responsible, no matter how badly they want to shift the blame. The question is not whether you feel partly responsible. The question is whether the owner’s negligence caused your injury.
This article explains the signs that a property owner may be liable for your injury. It explains how fault really works in Pennsylvania. And it explains what you can do next. If any of this sounds like your situation, Lupetin & Unatin is here to help.
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Article written by Brendan Lupetin, Esq. Brendan is a managing partner in the law firm of Lupetin & Unatin, a medical malpractice law firm located in Pittsburgh and serving Western Pennsylvania.
Our practice is limited to high-value catastrophic cases because that is where we can do the most for our clients and for patient safety.
A Quick Word on How Premises Liability Works
To understand whether an owner is liable, it helps to understand the duty they owe. We have written a full, plain-language guide: premises liability in Pennsylvania, which explains the duty owed to visitors, the notice requirement, and Pennsylvania’s fault rules. This article focuses on recognizing liability in your own situation. For the background, we will point you to that companion guide.
The single most important thing to know is this. A property owner is liable when they knew, or should have known, about a dangerous condition and failed to fix it or warn you in time, and that failure caused your injury. The law does not require the owner to be perfect. But it does require them to act reasonably, and when they do not, the fact that you were also present, or did not spot the hazard yourself, does not automatically let them off the hook.
Signs a Property Owner May Be Liable
Below are the signs that point to owner liability. If several of these fit your situation, it is worth having a lawyer review what happened.
There Was a Clear Hazard That Should Not Have Been There
Liability often starts with a dangerous condition the owner allowed to exist: a spill left on the floor, a broken stair, a torn mat, a pothole in a lot, a broken handrail, a dark stairwell. If a reasonable owner would have fixed or warned about the hazard, and did not, that points toward liability.
The Owner Knew About the Hazard, or Should Have
This is the heart of most cases. If the owner or an employee knew about the danger, or if it existed long enough that they should have discovered it during reasonable inspections, they had a duty to act. A spill that sat for an hour, a lock that had been broken for weeks, a step that had been cracked for months, all point to notice, and to liability.
The Owner or an Employee Created the Hazard
When the property owner or its staff caused the dangerous condition themselves, mopping a floor without a warning sign, leaving merchandise in a walkway, stacking items unsafely, liability is often clearer, because they plainly knew about the very hazard they created.
There Was No Warning
Property owners are supposed to warn of dangers people may not see. If there was no wet floor sign, no cone, no barrier, no notice of a hazard the owner knew about, that absence of warning is a strong sign of negligence.
A Safety Rule or Building Code Was Violated
If the hazard involved a violation of a building code or safety standard, a stairway without a required handrail, a step of the wrong height, inadequate lighting, a broken smoke detector, that violation can be powerful evidence that the owner failed their duty.
You Were a Customer or Invited Guest
If you were a customer in a store, a tenant, a hotel guest, a patient, or otherwise invited onto a property for the owner’s business, you were owed the highest duty of care. Owners must inspect for and address hazards to protect people like you, which makes these among the strongest premises cases.
You Suffered a Serious Injury
The most significant cases involve serious, lasting harm, a brain injury, a spinal injury, a hip fracture, an injury requiring surgery. Serious injuries not only carry higher value; they also warrant the full investigation needed to prove the owner’s fault.
“But Shouldn’t I Have Watched Where I Was Going?”
This is the single most common worry people have, and it is exactly what property owners want you to believe. So it deserves a direct answer.
Pennsylvania uses a rule called modified comparative negligence. Under it, you can still recover even if you were partly at fault, your recovery is just reduced by your share of the blame. You are only barred from recovering entirely if you were found more than 50 percent at fault, that is, more to blame than the property owner.
So the fact that you might have been able to avoid the hazard does not end your case. The question is a comparison: was the property owner more responsible for what happened than you were? An owner who left a dangerous spill unmarked for an hour is likely far more at fault than a customer who simply did not see it. This is why “you should have watched where you were going” is an argument to overcome, not a reason to give up. Overcoming it, with evidence of the owner’s greater fault, is a central part of what a good premises lawyer does.
