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Premises Liability Lawyers

We Protect You When Someone Else Will Not

We may not always realize it, but whenever we leave our house, in one way or another we rely on others to keep us safe in the spaces we occupy. We trust that the places where we shop, work, eat, and visit are free from dangers and hazards. If your safety is compromised on one of those locations, you may be able to hold the property owner or manager accountable because of premises liability laws.

How Our Premises Liability Lawyer Can Help

A premises liability lawsuit is to seek compensation for an injury caused by a danger on another person’s property. Property owners should warn of hazardous conditions so you do not injure yourself. When they fail to do so, our premises liability lawyers protect your rights.

Call Rieders, Travis, Dohrmann, Mowrey, Humphrey & Waters at (570) 323-8711 for a free telephone consultation on your premises liability claim.

Our Premises Liability Lawyer Seeks Damages

If you were injured or a loved one died due to the negligence of a property owner, you may be entitled to compensation. Generally, compensation is designed to make you whole again, so a premises liability attorney could help you recover:

  • Medical and hospital expenses
  • Lost past and future  wages
  • Loss of life’s pleasures
  • Pain and suffering
  • Emotional and physical distress.

Pennsylvania premises liability laws are complex, and the process for recovery is very detailed and methodical. If your case is not handled correctly, you may never receive the compensation to which you are entitled. You could maximize your recovery and ensure you do not leave money on the table by engaging an experienced premises liability attorney.

We Know Pennsylvania Premises Liability Laws

Property owners and, to some extent, renters have duties to maintain and inspect their property. The property must be kept in a reasonably safe condition, and the owners must protect from danger those entering the property. If they fail to do so and their negligence results in an injury, they may be held liable.

In most personal injury cases, the duty one party owes another seems simple and straightforward. However, this is not the case in premises liability cases. The duty the property owner owes depends on how you came to be on their property where you were injured. You could be there as an invitee, a licensee, or a trespasser.

1. Invitee

An invitee is usually a business premises.  This occurs in a situation when there is express or implied permission to enter the property. Invitees rightfully enter the property for an express purpose with an invitation from the owner. Examples are shoppers at a grocery store, visitors at a museum, and dinner guests. The duty of care owed to invitees is the highest level under law.

A landowner must exercise ordinary care for an invitee’s safety and protection. This includes warning of dangers on the property that the invitee cannot reasonably be expected to know about. For example, supermarkets must exercise ordinary care to discover spills, clean them, and warn customers of the spills.

2. Licensee

A licensee is someone who enters another’s premises by permission for his or her own pleasure or benefit or anyone who enters by authority of law, such as police, firefighters, and emergency responders. For example, if the owner of a parking lot permits free use of his or her lot on Sundays without encouraging such use, the Sunday users of the parking lot are licensees.

A landowner owes licensees a lesser degree of care than an invitee, but there is still a duty. They must refrain from willfully, wantonly, or recklessly causing injury to an invitee. If the landowner knows that the licensee is present on his or her land, then he must use ordinary care to avoid injuring the licensee and warn of known and hidden dangers.

3. Trespasser

A trespasser is someone who enters another’s property without authorization, invitation, or approval for his or her own purposes or convenience. A landowner generally owes the same duties to a trespasser as to a licensee. That is, owners are not allowed to inflict injury on a trespasser, and may liable for failing to reasonably warn trespassers of known hazards.

Exception: Attractive Nuisances For Trespassing Children

The doctrine of “attractive nuisance” gives children who trespass greater protections than adult trespassers. Landowners have a duty to ensure that their property is safe for children who may tempted to trespass and explore “attractive nuisances.” A swimming pool is an example.

Owners have a duty of preventing harm to children by limiting access to the attractive nuisance. Owners should also exercise reasonable care to eliminate or minimize the danger and otherwise protect the children.

Premises liability is a surprisingly complicated area of personal injury law. The categories of visitors to another person’s property are not easy to figure out. Each case has different circumstances and there is much case law on the subject. Aspects of a case that seem obvious can be subject to technical rules, and proving the duty owed is not so simple. For these reasons, it is a good idea to reach out to an experienced premises liability lawyer.

Why Choose Rieders, Travis, Dohrmann, Mowrey, Humphrey & Waters

Our premises liability attorneys have spent decades honing their skills and successfully representing Pennsylvania families who have suffered injuries or loss due to someone else’s negligence. We offer person attention and loyalty to every client, aggressively fighting for their right to compensation.

Whether in settlement negotiations or pursuing a favorable trial verdict, we are thoroughly prepared and committed to achieving a just and fair outcome. With our competent staff, our premises liability attorneys offer strength in experience while providing top-notch personal service.

