Scranton Slip and Fall Lawyer

One fall on a wet floor, an icy parking lot, or a broken step can mean a broken hip, a spinal injury, or a head injury that keeps you out of work for months – or longer. Pennsylvania law gives you two years from the date of your fall to file a claim. That window closes whether you act or not.

When the fall happened because a property owner ignored a hazard they knew about, you have the right to hold them accountable. Scartelli Olszewski, P.C. has fought premises liability cases in Lackawanna County since 2001. Our office at 411 Jefferson Avenue sits minutes from the Lackawanna County Court of Common Pleas – and we know that courthouse.

Call (570) 346-2600 today for a free case review. We’ll tell you within minutes whether you have a case worth pursuing.

The firm is led by Melissa A. Scartelli, founder, president, and Board Certified Civil Trial Advocate by the National Board of Trial Advocacy, with former Luzerne County District Attorney and Judge Peter Paul Olszewski, Jr. on the team. Our firm’s record includes a $10 million verdict and a $1 million premises liability recovery.

• $10 million verdict (firm record) and a $1 million premises liability recovery
• Board Certified Civil Trial Advocate (National Board of Trial Advocacy)
• Former Luzerne County DA and Court of Common Pleas Judge on the team
• Super Lawyers recognition for 17 consecutive years (2009-2026)
• 100+ combined years of attorney experience
• No fee unless we win. Free case review. Available 24/7.

Past results do not guarantee similar outcomes. Every case is different.

How Common Are Slip and Fall Accidents in Scranton and Pennsylvania?

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), falls send approximately 3 million older adults to emergency departments each year, and they are the leading cause of both fatal and non-fatal injuries in that age group. In a city with Scranton’s winters and an aging population, that risk is heightened on icy walkways, in aging buildings, and in the high-traffic retail centers across Lackawanna County.

What Causes Slip and Fall Accidents in Scranton?

Most premises claims in Lackawanna County trace back to a hazard the property owner knew about or should have found.

• Uneven and wet surfaces. Wet and uneven floors are among the leading causes of these accidents. Common examples include: wet floors and liquid spills, loose or cracked floorboards, ripped or bulging carpeting, uneven flooring or sidewalks, and exposed wiring or other tripping hazards.

What these hazards share is that someone should have cleaned or repaired them, and where a hazard cannot be immediately fixed, the property owner must warn guests and customers. A property owner who does not even place a warning sign can be held liable for the injuries the hazard causes.

• Snow and ice. Weather is one of the biggest causes of falls in a region with Scranton’s winters, and a fall on snow or ice is governed by Pennsylvania’s hills and ridges doctrine, explained below.
• Lack of workplace training. An employer or contractor that fails to train workers in the safe use of tools and equipment in high-risk industries can be held liable when that failure causes a fall.
• Neglect. Neglect is a worrying cause of falls, especially in nursing homes, where residents who already struggle with balance are put at greater risk; falls are the single most common injury our Scranton nursing home abuse lawyers investigate.

The Hills and Ridges Doctrine: Snow and Ice Falls in Scranton

Scranton averages well over 40 inches of snow a year, and the single most important rule in a winter fall case is the hills and ridges doctrine. The doctrine protects a property owner from liability for the generally slippery conditions that come with a Pennsylvania winter unless the injured person can prove three things: that snow or ice had accumulated in ridges or elevations that unreasonably obstructed travel, that the owner knew or should have known of that condition, and that the accumulation was the cause of the fall.

The doctrine has two important limits that often decide these cases. It does not apply when the ice was a localized, isolated patch rather than the result of a general storm, and it does not apply when the dangerous condition was an unnatural accumulation caused by the owner’s own negligence, such as a clogged downspout, a broken gutter, or runoff that refreezes across a walkway. We investigate weather records, drainage, and maintenance history to determine whether the doctrine bars a claim or whether an exception removes it.

Who Is Responsible for Slip and Fall Injuries?

