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Slip and Fall Injury and Premises Liability

When you visit a supermarket, walk in parking lot or go to any business, you are being invited onto someone else's property. Someone who probably has big-firm attorneys and big insurance companies on their side - folks who talk about "premises liability" and "dangerous condition mitigation." If you have been hurt, you might have gotten a call from a friendly-sounding insurance adjustor. That person may sound nice, but remember that he or she is being paid to minimize your recovery.

Slip and falls- a sticky area of personal injury - cause thousands of injuries a year, some of which are quite serious. One misstep on a slippery floor or broken step can land an unassuming victim in a wheelchair, while a stumble over a manhole cover can cause anything from a broken leg to a permanent spinal cord injury. Everyone agrees that these and similar slip and fall accidents are perilous -but the line gets a bit fuzzy when determining who is at fault. If you slip and fall on someone else's property, is that person automatically liable for your injuries, even if you were forewarned of potential dangers? Read on to find out.

First, understand that premises liability is the law that governs slip and fall accidents and determines who is at fault for them. Premises liability laws vary from state to state and jurisdiction to jurisdiction. Next, realize that there is no cut-and-dry way to determine fault in a slip and fall accident. Every premises liability case is evaluated on an individual basis and considers whether or not the property owner took precautions to make the area safe as well as whether or not you - or the victim - were careless, thereby contributing to the slip and fall accident. For example, a restaurateur is not necessarily liable should you fall on a wet floor in the restroom if the area was clearly marked with a yellow "caution" sign. Below, you'll find out more about the general rules surrounding slip and fall personal injury accidents.

Is the Property Owner Liable for Your Slip and Fall Accident?

That depends. A victim would have to prove the following in order to hold the property owner responsible and have a premises liability case:

That the property owner caused the unsafe condition and the subsequent slip and fall accident (by spilling something and not cleaning it up, by digging a hard-to-spot hole in a heavily trafficked area, etc.)
That the property owner knew about the condition but did not try to correct it (by not posting a sign on uneven ground, etc.)
That the property owner should have known about the danger, because a "reasonable" person would have found the problem and taken steps to prevent injuries caused by the slip and fall accident (This is the most common situation, as it is not clearly defined and is determined based on common sense).

Defining the "Reasonable" Person

When determining if a property owner's actions were in fact reasonable, the court must consider how long the unsafe condition that contributed to the slip and fall accident existed and whether the owner had time to discover and ultimately fix the problem. It must also consider whether the steps taken were appropriate or reasonable and whether the carelessness of the victim contributed to the slip and fall injury.

Be aware, though, that the reasonable person standard applies not only to the property owner, but also to the victim. If, the victim was somewhere he or she should not have been or was engaged in an inappropriate activity, the property owner may be absolved of any responsibility/ premises liability. (For example, if you wander off marked paths or skateboard down stairs, you may bear responsibility for your own slip and fall accidents.) Likewise, if a reasonable person would have seen a spill, hole, or other problem and been able to avoid it, the victim's own carelessness and not the property owner's negligence may be at fault.

Questions to Ask Yourself in Determining Fault in a Slip and Fall Accident

To help determine who is to blame for your slip and fall injury, try asking yourself the following questions:

If you slipped on a spill in a mall, had it been there long enough that the property owner should have been aware of it?
Has the property owner instated a standard cleaning/maintenance schedule for the premises and if so, can he offer proof?
If, for example, for you tripped over a stack of boxes beside a shelf in a grocery store, was there a good reason for them to have been there? Could they have been safely and conveniently placed elsewhere?
Is there a safe place that the boxes could have been placed, or could the slip and fall accident have been prevented had there been a proper barrier or warning sign?
Was the slip and fall accident caused, at least in part, by poor or dim lighting?
Did you have a valid excuse for being at the site of the slip and fall accident?
Were you paying full attention at the time of the slip and fall accident?
Was the area properly labeled?
Would the reasonable person have been able to avoid the slip and fall accident?

Of course, only a qualified personal injury lawyer who specializes in premises liability can truly help you determine if you have a case.

Special Situations

There are some exceptions to general slip and fall and premises liability cases. They include:

Trespassers

Property owners are not necessarily subject to premises liability laws when it comes to injuries incurred by trespassers on their property. This is also true of burglars and other uninvited guests.

Children

Children are an exception to the trespassing rule because the law acknowledges that children often do not perceive danger as well as adults. A property owner must take steps to ensure the safety of children who play in the area, even if they are not supposed to be there.

Workplace accidents

Currently, there are workers' compensation laws in place that hold employers strictly liable for most on-the-job injuries, including those resulting from slip and fall accidents, that their employees suffer. However, the amount of damages that the injured can collect is limited.

Government property

In cases of government property, such as public parks, the federal or state government may bear legal responsibility for personal injuries incurred on the premises. Slip and fall / premises liability cases against the government are covered by either the Federal Tort Claims Act or similar state tort claims acts. Cases must be brought within a certain time limit.

To learn more about premise liability or slip and fall cases, call 410-486-1800.