The New Jersey Supreme Court heard oral arguments Wednesday in a slip-and-fall case regarding whether the defendant property owners were negligent in failing to maintain a sidewalk in front of a vacant lot.

Alejandra Padilla slipped and fell on a sidewalk in Camden in front of a vacant lot owned by Myo Soon and Young Il An. Padilla claimed she suffered severe bodily injury in the fall leaving her permanently disabled and limiting her ability to work. She filed a lawsuit, Padilla v. Young Il, against the property owners in Camden County Superior Court, according to the Appellate Division opinion.

After discovery was completed, the trial judge granted summary judgment to the defendants on the basis that they owed no duty to Padilla. The trial judge cited a precedential 1995 state Supreme Court opinion, Abraham v. Gupta, in agreement with the defendants that they had no duty to maintain the sidewalk because it abutted a vacant lot that was not generating income. The judge also rejected Padilla's argument that the defendants could have generated income on the property, according to the opinion.