Slip and fall claims can be filed when you are injured on another person’s or entity’s property, and depending on the facts, more than one party may be responsible.

• The property owner is liable when the owner knew about a hazard and failed to fix it, such as a danger a renter reported that the landlord never corrected.
• A commercial tenant is liable when its employee fails to remove a hazard, such as a spill left uncleaned.
• The property manager is liable when the management company fails to maintain the premises, for example, an uneven floorboard or dim lighting.
• A residence owner is liable when a visitor is injured due to a hazard at the property.
• The employer is liable when an employee is injured by the employer’s failure to provide a safe workplace.

Your status on the property matters. Pennsylvania sets the duty owed to you for why you were there. An invitee, such as a customer or shopper, is owed the highest duty: the owner must inspect for hazards, fix them, and warn of dangers. A licensee, such as a social guest, is owed a duty to be warned of known dangers. A trespasser is generally owed only a duty that the owner not cause willful or wanton harm. Most slip and fall clients are invitees, the strongest position, because a business that failed to inspect for or remove a hazard breached the highest duty the law imposes.

Types of Slip and Fall Accidents

There are three, and each affects how a person lands and which injuries follow.

• Step: A step-and-fall happens when there is an abrupt change in surface height, such as a step-down or a sudden slope.
• Slip: A slip-and-fall happens when something on the ground keeps your feet from gripping the surface. It is the most common type and has become the general name for all three.
• Trip: A trip-and-fall happens when something is suddenly at a higher height, and you do not know how to lift your foot.

Potential Injuries From Slip and Fall Accidents

Regardless of type, a fall can cause broken bones, sprains, fractures, concussions, paralysis, cuts and lacerations, brain damage, and in the worst cases, death. Step-and-fall accidents send a person down hard onto the knees, spine, ankles, shins, neck, skull, shoulders, and pelvis, while trip-and-fall accidents usually pitch a person forward onto the hands, head, skull, knees, and shins.

How Much Is Your Scranton Slip and Fall Case Worth?

There is no single average, because value depends on the severity of the injury, the medical care required, time lost from work, the permanence of any disability, and the available insurance. Pennsylvania does not cap compensatory damages in a slip and fall case.

• Economic damages: past and future medical expenses and compensation after an injury, surgery, rehabilitation, lost wages, reduced earning capacity, and out-of-pocket costs.
• Non-economic damages: pain and suffering compensation, emotional distress, loss of enjoyment of life, and scarring or disfigurement.
• Punitive damages, the difference between compensatory and punitive damages, may be available where the owner’s conduct was reckless rather than merely careless.

For a detailed case evaluation, you can contact our personal injury lawyers in Scranton.

Can You Still Recover if You Were Partly at Fault?

Yes. Under Pennsylvania’s modified comparative negligence rule at 42 Pa.C.S. § 7102, you can recover unless you are 51 percent or more at fault, which is the bar that ends recovery, and your award is reduced by your share. As an example, if a jury finds you 20 percent at fault and your damages are $100,000, you recover $80,000. Property insurers routinely try to shift blame onto the injured person to trigger that bar, and we counter with photographs, surveillance footage, and maintenance records.

What Should You Do After a Slip and Fall Accident?

1. Seek medical treatment the same day, because the record is the foundation of your claim.
2. Report the accident to the business or property manager and request a copy of the incident report.
3. Take photos and videos of the hazard from several angles, the surrounding area, and your injuries before anything is cleaned up.
4. Save the paperwork, including medical bills, expense records, and a journal of the events leading up to the fall.
5. Do not take or assign blame, and do not give a statement to the other party’s insurer. There are things you should not do after an accident in Pennsylvania that quietly reduce a claim, including discussing fault and posting on social media.
6. Contact a Scranton slip and fall lawyer before the time to pursue a premises liability lawsuit runs out.

How Long Do You Have to File, and What if the Fall Was on Government Property?

