Slip and Fall on Private Property

Premises liability is a general term which covers all types of injuries or accidents that may take place on private property. In the state of Florida, owners of private residences and operators of businesses have a duty to make sure that their property is safe for visitors and guests. As it pertains to business owners, the law in Florida states that owners have a continuing duty to maintain their premises in a reasonably safe and prudent manner in order to avoid injuries to their patrons as well as anyone they invite to come onto their property. Overall, a private property owner is liable for another person’s injuries if they either produced a hazardous condition that caused the injury at issue or were aware of a hazardous or dangerous condition on their property and failed to take steps to correct the condition in a timely fashion. Additionally, a private property owner may be found to be liable if they were unaware of a dangerous or hazardous condition but would have discovered said condition if they were to have inspected their property prior to an accident or incident occurring. If you or someone you love sustained an injury due to the negligence of a private property owner, you may be entitled to damages for the following: medical treatment, pain and suffering, lost wages, etc.

Whether you sustained an injury in a big box retail store or in your friend’s private residence, injuries sustained in slip and fall accidents on private property are compensable in a slip and fall premises liability claim. The principle idea here is that property owners and operators owe a duty to lawful guests to maintain the site in reasonably safe condition. To begin, to establish 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.

According to data from The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), around 30% of persons injured in slip and fall accidents on private property sustain moderate to severe injuries. A smaller percentage of persons also suffer more serious injuries such as Traumatic Brain Injury or Spinal Cord Injury. Some of the most common types of slip and fall accidents are listed below for your reference:

• Disorderly hallways, aisles and other walkways

• Poorly maintained hallways, aisles and other walkways

• Poorly lit floors

• Defective ladders and scaffolding

• Unstable flooring such as uneven tiles or bricks, or paving.

• Uneven surfaces

• Slippery floors caused by spills, rain, or mud.

• Slick surfaces like stone or glass

• Loose handrails or broken staircases

If a private property owner breaches their duty of care and is found to be negligent, an injured victim is entitled to sue for damages. If you are injured on a private property in Florida and want to pursue a premises liability claim against the private property owner, there are some important things you should know in order to be successful in your efforts. For starters, know what type of visitor/guest you are in relation to the private property owner. For example, if you sustain an injury on a private property, you must figure out what status you have as a visitor to determine if the landowner owed you a duty of care and if so, what standard of care. In Florida, the categories include trespassers, licensees, and invitees. A licensee is a person who enters or remains for his own convenience or to advance his own interests, pursuant to the landowner’s permission or consent, and includes social guests and invitees. An invitee is a person who transacts business in which the parties are mutually interested or when the public is expressly or impliedly requested or intended to enter or remain. As our Miami slip-and-fall accident attorneys can explain, the expected level of care can fluctuate depending on the designation of the visitor. Generally, a duty is breached if a defendant fails to conduct himself as a reasonably prudent person would in the same circumstances. The standard is applied as though the reasonable person possessed the experience, knowledge, and mental capabilities of an average member of the community, even if the defendant did not actually possess it. Plaintiff must affirmatively prove actual damages for a negligence claim. In Florida, the injury must be a foreseeable outcome, a prudent human must be able to expect that similar harm is likely to be substantially caused by the act or omission at issue in the slip and fall case. A plaintiff will prevail in a slip and fall case when it can prove that the private property owner’s actions or inactions were the direct cause of the injury sustained.