A visiting Supreme Court justice has reserved judgment on a point of law involving a woman's allegation that the City of Whitehorse should be held responsible because she slipped and fell on a slippery sidewalk.

Barbara Schan, now 52, first launched the case in 2000. It has been winding its way through the courts ever since.

Lawyers James Tucker, who repesents Schan, and Anthony Slemko, who represents the City of Whitehorse, offered their submissions this morning to help Justice Allan Wachowich decide if the sidewalk Schan slipped on is, in accordance with the Municipal Act, a sidewalk or a highway.

Tucker submitted that it should be classified as a sidewalk, in which case the City must exercise "duty of care" according to the 1998 Municipal Act.

An injured plaintiff must prove "gross negligence" if the municipality is to be held responsible, he said.

Slemko said Schan suffered from a "severe ankle break" after she slipped on a snowy and icy section of sidewalk.

Regarding the distinction between a sidewalk and a highway, Slemko said it was "impossible to ascertain the mindset" of those who authored the Municipal Act.

Wachowich said he would make his decision by the end of next month and thanked both counsel for their submissions.

"It's not very often in this day and age a judge gets such succinct information to make a decision on," he commented.

The location of the fall wasn't mentioned in court this morning, and the relevant documents were not available to the media before press time this afternoon.