• Standard deadline: two years from the fall under 42 Pa.C.S. § 5524.
• Government property: if you fell on a city, county, or other government property, such as a municipal sidewalk downtown, you generally must serve written notice within six months under 42 Pa.C.S. § 5522(a). Missing that six-month notice can bar the claim even though the two-year deadline has not passed.

These statutes of limitations on personal injury claims in Pennsylvania are strict, so it is best to call promptly.

How a Scranton Slip and Fall Lawyer Wins Your Case

Premises cases turn on evidence that is in the property owner’s control and disappears fast, so the value of a lawyer is in moving quickly and specifically. We:

• Send preservation demands and, where needed, subpoena the property’s surveillance and security-camera footage before it is overwritten, often within days of the fall.
• Pull and analyze maintenance and inspection logs to show that the hazard was known or should have been found.
• Audit prior incident reports for the same hazard, which establishes notice and a pattern.
• Request weather records and, in a snow-and-ice case, the data that decides a hill and ridge defense.
• Obtain the complete medical record and retain treating physicians and, in serious cases, life-care and vocational experts.
• File and try the case in the Lackawanna County Court of Common Pleas when the insurer will not pay fair value.

Where Slip and Fall Injuries Happen in Scranton

Falls cluster where foot traffic is heaviest, and winter conditions are hardest to manage: the retail centers like the Marketplace at Steamtown downtown, Viewmont Mall in Dickson City, and the Shops at Montage in Moosic; apartment complexes across the city; and the municipal sidewalks around downtown Scranton, where a fall can trigger the six-month government-notice rule. Seriously injured victims in Lackawanna County are often treated at Geisinger Community Medical Center on Mulberry Street, Lackawanna County’s only accredited Level II trauma center (Pennsylvania Trauma Systems Foundation), and we gather those medical records as the backbone of the claim.

Scranton Slip and Fall FAQs

What Should I Do Immediately After a Slip and Fall in Scranton?

Get medical care the same day, report the fall and request a written incident report, photograph the hazard and your injuries, collect witness information, and call a lawyer before giving any statement to the property’s insurer. If you’re not sure what questions to ask when you call, here are six questions to ask your Pennsylvania slip and fall attorney before you decide who to hire.

How Do I Prove a Property Owner Was Negligent?

You must show the owner knew or should have known about the hazard and failed to fix it or warn you, and that the hazard caused your fall and injury.

What Is the Statute of Limitations for a Slip and Fall Claim in Pennsylvania?

Two years from the date of the fall under 42 Pa.C.S. § 5524. A fall on government property generally requires written notice within six months under 42 Pa.C.S. § 5522(a).

Can I Recover if I Was Partly at Fault for My Fall?

Yes, under 42 Pa.C.S. § 7102, unless you are 51 percent or more at fault. Your recovery is reduced by your percentage of fault.

What Is the Hills and Ridges Doctrine, and Does It Affect My Snow or Ice Case?

It protects owners from liability for generally slippery winter conditions unless you can show ridges or elevations of ice that unreasonably obstructed travel, the owner’s knowledge, and causation. It does not apply to a localized ice patch or to ice that the owner’s own negligence created.

Can I Sue the City of Scranton for a Fall on a Public Sidewalk?

Sometimes, but a claim against a government entity generally requires written notice within six months under 42 Pa.C.S. § 5522(a), which is far shorter than the standard two-year deadline.

How Much Does It Cost to Hire a Scranton Slip and Fall Lawyer?

Nothing upfront. We work on a contingency fee basis, and you pay an attorney fee only if we recover for you.

Contact the Slip and Fall Attorneys at Scartelli Olszewski, P.C.

A serious fall can leave you unable to work and buried in hospital bills, all because someone was negligent in maintaining their property. If you or a loved one was hurt on another party’s property, call (570) 346-2600 or visit our Scranton office at 411 Jefferson Avenue. We also help injured clients in Luzerne County through our Wilkes-Barre slip and fall attorney practice at our Public Square office.

Past results do not guarantee similar outcomes. Every case is different.