Paralyzed After a Fall From a Friend's Balcony in Pennsylvania: How Intoxication Affects a Claim

Attorney Answer

What decides this is the condition of the balcony and your own share of fault. A host must protect a social guest from hidden dangers the host knows about, so if the balcony or its railing was defective in a way your friend knew of and you could not see, there may be a claim, reduced by your share of fault and barred if your share was greater than his. If the fall came from climbing on a sound balcony, the owner most likely owes nothing. Pennsylvania also does not hold a host responsible for an adult guest's own drinking. With an injury this serious, speak to a lawyer soon, while the balcony is still as it was.

What a host owes a social guest. In Fisher v. Findlay, 319 Pa. Super. 214, 465 A.2d 1306 (1983), the Superior Court held that a social guest is a “gratuitous licensee,” owed a limited duty: the host must warn of, or make safe, a dangerous condition the host knows about and should expect the guest not to discover. A hidden, unusually steep stairway the hosts knew of was enough for a jury there. But where there is no hidden defect and the guest knows the danger, there is no recovery: Sharp v. Luksa, 440 Pa. 125, 269 A.2d 659 (1970), where the guest already knew the condition of the ladder that gave way. So the questions are whether the balcony or railing was defective, whether your friend knew, and whether you could have seen it.

The drinking. For an adult guest, a host is not responsible for injuries that follow the guest's own drinking. The Supreme Court of Pennsylvania held in Klein v. Raysinger, 504 Pa. 141, 470 A.2d 507 (1983) that a social host is not liable for serving alcohol to an ordinary adult, because the drinking, not the serving, is the cause, and it restated that rule for a guest's own injuries in Orner v. Mallick, 515 Pa. 132, 527 A.2d 521 (1987). The same case drew a line at age 21: it let a 19-year-old guest who fell over a railing while intoxicated pursue a claim against the hosts who had served the guest alcohol. If you were under 21 and your friend served you, that is a different claim, and a lawyer should hear about it.

Your share of fault. 42 Pa.C.S. § 7102(a):

(a) General rule.-- In all actions brought to recover damages for negligence resulting in death or injury to person or property, the fact that the plaintiff may have been guilty of contributory negligence shall not bar a recovery by the plaintiff or his legal representative where such negligence was not greater than the causal negligence of the defendant or defendants against whom recovery is sought, but any damages sustained by the plaintiff shall be diminished in proportion to the amount of negligence attributed to the plaintiff.

Being intoxicated and climbing on the balcony do not bar a claim automatically; they go into the comparison of fault. Whether your share would be greater than your friend's turns on what the balcony's condition contributed.

The deadline. 42 Pa.C.S. § 5524:

The following actions and proceedings must be commenced within two years:

(2) An action to recover damages for injuries to the person or for the death of an individual caused by the wrongful act or neglect or unlawful violence or negligence of another.

What you can do

1. Ask someone you trust to photograph the balcony and railing, from several angles and with something that shows scale, before anything is repaired.

2. Write down, or have someone write down for you, the names of everyone who was there.

3. Keep every medical record and bill, and ask your care team about the benefits programs that apply to a spinal cord injury.

4. Do not give a recorded statement to anyone's insurance company before you have talked to a lawyer.

5. Even if you are handling this yourself, you would be best served by a brief phone consultation with a local Pennsylvania attorney before you act. Most lawyers offer a short initial call at no cost, and a few minutes on your specific facts — and on how your court actually handles this — is worth more than any general guidance, including this page.

⏱ Time limits apply. A lawsuit for an injury must be filed within two years under 42 Pa.C.S. § 5524(2). With an injury this serious, the evidence about the balcony's condition matters as much as the deadline, and a repair can erase it.