What You Should Know About Slip and Fall Injuries / Premises Liability

Slip and fall injuries/premises liability are areas of the law that can be confusing. It is not always easy to tell who is responsible for the costs of injuries caused when someone slips and falls in a public place, or even in the residence of a friend or acquaintance. There are times when the property owner should take responsibility, and times when he or she is not liable.

To be legally responsible for the injuries suffered from slipping and falling on another person’s property, one of the following stipulations must be true:

• Since a “reasonable” employee or premises owner should have been on the lookout for a dangerous surface, discovered and removed or repaired it.

• The property owner or an employee of the business where the fall occurred must have known about the dangers inherent in the surface, but did nothing to rectify it.

• An employee, or the owner of the property where the fall occurred, caused the situation (such as a spill, torn carpeting or other dangerous surface) and did nothing to rectify it.

In virtually all slip or trip and fall cases, one must determine whether or not his or her carelessness contributed to the cause of the accident. The rules of “comparative negligence” help determine and measure the degree to which one’s own reasonableness in certain factors, such as why the injured party was going where he or she went, or what the injured party did, just prior to the accident.

It takes the assistance of an experienced, professional attorney to sort through all the confusing details of a slip and fall injury case and to help determine whether or not the owner or employee of a premises was at fault. If you live in the vicinity of Los Angeles or the greater LA area, and were injured due to a slip and fall accident, please contact us to schedule a consultation. We can help.