Earlier this month, an appellate court in Kentucky issued a written opinion in a premises liability case involving a man who slipped and fell while trying to get into the shower at the defendant hotel. In the case, Goodwin v. Al J. Schneider, the court held that the lower court…
Premises liability lawsuits, more commonly known as slip-and-fall cases, are based on the legal theory of negligence. Essentially, these claims rely on the the duty that a landowner or occupier owes to those people who are invited onto its land. Historically, there have been three classes of “guests”: invitees, licensees, and…
Earlier this month, the state supreme court in Wisconsin issued an opinion holding that a hot air balloon operator was not entitled to immunity under the state’s recreational use statute. In the case, Roberts v. T.H.E. Insurance Co., the court determined that a hot air balloon operator is neither an…
Earlier this month, one state’s highest court issued an opinion interpreting the state’s recreational use statute, determining that a city employee named in his individual capacity is not entitled to governmental immunity as a “land owner” for the land he was in charge of maintaining. In the case, Johnson v.…
Earlier this month, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals decided a case that may have wide-ranging implications for slip-and-fall plaintiffs injured on government land. In the case, Gibson v. United States of America, the court determined that the federal government’s normal sovereign immunity from tort lawsuits did not attach, and…
Earlier this month, the Texas Supreme Court decided a case in favor of a slip-and-fall plaintiff who was injured when they were spectating at a local softball game. In the case, Lawson v. City of Diboll, the plaintiff was injured when she tripped and fell on a hollow pipe that…
Earlier this month, an appellate court in California heard a premises liability case involving an injury that occurred in a gym. In the case, Jimenez v. 24 Hour Fitness USA, the plaintiff was injured while running on a treadmill in one of the defendant’s gym locations. Evidently, the plaintiff fell…
Earlier this year, the Wyoming Supreme Court heard a case brought by an eighth-grade student against her middle school. The student, who slipped and fell while changing after a mandatory swimming class, claimed that the school was negligent “in the operation and maintenance” of the school’s locker room, where the…
Due to a city’s relationship with its citizens, and the fact that the city’s taxpayers pay for the sidewalks and roads, cities have a duty to ensure that they are maintained in a reasonably safe manner. Thus, when a person falls while walking on the sidewalk, and that fall was…
Many times in personal injury lawsuits involving corporate defendants, an issue will arise as to whether the claim properly belongs in federal or state court. Defendants who maintain offices within different states than where the accident occurred may prefer federal court for many reasons. However, removing a lawsuit to federal…