Find A California Personal Injury Attorney for Slip and Fall Accidents
Slip and fall accidents tend to feel like it could be your own fault. However, there might also be a good chance that you would not have suffered such injuries if other people—especially property owners—have taken steps to ensure you were safe. Consult a Personal Injury Lawyer in California to review your legal options.
What Qualifies As A Slip And Fall Accident in California?
When the weather is damp, and the surfaces are slick, slip and fall accidents are more likely to happen. They can occur both inside and outside of a building. People can also be put at risk if a recently washed commercial building floor is not adequately designated with warning signs or if a spill is not cleaned up quickly and thoroughly.
In these situations, victims may lose their balance on the wet, dangerous surface and suffer severe or even life-threatening injuries resulting from their fall. For example, brain injury can occur if the victim's head touches the ground during a slip and fall accident.
In the same way, if the person slips and falls on their neck or back, the spinal cord might be injured. Head, brain, spine, and back injuries are typically fatal, needing costly and lengthy medical treatment.
During the healing and rehabilitation process, a survivor is frequently obliged to take time from work. In addition, as victims struggle to pay for ongoing medical expenses, lost wages will add to their financial stress.
Hiring a California Personal Injury Lawyer might help you seek compensation for all the expenses and suffering you have to endure.
Who Can I Sue for Slip-And-Fall Accidents?
Premises liability law requires property owners to make every effort to ensure that their grounds are well-maintained and safeguarded. If an accident happens on their property and the owner is proven guilty, they can be held liable for the victim's medical bills, missed income, and other expenses. Slipping and tripping injuries are two of the most common types of premises liability cases filed against at-fault parties.
In a California slip and fall lawsuit, the main question is whether the defendant was negligent in their care or use of the property. According to California Civil Jury Instruction 1003, this occurs when the defendant knew or should have known of a condition that constituted an undue risk of damage and failed to rectify or warn of the condition.
The store owner is clearly the property owner in the case of a milk spill in a grocery store. A spill offers an unacceptable danger of harm because wet areas are not expected when buying.
Finally, the store employs a large number of people and has surveillance cameras installed. One would hope that the leak would be found and cleaned up immediately. All of this suggests that the plaintiff has a strong premises liability case.
What Do I Need To Prove In A Slip-and-Fall Case?
Even if the accident occurred on someone else's property, you are not automatically entitled to compensation if you are involved in a slip and fall accident. Instead, to seek compensation under the premises responsibility concept, you must establish that the property owner breached the duty of care owed to you. A property owner is accountable for the following:
Maintain a property that is relatively clean and free of risks.
Repair any identified dangers on the property within a reasonable time frame.
A property/premises owner may be held liable for injuries caused as a result of a slip and fall accident if the following conditions are met:
A threat was present on the premises, and the property owner was aware of it or should have been aware of it.
The owner of the property declined to deal with the problem promptly.
To win the case, you'll have to establish that the property owner was aware of the hazard or should have been aware of it, which can be challenging to do.
Consider the following scenario: you slipped at the grocery store because of spilled milk. It's unlikely that the property owner (grocery shop manager) would have known about the spill if another client spilled the milk and you slipped seconds after. On the other hand, if the slip and fall occurred 15 minutes after the spill, it's more reasonable to assume that the manager was aware of the spill and had sufficient time to clean it up.
How Do You Prove Premises Liability?
If you want the property owner to compensate you after you slip and fall, you must demonstrate that they failed in their duty of care to you. Because your fall may be your fault, simply slipping and falling at someone's house or place of business is insufficient to establish a compelling case.
With the help of a California Personal Injury Lawyer, you can prove that the property owner's negligence put you in an unreasonable degree of danger and that you made reasonable efforts to stop it.
A property owner or management must have the following to be judged negligent:
You triggered the slipping danger, or you allowed it to go unmanaged for an unreasonable period of time.
They were aware of the threat or should have been if they had been more vigilant.
The hazard was not appropriately addressed, and no one was told about it.
What If It Happens At Work?
If you are hurt at work in California due to a slip and fall, you will most likely submit a workers' compensation claim. Workers' compensation insurance is a no-fault policy. This means that regardless of who caused the accident, you will be compensated.
To be eligible for workers' compensation, you must make a claim and show that you have:
You were at work when the accident occurred.
California's workers' compensation laws cover the accident.
You did not intend to cause your accident.
The incident had nothing to do with your drug or alcohol use.
Find A Slip and Fall Attorney in California
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