Slip and Fall Law FAQ: I slipped and fell at a store. Can I file a personal injury claim?

If you have slipped and fallen at a store and are now dealing with large medical bills, the inability to work, and other financial losses, you should call a slip and fall injury lawyer. 

Can You File a Claim?

Whether or not you can file a slip and fall injury claim against a business establishment or property owners for injuries will largely depend if negligence was a factor. It may be in your best interest to consult a slip and fall lawyer to evaluate the situation in greater detail. In general, if negligence was the cause of your slip and fall, you may be able to get compensation for your injury. If you choose to pursue a personal injury claim, it will be up to you or a slip and fall lawyer to prove the following:

  • That a dangerous or hazardous condition existed.
  • The property owner establishment knew, or should have known about the hazard.
  • The condition existed, but nothing was done to protect visitors or customers safe.
  • A slip and fall happened because of the dangerous condition.

Making a Reasonable Effort to Keep a Property Safe

A lawyer will also have to determine whether or not the business or property owner made any reasonable effort in keeping their premises safe. Typically, if a business was unaware of a hazard and the hazard was something new — or relatively new (within reason) — recovering compensation becomes more difficult. When the owner had actual knowledge of the hazard, it is usually easier to prove negligence. For example, if there were a stack of juice bottles at the end of the aisle in a grocery store and these bottles collapsed all over the nearby floor, the owner would find it difficult to claim that they didn’t have any knowledge of creating a potential hazard. 

Claim with Constructive Knowledge 

When a claim involves constructive knowledge — in other words, there were hazardous conditions — but they might not have been clear or noticeable, the ability to recover damages can become more complicated. In most states, there are laws that enable a slip and fall lawyer to look for circumstantial evidence which suggests a hazardous condition existed. If the lawyer can demonstrate the condition existed for a period of time or that it occurred regularly, thus was foreseeable, or that the owners should have known about the hazard, it may constitute as circumstantial knowledge. The main factors to address in this type of case would be notice and time. For example, if a customer broke a bottle of juice onto the floor and another customer slipped and fell just a minute later, the store may not be found liable. However, if the store was aware of the juice on the floor, but left it, and a slip and fall resulted, the store may be liable. 

Regardless of what happened, or what the circumstances might be, if you were injured in a slip and fall, it may be in your best interest to consult a slip and fall lawyer, like a slip and fall lawyer in Woodland Hills, CA, for further advice and help. 

Thanks to Barry P. Goldberg, A Professional Law Corporation for their insight into filing a personal injury claim because of a slip and fall accident.