If you or a loved one has suffered harm on someone else’s property, your next step should be to contact Rieders, Travis, Dohrmann, Mowrey, Humphrey & Waters. When you partner with us, you benefit from our competence, experience, knowledge, professionalism, compassion, and a long history of results.

Call our premises liability attorney at (570) 323-8711 today.

Frequently Asked Questions

You likely have some questions about premises liability cases. Here are some common ones our premises liability attorneys hear.

Besides The Property Owner, Is Anyone Else Liable For My Injuries?

Maybe. Depending on where and how your injuries happened, other people or entities may be liable. They could include:

  • Tenants
  • Work crews
  • Landlords
  • Security guards
  • Companies
  • Anyone whose intentional, criminal actions caused your injuries.

It is best to retain an experienced premises liability attorney to allow for a full investigation into all potentially liable parties.

How Long Do I Have To File A Premises Liability Claim?

In Pennsylvania, personal injury claims must generally be filed within two years from the date of injury. If you wish to bring a claim against a government body in Pennsylvania, you must generally provide notice within six months of the injury.  Sometimes, federal laws and rules come into play, depending upon the type of case involved and the citizenship of the parties.

What Types Of Premises Liability Cases Do You Take?

Our premises liability attorneys handle lawsuits involving slip-and-fall injuries and others, like those caused by:

  • Falling hazards, such as holes or large drop-offs
  • Dog bites
  • Overhead dangers, such as old branches, falling debris, or store inventory stacked too high
  • Defects in sidewalks or uneven flooring
  • Mechanical hazards, such as exposed wiring or malfunctioning equipment
  • Dark or insecure premises, such as unlit parking lots or stairs or unfenced dangerous yards
  • Unsafe elevators or escalators
  • Industrial and commercial injuries

No matter the manner in which you suffered your injury, if you were on someone else’s property, speak with a premises liability lawyer about damages you may be able to seek.

I Was Not Paying Attention When I Slipped And Fell. Can You Still Help Me?

In Pennsylvania, all hope is not lost if you did something to contribute to your injury on someone else’s property. Maybe you were looking down at your phone and failed to notice hazardous conditions that led to your injury. Comparative negligence laws allow you to recover only the portion of the damages the other party caused you, as long as you were not more negligent than the property owner. Comparative negligence gets complicated, so it is essential to speak with a lawyer.

Our Premises Liability Lawyer Fights For You

You did not anticipate being injured when you visited someone else’s business or home. However, if a property owner overlooked dangers and did not take reasonable steps to address the hazards, they may be held legally responsible for their negligence.

Premises liability is a complicated area of personal injury law. Our premises liability attorney can help you understand your rights and recommend the best course of action.

Call (570) 323-8711 today to schedule a consultation and get started on recovering damages.

Attorney Cliff Rieders

Attorney Cliff RiedersCliff Rieders is a Nationally Board Certified Trial Lawyer practicing personal injury law. A large part of his practice involves multi-district litigation, including cases related to pharmaceuticals, vitamin supplements and medical devices. He is admitted in several state and federal courts, as well as the Supreme Court of the United States. Rieders is the past regional president of the Federal Bar Association and is a life member of the distinguished American Law Institute, which promulgates proposed rules adopted by many state courts. He is a past president of the Pennsylvania Association for Justice, formerly Pennsylvania Trial Lawyers Association. As a founder of the Pennsylvania Patient Safety Authority, he served on the Board for 15 years.

Not only has Rieders held many highly esteemed, leadership positions, he authored legislation related to the Patient Safety Authority and the Mcare Act, which governs medical and hospital liability actions in Pennsylvania. He authored texts upon which both practitioners and judges rely, including Pennsylvania Malpractice Laws and Forms, and Financial Responsibility Law Issues in Pennsylvania, the latter governing auto and truck collisions in Pennsylvania. In addition, he wrote several books on the practice of law in Pennsylvania regarding wrongful death and survivor actions, insurance bad faith, legal malpractice claims and worker rights, among others. Rieders also serves as a resource to practitioners as a regular speaker for Celesq, an arm of the world’s largest legal publisher, Thomson Reuters West Publishing.

As recognition of his wide range of contribution to his profession and of his dedication to protecting the rights of his clients, he received numerous awards, among them the George F. Douglas Amicus Curiae Award, the Milton D. Rosenberg Award, the B’nai B’rith Justice Award, and awards of recognition from the Pennsylvania Trial Lawyers. [ Attorney Bio ]