If you’re considering taking legal action after being injured on someone else’s property, you might be unsure about what duty of care means in a premises liability claim in Hazleton. A duty of care is a legal obligation to exercise reasonable care and avoid negligence or carelessness that could result in harm to others. The duty of care is present in many different situations.
For instance, a doctor has a duty of care to their patient. Every medical professional must uphold a standard of care and behave in a way that other physicians would deem reasonable. All drivers have a duty of care to other drivers: they must drive safely, exhibit reasonable care, and refrain from any behavior that could cause a car accident or injury.
In a premises liability claim, the duty of care generally applies to property owners. They are responsible for taking reasonable steps to maintain safe conditions for people who are lawfully on the premises and addressing hazards they know about or should reasonably discover. When dangerous conditions are left unaddressed, and someone is injured as a result, a Hazleton premises liability lawyer can evaluate whether the owner may be held legally responsible for the resulting harm.
Call Us At 844-686-5397 What is Premises Liability?
Premises liability is an area of personal injury law involving injuries caused by unsafe conditions on another person’s property. These claims typically arise when a property owner’s negligence contributes to an accident and resulting injuries.
A slip and fall claim is one of the most common premises liability claims. Almost 9 million people were treated for fall-related injuries in American emergency rooms in 2023, according to the National Safety Council. Slip and fall accidents, as the name suggests, occur when someone trips and falls on someone else’s property, presumably due to an unsafe or defective condition. If someone genuinely trips over their feet and sustains a serious injury, they likely don’t have the grounds for a premises liability claim. However, if their slip or trip and fall occurred because of a hazardous condition on the property, they may have grounds for a claim.
While something like a slip and fall may not sound scary, accidents like this have the potential to cause severe injury, leading to things like traumatic brain injuries and possibly even wrongful death.
If you were injured because of unsafe conditions on someone else’s property, a Hazleton premises liability attorney can evaluate your potential claim and explain your legal options during a free consultation.
Having handled premises liability cases since 1959, we here at Munley Law have more than 250 years of combined legal experience, extensive knowledge of hazards on various types of properties, the injuries most commonly sustained, and a deep understanding of Pennsylvania law and Luzerne County’s courts.
What are Examples of Dangerous Conditions on a Property?
Dangerous conditions that cause serious injury can take many forms. Some of the most common dangerous conditions that result in a lawsuit include:
- Damaged flooring
- Poor lighting
- Broken stairs or stair rails
- Wet or slippery floors
- Electricity issues
- Loose rugs or carpeting
- Falling objects
- Dog bites
- Defective elevators
- Inadequate security
- Swimming pool accidents
If you have encountered a dangerous condition and sustained a serious injury, contact us today to get started on your personal injury case.
How Do We Prove Negligence in a Premises Liability Claim?
As with all personal injury cases, a few key elements are involved in establishing negligence and proving that the negligence led to the victim’s injury after a premises liability accident. The four key steps involved in premises liability cases are:
- Duty of Care: First, your Hazleton premises liability lawyer must show that the property owner owed a duty of care to you.
- Breach of Duty of Care: Next, you must show that the breach of duty directly caused your injuries. For instance, using broken stairs on someone’s property (that the property owner knew of and did not fix) caused the claimant to fall and sprain their ankle.
- The Breach Caused Injury: The next step for injured victims is to prove that this breach of care occurred and directly caused or resulted in the accident in question. For instance, using broken stairs on someone’s property (that the property owner knew of and did not fix) caused the claimant to fall and sprain their ankle.
- The Injury Resulted in Damages: The final step is to show that the injury resulted in damages for you. In a premises liability case, you are not seeking jail time or “punishment” for the defendant; rather, you are looking to receive fair compensation for the losses you endured due to your injury. This may include lost wages, medical bills, expenses, and more. Therefore, we must show that you’ve experienced these losses because of your accident and injury.
What Are Strict Liability Cases in Hazleton, PA?
While most premises liability cases in Hazleton, PA, are based on property owners’ negligence, some are not. Under premises liability law, there’s another category of cases known as strict liability claims. These claims do not require proof of negligence or intent to cause harm. Rather, in a strict liability case, a person can be held liable for someone’s injury even if they did not exhibit any negligence.
Two of the most common examples of this type of case are dog bite cases and defective product cases. In a defective product case, if a product explodes and injures the user, the maker or other liable party can be held legally responsible even if they did not know the product could explode and were not negligent in making it.
While most premises liability claims require proof of negligence, Pennsylvania law recognizes certain situations in which liability may arise under different legal standards. Whether negligence or another theory of liability applies depends on the specific facts of the case.
Contact Our Hazleton Premises Liability Lawyers to Learn More
One of the most effective ways to protect your legal rights is to speak with an experienced premises liability lawyer who understands Pennsylvania law. At Munley Law, we offer exactly that.
We are a family business, and when you work with us, you’re family, too. We have the skills and resources to fight for you, and our experienced personal injury attorneys will work to pursue compensation on your behalf. Whether you’ve sustained serious injuries or something more minor, you deserve justice, and our personal injury attorneys can help you get there.
Four of our attorneys, namely Marion Munley, Daniel Munley, J. Christopher Munley, and John Mulcahey, are board-certified in Civil Trial Law and Civil Practice Advocacy by the National Board of Trial Advocacy, and all our lawyers are members of the Pennsylvania Bar Association. They’re also all members of the American Association for Justice, which has honored several of our lawyers with leadership roles and awards.
We’ve also been honored by organizations such as the National Trial Lawyers, Lawdragon, Best Lawyers, Super Lawyers, the American Board of Trial Advocates, the Multi-Million-Dollar Advocates Forum/Million Dollar Advocates Forum, and Martindale-Hubbell, which gave our partners its highest ratings, AV Preeminent.
If you believe a property owner’s negligence caused your injuries, our Hazleton premises liability team can evaluate whether a duty of care existed, explain how Pennsylvania law applies to your situation, and discuss your legal options during a free consultation.
Contact us today to schedule a free consultation and meet with one of our Hazleton personal injury lawyers.
James Christopher Munley
James Christopher Munley is an award-winning and trusted premises liability lawyer. Chris is a board-certified civil trial advocate and has been named to the Best Lawyers in America and the Lawdragon 500 Leading Lawyers in America. Chris has also been appointed to the Top 100 Trial Lawyers in Pennsylvania by the National Trial Lawyers Association and is among the Pennsylvania Super Lawyers since 2005.
Reviewed by Bernadine Munley, Esq., Personal Injury Attorney at Munley Law, on August 11, 2026.
