Question:

When should one remove slippery ice and snow that has accumulated on their sidewalk?

Answer:

The state of Pennsylvania is known for its varied often damp and slippery weather conditions. In cases involving icy patches, one in possession of land is required to remove ice and snow that has accumulated on the public sidewalk or walking surface abutting his or her property within a reasonable time after he or she is on notice that a dangerous condition exists. To establish liability upon the landowner, the plaintiff must prove that each of the following three essentials was present:

First, that ice and snow had accumulated on the sidewalk or walking surface in ridges or elevations that unreasonably obstructed travel and were a danger to persons traveling on the walk;

Second, that the defendant property owner knew or should have known of the existence of such conditions; and

Third, that it was the dangerous accumulation of ice and snow that caused the plaintiff to fall.

Question:

When does a business owe a duty to prevent intentional harm to invitees for the criminal conduct on the part of third persons?

Answer:

In Pennsylvania, there are some cases where businesses owe a duty to prevent intentional harm to business invitees and might be responsible for careless or criminal conduct on the part of third persons. Negligence or carelessness is the failure to use the ordinary care that a reasonable person would have used under the circumstances. Specifically, a business has a duty to use reasonable care to find out if a customer is being harmed or is likely to be harmed by others on the premises and warn or protect him or her.  

It must be decided whether the defendant knew or should have known that there was a likelihood of criminal activity occurring on his or her premises and took reasonable steps to warn or protect the plaintiff against it. In making this decision, the location and nature of the defendant's business and the defendant's past experience may be considered. If the place or character of the business, or past experience, is such that the business should have reasonably anticipated careless or criminal conduct on the part of third persons, either generally or at some particular time, that business may be under a duty to take precautions against it, and to provide a reasonably sufficient number of servants to afford a reasonable protection. The failure to do so is negligence. 

When it comes to apartment building or private dwelling, however, unlike business, a landlord has no general duty to protect tenants against criminal intrusion. However, if a landlord offers security measures to his or her tenants, the landlord must use reasonable care to see that they are properly performed. Where the landlord does offer an extra precaution, such as personnel specifically charged to patrol and protect the premises, he must perform the task in a reasonable manner. While a tenant may not expect more than is offered, he or she is entitled to expect that the offered program will be conducted with reasonable care. The failure to do so is negligence. 

Issues with inadequate and negligent security are called into play when a victim is killed, raped, stabbed, burned, suffocated or assaulted due to the failure of a property owner to maintain proper security. Many times, inadequate security and premises liability cases occur due to lighting, frequency of security patrols, an unlocked door, and a large hole in a fence, foliage, signage, visibility, and pedestrian and vehicle traffic flow, as well as a lack of easily affordable technology and security devices, such as closed circuit cameras.  

Businesses owe a duty to prevent intentional harm to business invitees and might be responsible for careless or criminal conduct on the part of third persons and have a duty to use reasonable care to find out if a customer is being harmed or is likely to be harmed by others on the premises and warn or protect him or her. Unlike businesses, a landlord has no general duty to protect tenants against criminal intrusion; however, if a landlord offers security measures to his or her tenants, the landlord must use reasonable care to see that they are properly performed. 

Merely to say that crime is foreseeable on a particular premises is not enough. For property owners and business operators to function within the scope of their legal duty to protect their land entrants, they must know what crimes types are reasonably foreseeable, at what expected frequency, and what steps can be taken that will later be deemed adequate should a criminal incident occur. The question is not whether the crime at issue could have been prevented or not, but rather if the security precautions in place were adequate to prevent the type of crime that should have been reasonably anticipated.   

An experienced lawyer must carefully investigate the facts surrounding the accident. By utilizing accident reconstruction and other effective legal strategies, we must be able to prove that the defendant knew or should have known that there was a likelihood of criminal activity occurring on his or her premises and failed to take reasonable steps to warn or protect the plaintiff against it. We carefully consider the location and nature of the defendant's business and past experience, the nature of the premises, crime demographics, and location.

Our clients have included shopping centers, private and commercial building owners, small retail stores, apartment houses, motel and hotels, restaurant and tavern owners, private security firms and contractors, and homeowners. We are skillful at examining leases, contractor agreements, and insurance policies in an attempt to place or share responsibility for claims with other parties. We are experienced in lawsuits involving allegations of negligent security involving injury or death. In addition to handling your civil claim, we will guide you through the criminal process as the accused moves through the plea bargaining and trial stages. When necessary, we attend criminal hearings with our clients and help them prepare their testimony.