Miami Slip and Falls on Public Property Lawyer
When a person is injured in a slip and fall accident, the cause of the injury can usually be traced back to a negligent property owner. In a slip and fall injury accident, the injured victim usually slips on a wet or slippery floor or falls on an object or uneven floor. In slip and fall cases where the hazardous condition could have been repaired by the landowner, they may be responsible for your injury. The vast majority of slip and fall cases occur at business establishments. For instance, slip and fall accidents take place at retail stores, department stores, grocery stores, etc. However, slip and fall accidents can occur in other areas, such as on property owned by the government.
What Constitutes a Slip and Fall Accident on Public Property?
Bodily injury is defined as a bodily injury, sickness, or disease sustained by a person, including death resulting from any of these at any time.” Bodily injury includes illness and disease as well as physical injury. It also includes death if death results from bodily injury, sickness, or disease. Regardless of the type of property (public or private) where you sustained an injury, there is always someone who is responsible for maintenance and upkeep. If you or someone you love sustained an injury on public property owned or operated by the government, you may be able to obtain damages if the government negligently maintained the property or somehow caused your injury. When a person sustains, they must show that the government was negligent in order to obtain compensation. Typically, an injured victim can recover damages for an injury if the government was negligent and that negligence caused your injury. The four basic items that need to be shown are duty, breach, causation, and damages to the injured victim. In a claim for negligence, the plaintiff must establish (1) a duty was owed, (2) duty breached; (3) breach was cause-in-fact (but for) and proximate cause of plaintiff’s injuries; and (4) breach caused injuries. A duty is owed only to foreseeable plaintiffs. The plaintiff must show that “but for” the defendant’s breach (cause-in-fact) the plaintiff would not have been injured, and the defendant’s actions were the proximate or legal cause of the injuries and that such injuries were a foreseeable consequence of the defendant’s actions.
Factors Contributing to Slip and Falls on Government-Owned Property
A slip and fall accident can occur virtually anywhere. As it pertains to public property, some common examples include local roadways, public sidewalks, courthouses, government buildings, museums, monuments, public parks, to name a few. It is important for you to understand that at all levels of government—local or federal—governments have a duty to make sure they maintain their property in a reasonably safe condition and this extends to any private persons or contractors hired to maintain public property since this is a non-delegable duty. Some of the most common slip and fall accidents that take place on public property include:
• Slip and falls on poorly maintained sidewalks or roadways
• Slip and Falls on public transportation
• Slip and falls at public schools
• Slip and falls at public parks
• Slip and falls at Post Offices
• Slip and falls at Public Libraries
Determining Liability for the Accident
In slip and fall cases, the injured victim always has the burden to prove the elements of negligence against the government entity in charge of the public property. Essentially, you must show how and why the government caused your injury. To prepare your case, it is vital that you take pictures of the condition that caused your injury or pictures of the conditions of the scene on the day of the accident if possible. Additionally, try to make some type of report or record that your injury occurred by either calling the police or contacting a manager and asking them for contact information. Notifying the government entity is extremely important. Also, if there are any witnesses who saw you fall or saw what caused you to fall, make sure to obtain their contact information as it can become invaluable later on in the claims process or even in litigation if necessary. Whether you sustained an injury at a public park or at a courthouse, injuries sustained in slip and fall accidents on public property are compensable. The main point here is that property owners and operators owe a duty to lawful guests to maintain the site in reasonably safe condition and this extends to properties owned and maintained by government entities.
Filing a Claim for a Public Slip and Fall Injury
People get injured in all sorts of places and after many years of handling slip and fall cases, I can tell you that each case is distinct. You may have no idea who is liable for your injury or who is in charge of maintaining the property where you were injured. For most, it is difficult to figure out who to contact after a fall on a parking lot or sidewalk. Just as with slip and fall injuries that occur on private property, persons who have been injured on public property are also entitled to seek legal help for their injuries. However, the local government may try to fight back. There are special procedures involved in filing a claim against the city or state government, which often include shorter deadlinesto present your slip and fall case. Though, there are exceptions to these rules and if an act of negligence did take place, the government may be held liable for your injuries.
Frequently Asked Questions
Getting examined by a physician should be a top priority for any injured victim. Slip and fall accidents frequently result in hidden injuries. Unfortunately, some medical issues don’t show up until weeks or months after the initial injury. When you take the initiative to get a checkup, you may catch something early and be able to avoid lengthy medical treatment or medication before things get worse. Additionally, medical reports and records can help bolster your slip and fall claim and increase your odds of getting a favorable settlement.
An accident report will often contain some or all of the following information: identifying information for parties involved in a slip and fall accident, including names, addresses, phone numbers, and insurance information, witness information, and location of fall along with possibly cause of fall.
A reserve is the amount of money an insurance company is required to set aside, or “reserve,” for the payment of a slip and fall personal injury claim. All insurance carriers have differing reserving philosophies. Some reserve cases based on a “worst case scenario,” while others base their reserve on the “most probable outcome” of the case. Some companies utilize “step” reserving and change reserves throughout the life of the claim based on the length of time a claimant treat
The federal government and most states have special procedural rules that you need to follow in slip and fall cases against the government. You usually must file a “notice of claim” with the proper government entity that you think may be responsible for your injury. If you do not file this notice within the designated time period (the filing deadline), which can be as short as 30 days, you may lose the right to file a lawsuit.
