Legal Question in Personal Injury in Washington

Re: Broken leg from fall on snowy sidewalk

The management company and the owner of the building may be liable if they created a dangerous condition which caused your fall or had the opportunity to clear the snow. Please feel free to contact me to discuss. Thanks!

Ryan

Re: Broken leg from fall on snowy sidewalk

It appears you are familiar with Chapter 12.16 of the Walla Walla Municipal Code found at http://www.codepublishing.com/WA/WallaWalla/wallawalla12/wallawalla1216.html.

The question would be whether the fall occurred on the sidewalk--in which case the city could be liable--or whether it occurred on the walkway of the apartment--in which the apartment might be liable.

Here's what the Washington Supreme Court says about the matter: "This Court has adopted the Connecticut rule, which requires a landowner to exercise reasonable care to keep all common areas reasonably safe from hazards likely to cause injury, including the removal of ice and snow. ... The fact a tenant has knowledge of the hazardous condition does not, in itself, relieve the landowner or possessor of land of that duty. ... There must be evidence of actual or constructive notice or foreseeability, and a reasonable time to alleviate the situation."

Washington law places the burden on landowners to exercise reasonable care to maintain common areas in a safe condition. In other words, you must have some evidence that the landowner failed to act reasonably under the circumstances.

Even if the apartment would not be liable as just stated, there may still be a lease provision that would be of benefit.

Feel free to call my office if you have further questions. It would appear the apartment may be liable for your injury.

Re: Broken leg from fall on snowy sidewalk

I am sorry to hear that your leg is not healing properly. It must be frustrating to know that all the pain and hassle you are going through could have been avoided if the management company had just followed the law, done the reasonable thing, and cleared the walkway.

Call for a free consultation and we'll see what we can do to restore your health and prevent this sort of mis-management in the future.

At your service,

Re: Broken leg from fall on snowy sidewalk

Bottom line: You need to call an attorney and get a free consultation about your rights in the situation. These types of cases are very fact sensitive, so no one can give you an opinion to the effect of "you have a great case" without first going over this in detail with you.

Best of luck to you.