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AKA, the Slip and Fall
A “slip and fall” can be slapstick comedy — especially if banana peels are involved.
Anyone who’s actually fallen on their butt knows how painful it is. What hurts even worse? The law places the burden of proof on you, the person with bruises on your coccyx. Was there water on the ground? Did the defendant fail to take proper precautions? You have to prove that to a jury.
Let’s say you’re a property owner and someone slips on an ice patch in your parking lot. That doesn’t automatically make you responsible – you still need to be proven negligent for the victim to recover. You’re supposed to keep your property “reasonably safe” for anyone lawfully on it. Whatever “reasonable” means might be up to a jury, and since this type of case is tried more than any other, you’ll find that the definition varies wildly from case to case.
Just as a property owner bears responsibility to visitors, visitors bear responsibility to themselves. Many cases have been lost arguing over whether something was so “open and obvious” that the victim should or could have avoided it.
Meanwhile, have you ever fallen? You probably weren’t in any condition to start an investigation. You were more concerned with being hurt or so embarrassed that you just wanted to leave, never mind investigating and gathering names of witnesses. (Check out our “Ten Commandments of Personal Injury” Crash Course.)
A slip and fall is never straightforward. The property owner could be held responsible for any number of reasons:
- Failing to clean up a spill
- Failing to repair a condition that creates an “unnatural” buildup of ice or snow
- Using unnaturally slippery flooring in a high-traffic area with notice of the presence of water (yes, these can be rather specific)
- Failing to guard against falls that the owner knew were likely
- Failing to provide proper or state-required handrails
- Failing to cover floor openings
- Inadequate lighting or warning signs
Once there’s an injury, everyone starts pointing fingers. The building owner blames the landlord, who points at the management company, who yells at the architect. Then everyone says it’s the victim’s fault.
As your lawyer, it’s our job to investigate and determine what caused your fall as well as what conditions existed that allowed it to happen in the first place. We do our own witness interviews, testing, scene recreation, and more. This includes everything from taking depositions of security companies to analyzing security feeds to reviewing building permits to locating safety engineers.
It’s never simple. Your lawyer must have expertise and access to experts. Is your attorney familiar with material safety and building codes? Skid coefficients?
The bottom line: a “slip and fall” is an injury caused by the failure of a premises owner or responsible person to maintain the premises and to carefully maintain an area to prevent injury. These include:
- Slipping on an unsafe surface
- Poor lighting
- Holes or unstable surfaces
- Failure to keep property safe
- Outcropping or trip hazards
- Failures to comply with building safety codes
If you’ve fallen and can’t get up, contact our office for help!
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