Understanding Snow and Ice Cases in Massachusetts

As one can imagine, in Massachusetts there is an extremely high incidence of personal injuries resulting from falls on snow or ice. By contrast, the success rate of these personal injury claims against landowners is extremely low. The reason for this disparity is that Massachusetts case law has evolved over the last few decades, greatly limiting claims for injuries resulting from falls on snow and ice.

Massachusetts case law has virtually eliminated claims based upon injuries sustained from falls on snow and ice that was considered a natural accumulation. In 1992, the Supreme Judicial Court, in Aylward v. McCloskey, 412 Mass. 77 (1992), held that “the law does not regard the natural accumulation of snow and ice as an actionable property defect, if it regards such weather conditions as a defect at all.” Aylward at 79. Due to this limitation, the plaintiff must show that the snow or ice created an unnatural accumulation in order for the case to be successful.

Whether an accumulation of snow or ice should be considered natural or unnatural is determined on a case-by-case basis. However, there are some common conditions that create an unnatural accumulation of snow or ice. Examples of unnatural accumulations of snow or ice include the following:

1) ice or snow that formed due to a man-made device, such as a gutter or defective roof;

2) ice or snow that has been transformed from its natural state into an unnatural state, because of its wear and use (i.e. “muddy ice,” ice that becomes well-traveled, either by foot or motor-vehicle traffic); or

3) naturally accumulated snow, which has been moved to a different location, where it then poses a hazard.

Still, the courts remain extremely reluctant to expand the definition of an unnatural accumulation of snow or ice. Although a few cases have been successful using the above theories of liability, those cases are the exception rather than the rule. Also, because the holdings are so case-specific, many judges refuse to follow those decisions.

If you sustained personal injuries as a result of a fall on snow or ice and would like to know if you have a viable claim, please contact us for more information.  

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About Attorney Eric J. Parker

Eric J. Parker is the Managing Partner and co-founder of the Boston-based trial firm Parker Scheer LLP, with offices in Massachusetts and Nevada. Mr. Parker has 20 years of active experience as one of Massachusetts’ leading civil trial lawyers, and holds the highest peer-review rating awarded to any attorney for professional skill and ethics. Mr. Parker is a member of the American Association for Justice (formerly the Association of Trial Lawyers of America), as well as the American, Massachusetts and Boston Bar Associations. Mr. Parker is an elected member of the American Board of Trial Advocates (ABOTA; Elected Vice President, Massachusetts Chapter, January 2007), and is a certified member of the Million Dollar Advocates Forum. In 2007, Mr. Parker was appointed to the Editorial Board of Massachusetts Lawyer Weekly, the leading weekly legal newspaper serving the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Mr. Parker has been named a Massachusetts Super Lawyer by the publishers of Boston Magazine, every year since the distinction was first created. Mr. Parker's legal practice focuses on plaintiff-oriented tort litigation, including product liability, motor vehicle tort, medical and dental malpractice, premises liability claims, workplace sexual harassment and assault, aviation-related injuries, and wrongful death. Mr. Parker is a Graduate of Vassar College and received his Juris Doctor degree from Suffolk University Law School. In addition to his legal practice, Mr. Parker is also an FAA Certified Private Pilot, and was a founding member of the Board of Trustees of the Media And Technology Charter High School (MATCH) located in Boston (Chairman 2001-2005), the goal of which is to provide inner city high school students with a successful college education.

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