Attorney Dale G. Larrimore's Legal Cases

Personal injury

Reinoso v. Heritage Warminster LLC

Jan 14, 2015

OUTCOME: The Superior Court of Pennsylvania reversed the order granting summary judgment to the property owner and remanded for trial. The case settled for a significant sum before trial commenced.

The 60 year old plaintiff was walking with her five-year old granddaughter on a sidewalk at Warminster Towne Center, when she tripped and fell on a raised section of sidewalk. As a result of her fall, ... Reinoso sustained a broken left hand and fractured ribs. In litigation filed in the Court of Common Pleas of Bucks County, the defendant’s motion for summary judgment was granted by the trial judge, who found the sidewalk defect to be de minimus. On appeal, the Superior Court reversed and remanded, holding that a decision that a sidewalk defect was trivial as a matter of law, warranting summary judgment and dismissal of plaintiff’s personal injury claim was error. Plaintiff’s evidence included photographs demonstrating the height differential between sidewalk panels, expert testimony indicating that this defect exceeded safety standards, and testimony from the owner of the company charged with maintenance of the sidewalk that he considered the defect a tripping hazard and reported it as such. Plaintiffs argued that the property owner owed a heightened duty to the plaintiff as an invitee and the Superior Court agreed.

Car accident

Wilson v. PECO Energy Co.

Dec 20, 2012

OUTCOME: The Superior Court reversed the trial court and remanded to the lower court. Prior to trial, the case settled for a very substantial sum to compensate plaintiff for her injuries.

As plaintiff was crossing a roadway to get to a SEPTA bus stop, she was struck by a vehicle in the “T” intersection. Plaintiff sued PECO, the company that owned and maintained the street lights at the ... intersection, alleging that the streetlight did not adequately illuminate the entire roadway. The trial court in Montgomery County granted summary judgment to PECO, holding that its duty to "maintain" the streetlights in the township was satisfied by providing electricity and changing light bulbs every four years. Plaintiffs produced evidence that the streetlights were outdated, the arm of the streetlight did not properly extend over the roadway, and the streetlights did not provide adequate lighting for the area.

Personal injury

Kilgore v. City of Philadelphia

Aug 21, 1998

OUTCOME: The Supreme Court of Pennsylvania reversed the lower court and found that the plaintiffs had a right to pursue their action before a jury. The case then settled for a substantial sum before trial.

Appellants, wife and injured husband, brought a negligence action against appellee city for failing to remove ice and snow from an airport roadway where appellant husband's accident occurred. The trial ... court granted appellee's motion for summary judgment based upon the defense of governmental immunity under the Political Subdivision Tort Claims Act (Act), 42 Pa. Cons. Stat. §§ 8541-8564. The appellate court affirmed the decision of the trial court. On appeal, the court reversed the decision of the appellate court, holding that there existed a genuine issue of material fact as to whether appellee was negligent under the real estate exception of the Act because appellee had allegedly failed to remove a dangerous condition, accumulated ice and snow, from a roadway in its care, custody, and control. The court held that appellants met the two threshold conditions in order to bring an action under the Act because, under common law, they could recover if appellant husband had fallen on private property, and it was alleged that appellee's negligence was a direct cause of the accident.

Personal injury

Verbonitz v. Bic Corporation

Mar 30, 1988

OUTCOME: The judge ordered defendants to produce documents authored by any agent or employee of defendants or any expert witness employed by defendants. Plaintiffs obtained the requested documents and defendants settled the litigation without a trial.

Plaintiff was seriously burned as a result of an alleged defect in the design of a Bic lighter. Defendants resisted producing certain information and documents in discovery.

Workers compensation

Smith v. Workmen's Compensation Appeal Bd. (Futura Industries)

Feb 29, 1984

OUTCOME: Commonwealth court reversed and ordered reinstatement of workers compensation benefits.

Claimant returned to work with her pre-injury employer; modified work at the same or greater wages, and compensation was suspended. Claimant remained physically incapable of performing the job that she ... held at the time of her injury and when she was subsequently laid off from her job as a result of a downturn in respondent's business, she sought reinstatement of total disability benefits under Pennsylvania Workmen's Compensation Act. The WCAB reversed the workers comp judge and dismissed her petition for reinstatement.

Dale G. Larrimore's Legal Cases (5)

Reinoso v. Heritage Warminster LLC

Wilson v. PECO Energy Co.

Kilgore v. City of Philadelphia

Verbonitz v. Bic Corporation

Smith v. Workmen's Compensation Appeal Bd. (Futura Industries)