Associate Stephen A. Hall obtained a summary judgment in a slip and fall case for a national movie and game retail client. Plaintiff, a customer returning a rental, knowingly stepped on ice, slipped and fell on it in the client’s parking lot, breaking his left hip. He filed a suit alleging that the retailer was negligent in failing to inspect, warn, maintain and use reasonable prudence regarding the icy conditions of its sidewalk and parking lot. The court found that it was clear that our client did not breach its legal duty due to the perceived danger being known, that the plaintiff assumed the risk of walking on the ice, and that there was no evidence that the fall resulted from the unreasonable accumulation of ice and snow under the Pennsylvania Hills and Ridges Doctrine.
Note: The results obtained in a particular case are, of course, always heavily dependent on the facts and the law specific to that case.