Slipping and falling may seem like a minor and insignificant accident, but unsafe conditions on someone else’s property can cause serious, life-altering injuries. Each year, thousands of individuals are injured or killed in accidents due to the negligence of business owners, landlords, apartment complexes, and even government entities.
If you were injured in a slip and fall accident on someone else’s property, you deserve to be properly compensated for the losses that you incurred. Please do not hesitate to contact a slip and fall accident attorney at Shegerian & Associates to learn more about how we can pursue maximum compensation on your behalf.
Common Types of Slip, Trip & Fall Accidents
While there are various causes of slip and fall accidents, they generally result from dangerous or unsafe property conditions. Common types of hazards that result in slip and fall accidents include:
- Broken stairs
- Broken elevators
- Uneven walking surfaces
- Wet floors
- Plumbing leaks
- Uncovered cables and cords
- Broken furniture
- Slippery flooring material
- Poorly maintained sidewalks or walking paths
- Broken or missing handrails
- Holes in the ground
- Dangerous construction sites
- Unmarked dangerous conditions
- Debris or objects in the pathway
Duty of Property Owners in California
Slip, trip, and fall refers to any accident caused by the illegal negligence of a property owner. In California, property owners have a duty of care to protect those on their property from harm by maintaining their properties in a reasonably safe condition. This duty applies to those who:
- Own the property
- Lease the property
- Rent the property
- Occupy the property
- Control the property
Slip and fall claims fall under the umbrella of premises liability. Premises liability refers to the property owners’ liability when accidents and subsequent injuries occur on their property. A property owner can be held liable when the owner:
- Knows of the unsafe condition, but fails to correct it
- Should have known of the condition, but failed to correct it
This means a property owner, whether residential or commercial, could be considered legally responsible for a slip, trip, and fall injury only when his or her negligence caused an accident that was reasonably foreseeable to happen. ‘Reasonably foreseeable’ means that the accident was a likely occurrence under the circumstances from the objective perspective of a reasonable person.
If you were injured in a reasonably foreseeable slip and fall accident, you can seek legal aid from a slip and fall lawyer to know more about your rights to claim compensation.
Proving Negligence and Liability in a Slip, Trip & Fall
In order to recover from a slip and fall accident, you or your slip and fall attorney must show that the defendant was negligent. A property owner is considered negligent in the use or maintenance of their property if they failed to take steps to keep those on the property safe and guests out of harm’s way. Negligence will be proven if:
- The property owner owed the plaintiff a duty of care.
- The duty of care was not upheld by the property owner.
- The breach of duty resulted in a slip and fall accident.
- The plaintiff incurred losses as a result of the accident.
It is important to remember in slip, trip, and fall cases that they do not have to end in total loss. Every plaintiff has a right to claim monetary compensation for the injuries sustained from accidents on another’s property. Courts deciding whether the case is legally viable will aim to put the plaintiff back in the position he or she would have been if the accident had not occurred. This could involve compensation for lost wages, hospital bills, and even emotional stress.
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If the injury resulted partially from a plaintiff’s failure to avoid obvious dangers, it could be harder to prove that a violation of law has occurred. However, because of California’s pure comparative negligence rules, someone who is injured in a slip and fall accident and who was partially liable for the accident may still pursue compensation for their losses and reach out to a slip and fall accident lawyer.
However, their total award amount will be reduced by the amount they were found to be at fault for the slip and fall accident. For instance, if a slip and fall accident victim was found to be 10% at fault and their total award amount was $50,000, the award amount would be reduced by 10%, or $5,000.
Contact a Slip and Fall Accident Attorney
An accident on someone else’s property, whether residential or commercial, is a serious matter that should be addressed by individuals capable of assessing the nature and extent of the damages as well as the legal implications. If you’ve experienced a slip, trip, and fall accident, but don’t know where to turn, contact Shegerian & Associates today. Whether you’re looking for a slip and fall lawyer in Los Angeles or any lawyer for a slip and fall accident, our experienced team can ensure the most successful outcome to your personal injury case.