The Serious Harm These Injuries Can Cause
The premises cases that matter most involve serious, lasting harm, including:
- Traumatic brain injuries, from a fall or a blow to the head, causing lasting cognitive and physical problems. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, falls are the leading cause of traumatic brain injuries.
- Spinal cord injuries, including paralysis.
- Hip fractures and broken bones, which can be life-altering, especially for older adults.
- Injuries requiring surgery, to the back, shoulder, knee, or elsewhere.
- Chronic pain, that can last for years or permanently.
- Death, in the most tragic cases, which may give rise to a wrongful death claim for the family.
What You Should Do Now
If you think a property owner may be liable for your injury, here is what to do.
- Report the incident and get the details. If it happened at a business, make sure an incident report is created, and ask for a copy. Get the names of any witnesses.
- Preserve the evidence. Take photos of the hazard and the scene if you can, before it is cleaned up or repaired. In many premises cases, surveillance video is critical, and it can be erased within days, so acting quickly matters.
- Get medical care and follow through with it. Your health comes first, and your records also document the seriousness of your injuries.
- Be careful with the insurance company. Do not give the property owner’s insurer a recorded statement before talking to a lawyer. Adjusters are trained to ask questions in ways that shift blame onto you.
- Act within the deadlines. Pennsylvania generally gives you two years to file, but some situations, such as an injury on government property, can require notice much sooner.
- Talk to a lawyer who handles serious premises cases. These cases turn on evidence and on overcoming the owner’s blame-shifting. An experienced premises lawyer will know how to build the case.
How Lupetin & Unatin Can Help
We are Lupetin & Unatin, a Pittsburgh law firm, and we are among the most accomplished premises liability trial lawyers in Pennsylvania. We believe our results in these cases are among the best in the Commonwealth. Our firm won what are believed to be the two largest slip-and-fall verdicts in Erie County history, a $7.25 million verdict against UPMC Hamot and a $3.2 million verdict against Saint Vincent Surgery Center, as well as a $2.1 million jury verdict against Target Corporation, a case Target had valued at just $85,000. Several of these were cases other firms turned down because the facts looked hard.
We know exactly how property owners and insurers fight these cases, by blaming the injured person, and we know how to beat those arguments with evidence and preparation. We investigate quickly to secure the video, the inspection records, and the proof of notice before it disappears. We work with leading experts, and when insurers will not be fair, we try these cases to juries.
We take a limited number of cases so we can give each one real attention. We work on a contingency fee, which means you pay nothing up front. You pay nothing unless we win. We advance the costs of building your case, and if we do not recover for you, you owe us nothing.
You deserve to know whether you have a case, no matter what the insurance company has told you. A short conversation can tell you a lot.
Frequently Asked Questions
Possibly, yes. Pennsylvania lets you recover even if you were partly at fault, as long as you were not more than 50 percent to blame. Property owners routinely try to shift the blame to defeat a claim, but that is an argument to overcome, not the final word. Whether you have a case depends on comparing the owner’s fault to yours, which is exactly what we evaluate.
Through evidence, which is why prompt investigation matters. Surveillance video, inspection and maintenance logs, incident reports, prior complaints, and employee testimony can all show that the owner knew, or should have known, about the danger in time to fix it. Much of this evidence is controlled by the owner and can disappear, so acting quickly is important.
In most cases, the deadline is two years from the date of the injury, though some situations, such as an injury on government-owned property, can require notice much sooner. Because evidence like video can be erased quickly, it is best to call as soon as possible.
Nothing up front. We work on a contingency fee, which means we only get paid if we win money for you. There is no fee to talk with us and no fee to review your case. We advance the costs of building the case, and if we do not recover for you, you owe us nothing.
Reach Out Today
If any part of this article sounds like your situation, please contact Lupetin & Unatin. Tell us what happened. We will listen. We will review what occurred. We will tell you honestly whether we think you have a case, and what we think it may be worth.
Do not let a property owner or an insurance company talk you out of a case you may well have. If you were seriously injured on someone else’s property, you have the right to find out the truth. Let us help you find it. Call Lupetin & Unatin today for a free, no-pressure review of your case.