Legal Question in Personal Injury in Pennsylvania

Re: personal injury

The determination of whether or not you are liable is very fact specific and dependant upon a number of factors. A jury (or Judge) ultimately makes this determination based on all the evidence. You have certainly identified a number of factors which may be adverse to the claimant's case.

One question which should be of paramount importance to you is why your homeowner's insurer is not covering. Your homeowner's coverage (depending of the policy provisions) has a duty to defend (i.e provide you an attorney at no additional expense) and a duty to indemnify (pay for damages assessed against you). Even if they determine that the type of loss is not covered under the policy, they still should defend you if your policy was in force.

In any event you should retain an attorney to deal with your insurance company and/or defend you. I am available to discuss this matter with you and offer an initial free consultation.

Re: personal injury

Unless there was something "wrong" or "unusual" about your trampoline that you knew and didn't tell your neighbor about, I don't think you can be held liable for his injury. That doesn't mean, however, that he cannot sue you. I just don' think he'll win. I also think your homeowners' insurance should defend you and provide an attorney for you, but I'd have to read your policy and their reason for refusing to cover you before being certain. Before you decide to hire an atty, you must push your carrier real hard to cover you. You may want to consult w/ an atty to represent you on that matter. Feel free to call if you have questions.

Richard Senker www.senker.com

Re: personal injury

The first question is whether he has already filed a lawsuit or if he is merely threatening to file one. If he has filed one, then most likely your homeowner's insurance company has a duty to defend you in that lawsuit, particularly if his lawsuit claims his injuries were the result of falling down the stairs. That duty to defend is independent of the insurance company's judgment that it will not eventually be liable; if any of his claims are in theory covered by insurance, the insurance company must defend you.

The second question is what, exactly, he says you did wrong. Does he allege that the trampoline itself was inherently dangerous and you should not have installed it? If so, he likely will not recover anything against you, and the court will likely dismiss the lawsuit because the danger was open and obvious and he assumed the risk.

If, instead, he alleges that you failed to maintain the trampoline properly and there was no way for him to know, then you could possibly be liable. From the way you described it, however, the trampoline was in working condition and the accident was entirely his own fault.

As for his criminal history and his frivolous lawsuits, that's a complicated question and it is possible that some or all of that could be admitted into court. More importantly, he lied to the emergency room about the cause of his accident, and that is certainly admissible.

If you have in fact been sued (instead of merely being vaguely threatened with a lawsuit), you should have a long discussion with your insurance company about their duty to defend you from those claims. If they refuse, make them show you in detail exactly why the lawsuit is clearly excluded from your coverage.

If you have been sued, and the insurance company is not defending you, you really should retain a lawyer. There are a lot of pitfalls in litigation of even the most simple case that can ensnare people who try to defend themselves. If your insurance company denies coverage, and you are found liable, feel free to contact me and I can consult you on bad faith litigation against the insurance company.