Establishing Liability in Slip and Fall Accidents
Thousands of people are injured in slip and fall accidents every day in South Florida. If you were injured on someone else’s property and can prove the four elements of premises liability, you can hold the owner liable for your damages. Accidents that happen due to defective or dangerous property, whether it’s inside of a building or outside, fall under the area of tort law called premises liability. A premises or property can be hazardous for a variety of reasons including faulty design, shoddy construction or building materials, poor maintenance, etc. A premises liability accident can take place on a commercial piece of property such as a store, office, or other place of business. A premises liability accident can also take place at a residential home or a rental property. Additionally, some premises liability accidents take place at a park or a government building. Regardless of where and how an accident takes place, most premises liability cases will center on a couple different legal issues. In this blog post, I will be talking about what you need to know about liability in slip and fall injury claims.
Liability in Slip and Fall Accidents
Who is responsible for an injury resulting from a slip and fall accident? Slip and falls are caused by wet floors, defective stairs, or a rough patch on the ground. In some cases, the property owner is responsible for the injury and in other cases, multiple parties may be responsible. Just because the accident happened on a specific property doesn’t make the property owner the only party liable for your slip and fall injury. There is the possibility of shared liability which means there can be multiple parties responsible for the same actions in addition to the property owner. The liable parties might include the property management company, a tenant leasing or subleasing the property, a contractor working on the property, or other agents and employees of the property owner. Traditional tort liability is based upon fault. That is all well and good, but what does it mean. Simply put, it means that you cannot successfully sue another person for causing your injuries unless they were responsible for causing them. Causation is the linchpin that holds all the other elements of a claim together. Causation is also the most difficult element to prove in slip and fall cases. Most slip and fall lawsuits are won or lost on causation issues. An injured party may be able to prove property ownership, duty of care, and even breach, without causation, you won’t have a strong case. Negligence occurs when a person fails to behave in accordance with the standard of care that a reasonable prudent person would exercise in the same situation, it is considered negligence under the law.
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After a slip and fall accident, you may be worried that you will be unable to find a responsible party to pay for your injury. If you or someone you love were injured in a slip and fall accident of any kind, our top-rated slip and fall lawyers can help. Having experienced slip and fall lawyers fighting for you can mean the difference between winning top dollar for your claim and receiving no compensation at all. You may be wondering how exactly is it that a personal injury attorney can assist you with your claim. There are several ways. First, our team can review your slip and fall claim and evaluate your claim to see if it is compensable. This is done during an initial consultation. Having an experienced attorney look at your case can be of tremendous value. If your case is compensable, an attorney will either send an initial settlement demand letter or file a complaint depending on what stage of the personal injury process your case is at. Once a case is filed, the discovery phase of your case begins. In the discovery phase, we will obtain many pieces of evidence. For example, we obtain witness testimony, medical records and bills, police reports, and any other information that is necessary to get a full understanding of your case. If a settlement cannot be obtained, the next step will be to prepare to take your case to court, where it will usually be tried in front of a jury. Our attorneys are ready to provide proven legal representation and stand ready to protect your rights. We are available 24/7 to give you a free, no risk case consultation!
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