Sidewalks
Court Finds County Not Liable for Fall on Public Sidewalk Adjacent to County Road
Plaintiff Frances Hice tripped and fell and suffered injuries as a result of an uneven public sidewalk slab on Watchung Avenue in Bloomfield. The sidewalk abutted a private residence owned by defendants Jose Cruz and Angelica Delacruz. The sidewalk was adjacent to a road (Watchung Avenue) owned by the County of Essex. The issue in […]
Homeowner Not Responsible for Plaintiff’s Injury Caused by Slip on Ice in Front of Home
Plaintiff Joseph Costigan was walking on the sidewalk in front of the home of the defendants Gurprit and Sneh Bains when he slipped and fell on a patch of ice and struck his head. He claimed that the drainage system on defendants’ property, that ran down the driveway and across the sidewalk, was faulty and […]
Appellate Division Reaffirms “Bright-Line” Between Commercial and Residential Properties as to Public Sidewalk Liability
In the published case of Gottsleben v. Annese, 2025 N.J. Super. LEXIS 52 (App. Div. July 3, 2025), the plaintiff Debra Gottsleben unsuccessfully attempted to expand the principles of public sidewalk liability for commercial properties to a residential property that was unoccupied and undergoing renovations. The plaintiff had slipped and fell on the sidewalk in […]
Owner of Two-Family Home Found Not to Be Liable for Plaintiff’s Injury From Fall on Public Sidewalk in Front of Home
Plaintiff Shneequa Easterling had been walking on a public sidewalk abutting defendant’s home when she slipped and fell on ice, injuring her neck and back, as well as her right ankle. She filed a lawsuit against the defendant homeowner, George Johnson, who owned the two-family home abutting the public sidewalk. The issue in Easterling v. […]
Owner of Vacant Lot Adjoining Public Sidewalk Held Not Liable for Injury Caused by Fall on Sidewalk
Plaintiff Alejandra Padilla slipped and fell on the sidewalk adjoining a vacant lot in Camden, which was owned by the defendants Myo Soon and Young Il an. She claimed to have suffered permanent injuries as a result of her fall. The issue in Padilla v. Young Il an, 2023 N.J. Super. Unpub. LEXIS 14 (App. […]
Residential Landowners Found Not Liable For Plaintiff’s Injuries Due To Trip And Fall On Raised Sidewalk In Driveway Area
In August, 2018, while walking on the sidewalk in front of defendants’ home, plaintiff Diane Conway tripped in the area of a raised concrete sidewalk slab. Plaintiff claimed that she tripped over a “filled in” concrete or cement between two uneven concrete slabs. The issue in Conway v. Serra, 2022 N.J. Super. Unpub. LEXIS 856(App. […]
Recent Unpublished Appellate Division Opinion Regarding Sidewalk Liability
In an unpublished March 29, 2022 opinion in Blake v. Glavan, 2022 N.J. Super. Unpub. LEXIS 499, the Appellate Division further addressed the issue of sidewalk liability. The Court addressed the issue of the liability of both a homeowner and a municipality for an injury caused by a fall over an uneven public sidewalk. The […]
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