Every business has a responsibility to ensure that their property is safe for the people they invite in. Obviously, we want businesses to make money, but part of the deal in allowing them to do so is that they make sure it is safe for everyone in their store. Every business owner is aware of this requirement. However, sometimes safety takes a back seat to profit. If you trip or slip and fall, a lawyer can help you prove the fault of the business. This is because the right lawyer is fully aware of the myriad of implications (as well as complications) regarding ‘premises liability’ cases, which covers all trip and fall accidents. We have all the tools to prove that the property owner did not meet all of their legal obligations in ensuring your safety while on the premises.
Factors Governing a Trip and Fall Accident
Although most people belive if they fall on the property of another, they are entitled to recovery; this is not the case. You must prove two things to show liability in a trip or slip and fall: 1. That you fell on a dangerous condition; and 2. That the defendant knew or should have known of the condition.
Some examples of what we have seen in our practice are wet floors. It is important that if you slip and fall on a wet floor, you look around to discover what you slipped on. Was it water? Was it product? What was it? Additionally, see where the liquid was coming from. Was it from a spilled bottle? Was it from a freezer? Furthermore, look to see if there was an employee near the area. Was he or she cleaning? Did they put up warnings about the condition?
Whose Fault is It?
Once you establish that there was a dangerous condition and that the business knew or should have known of it, the business then has to act reasonable. It is not necessary that the business foresee every possible scenario that arises, only that they act reasonable under the circumstances. We aggressively seek the defendant’s own policies and procedures to see if they violated them in treating the area. We look at industry standards and at times obtain experts to establish what that industry standard is in order to show that the business failed to live up to it.
The bottom line is the difficulty in trying to take on a business for a trip and fall accident alone. We can help save you both time and money and get you compensated for any injuries, lost work, and other compensatory damages.
