Premises Liability Attorney — Pittsburgh, PA

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Property owners in Pennsylvania have a legal duty to maintain safe conditions for people who enter their property. When that duty is breached — a defective sidewalk, a dangerous floor condition, inadequate lighting, a known hazard left unaddressed — and a person is seriously injured as a result, the owner can be held liable for the full scope of damages including medical expenses, lost income, and permanent injury.

Lebovitz & Lebovitz, P.A. represents individuals seriously injured on defective or dangerous property throughout Allegheny County and Western Pennsylvania. We handle premises liability cases on a contingent fee basis — legal fees are paid only if compensation is recovered. Costs and expenses are discussed and agreed at the outset.

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What Premises Liability Means in Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania premises liability law imposes different duties on property owners depending on the legal status of the person who was injured. An invitee — someone on the property for a business purpose or at the owner’s express or implied invitation — is owed the highest duty of care. The property owner must inspect for dangerous conditions, correct known hazards, and warn of dangers that are not readily apparent. A licensee — someone present with permission but not for a business purpose — is owed a duty to warn of known dangers. A trespasser is generally owed only the duty not to willfully harm them, with limited exceptions for children under the attractive nuisance doctrine.

The distinction matters because it defines the standard the property owner must meet and what must be proven to establish liability. Most serious premises liability cases involve invitees — customers, tenants, visitors, delivery personnel — where the property owner’s duty is highest.

Common Premises Liability Situations

Premises liability cases arise in many settings. Defective or uneven sidewalks and walkways are among the most common causes of serious falls in Pittsburgh — conditions that property owners are responsible for maintaining. Dangerous floor conditions including wet surfaces, uneven flooring, broken stairs, and inadequate warning signage are frequent sources of fall injuries in commercial and retail properties. Inadequate lighting in parking lots, stairwells, and common areas contributes to both falls and criminal incidents where the property owner’s failure to maintain safe conditions is a contributing cause. Negligent security — failure to provide adequate security measures in properties where prior incidents put the owner on notice — is a recognized basis for liability in Pennsylvania. Structural defects, falling objects, and hazardous conditions left unaddressed after notice are all actionable when they cause serious injury.

Defective Sidewalks and Public Property

Sidewalk liability in Pennsylvania involves both private property owners and municipal entities. In most Pennsylvania municipalities, the abutting property owner — not the municipality — bears responsibility for maintaining the sidewalk in front of their property. When a defective sidewalk causes a serious fall and injury, the property owner’s liability insurance is typically the first line of recovery.

Claims against a municipality or government entity are subject to different rules. Pennsylvania’s Political Subdivision Tort Claims Act limits governmental immunity but provides specific exceptions for negligent maintenance of streets and sidewalks. Claims against government entities require written notice within six months of the incident — a deadline that cannot be extended and that, if missed, permanently bars recovery. If your fall involved a public sidewalk, street condition, or government-maintained property, early legal review is essential.

Permanent Scarring and Disfigurement

Pennsylvania law recognizes permanent scarring and disfigurement as distinct and separately compensable categories of damages — separate from pain and suffering, medical expenses, and lost income. A serious fall that causes a permanent scar, particularly on the face, hands, or other visible areas, creates a documented permanent injury that has its own value in a Pennsylvania personal injury claim.

Documentation matters. Medical records establishing the nature and permanence of scarring, photographs taken at multiple stages of healing, and physician testimony regarding permanence all bear directly on the value of this element of damages. Insurance companies routinely attempt to minimize scarring claims at early settlement stages, before the full extent of permanent injury is established. We ensure permanent injury is properly documented before any settlement is reached.

What Must Be Proven in a Premises Liability Case

A successful premises liability case requires establishing that the property owner owed the injured person a duty of care, that the owner knew or should have known about the dangerous condition, that the owner failed to correct or adequately warn of the condition, and that this failure was a direct cause of the injury and resulting damages. The property owner’s knowledge of the defect — whether actual or constructive — is often the central factual issue. Evidence of prior complaints, inspection records, maintenance logs, and incident history can all bear on whether the owner had notice of the dangerous condition before the injury occurred.

How These Cases Are Evaluated and Resolved

Premises liability cases in Allegheny County are filed in the Court of Common Pleas and governed by Pennsylvania’s two-year statute of limitations from the date of injury — with the shorter six-month notice requirement for government entity claims. Early evaluation of the scene, the defect condition, the ownership and maintenance records, and the nature of the injury is essential to building a case that can withstand a liability defense.

Pennsylvania’s modified comparative negligence rule applies — recovery is available as long as the injured party is less than 51 percent at fault, with damages reduced proportionally. Defense strategies in premises cases frequently include contributory fault arguments, particularly in fall cases. We anticipate those arguments and develop the record accordingly from the outset.

Child Injuries on School Property

When a child is injured on school property — a defective piece of playground equipment, a broken bench, an unsafe floor condition, or an inadequately supervised hazard — the legal framework depends entirely on whether the school is public or private.

A private school is treated as any other private property owner. The standard premises liability duty of care applies — the school must inspect for, correct, and warn of dangerous conditions. A child injured by a defective condition on private school property has a standard two-year statute of limitations from the date of injury.

A public school is a government entity governed by Pennsylvania’s Political Subdivision Tort Claims Act. Governmental immunity is the starting point — but the Act provides specific exceptions, and negligent maintenance of real property, including school facilities, equipment, and structures, is one of them. A defective bench, broken equipment, or dangerous structural condition that causes a child’s injury can fall within the real property exception and support a viable claim.

The critical deadline for public school claims is six months. Pennsylvania law requires written notice of a claim against a political subdivision — including a public school district — within six months of the incident. This deadline is strict and unforgiving. Missing it bars the claim entirely regardless of how serious the injury.

Pennsylvania’s general two-year statute of limitations is tolled for minors — meaning the clock does not start until the child turns 18. The six-month political subdivision notice requirement is not tolled for minors. A parent whose child is injured at a public school has six months from the date of the incident to provide written notice — not six months from the child’s eighteenth birthday. This is the most common and most damaging misconception in school injury cases. If your child was injured at a public school, early legal consultation is not optional.

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Frequently Asked Questions