They could be legally responsible for covering any costs you have incurred as a result of the slip and fall accident in which you suffered injury or loss. These costs could include any medical expenses, a loss of wages, and additional costs for pain and suffering.
However, while your slip and fall incident is a very real occurrence that comes with very real consequences, proving your case can be an uphill battle regardless of whether you sustained an injury or not. That’s why it’s so important to know how a slip and fall case works and understanding which party is at fault to better determine if negligence indeed played a role and who is responsible for the accident.
A slip and fall incident can be a devastating occurrence. Falling down is nothing to take lightly. People have injured hands, legs, even taken a nasty impact to the head all because of a surface on which they were walking may have been uneven or wet due to the negligence of others. If you have experienced an incident where you slipped and fell down, you could have a case against the property owner where the incident occurred, the maintenance crew tasked with keeping the property safe for individuals to walk along public thoroughfares, stairwells, and grounds, or both at the same time.
Being the victim of a slip and fall incident should be relatively easy to prove. You were walking and slipped or you tripped and, as a result, lost your balance and fell down. In the process, you became injured and your injuries should largely speak for themselves. But proving that your injuries were the result of someone else’s careless behavior or negligence and not your own comes with a myriad of challenges in a court of law.
That’s not to suggest that you don’t have a case, but the other party will have competent legal representation who will be presenting their own case in which you, and you alone, are the responsible party as to why you fell down and hurt yourself.
So here are some facts. If the conditions under which you fell down and sustained the injury are due to a slick surface due to weather or a torn carpet or an uneven walkway, these are all considered hazardous and it could be someone else’s responsibility for ensuring these conditions are avoided. A leaking pipe or a wet floor due to someone having just mopped it and failing to put out any warning to the general public could also mean someone else is liable for your injuries. Poor lighting is also a common cause of many slip and fall incidents. This poor illumination could be very dangerous, especially along stairwells and outdoor thoroughfares.
So here are some facts. If the conditions under which you fell down and sustained the injury are due to a slick surface due to weather or a torn carpet or an uneven walkway, these are all considered hazardous and it could be someone else’s responsibility for ensuring these conditions are avoided. A leaking pipe or a wet floor due to someone having just mopped it and failing to put out any warning to the general public could also mean someone else is liable for your injuries. Poor lighting is also a common cause of many slip and fall incidents. This poor illumination could be very dangerous, especially along stairwells and outdoor thoroughfares.
There is a wide variety of dangerous conditions that could lead to a slip and fall incident and they can play a significant role in helping to prove a case.
In order to win your slip and fall case and receive the compensation you deserve, you must be able to properly identify which parties are potentially liable for the conditions that caused the incident to occur. But how do you go about doing that? Which parties do you need to prove are liable for your injuries? In many cases, the owner or owners of the property where the incident took place could be held liable for the unsafe conditions in which you fell down. You may also turn to any parties tasked with properly maintaining the property so that it remains free from the dangerous perils which lead to your slip and fall incident.
You will need to prove that your fall was no fault of your own but, instead, the fault of others who failed to keep the location safe due to negligence on their part.
But that negligence is not always easy to prove and the legal representatives working for your opponent will go a long way towards proving that your own actions lead to your injuries. Whether you were in an area that you were not allowed to enter or you were demonstrating carelessness that resulted in your slip and fall incident, your opponent’s legal representation will make every argument to place the responsibility on you and not any other potentially liable parties.
Therefore, while you need to prove negligence on the part of others, you must also prove that you were not at fault for your fall and the injuries that occurred.
So any slip and fall case won’t just require you to prove that another party is liable for your injuries but you must also prove that you were in no way at fault for your fall.
Winning any slip and fall case will hinge largely upon proving that someone else failed to take reasonable actions to ensure the safety of others and your slip and fall incident was the result of that negligence. If those parties are found responsible for the conditions in which the incident took place, those parties may then be held liable for damages in the case.
The following are some of the conditions to consider in determining the potential for negligence as a contributing factor in your slip and fall case:
If the hazardous condition that lead to your injury was evident for long enough that the owner of the property or another individual tasked with maintaining that property could have taken action in a reasonable amount of time to fix the issue.
If the property owner or another individual tasked with maintaining that property conducted regular checks or routine maintenance of the property in order to prevent the hazardous condition which resulted in your slip and fall incident.
If actions were taken to check the property or perform routine maintenance in the time after the slip and fall incident took place.
If the hazardous condition leading to your slip and fall incident had a valid justification for existing at the time of your incident.
If the hazardous condition in which you were injured could have been reduced or eliminated in its entirety on the part of the owner of the property or another individual tasked with maintaining that property by removing any hazards or obstacles, preventing access to the hazardous area, or placing signage warning of a hazardous condition.
If insufficient lighting or poor visibility was the reason for the slip and fall incident.
Should any of these situations apply to the facts in your case, you may be able to prove clear negligence on the part of a property owner and/or employees, agents, or other individuals who have some connection to the property and its condition.
Being the victim of a slip and fall incident should be relatively easy to prove. You were walking and slipped or you tripped and, as a result, lost your balance and fell down. In the process, you became injured and your injuries should largely speak for themselves. But proving that your injuries were the result of someone else’s careless behavior or negligence and not your own comes with a myriad of challenges in a court of law.
That’s not to suggest that you don’t have a case, but the other party will have competent legal representation who will be presenting their own case in which you, and you alone, are the responsible party as to why you fell down and hurt yourself.
So here are some facts. If the conditions under which you fell down and sustained the injury are due to a slick surface due to weather or a torn carpet or an uneven walkway, these are all considered hazardous and it could be someone else’s responsibility for ensuring these conditions are avoided. A leaking pipe or a wet floor due to someone having just mopped it and failing to put out any warning to the general public could also mean someone else is liable for your injuries. Poor lighting is also a common cause of many slip and fall incidents. This poor illumination could be very dangerous, especially along stairwells and outdoor thoroughfares.
So here are some facts. If the conditions under which you fell down and sustained the injury are due to a slick surface due to weather or a torn carpet or an uneven walkway, these are all considered hazardous and it could be someone else’s responsibility for ensuring these conditions are avoided. A leaking pipe or a wet floor due to someone having just mopped it and failing to put out any warning to the general public could also mean someone else is liable for your injuries. Poor lighting is also a common cause of many slip and fall incidents. This poor illumination could be very dangerous, especially along stairwells and outdoor thoroughfares.
There is a wide variety of dangerous conditions that could lead to a slip and fall incident and they can play a significant role in helping to prove a case.
The other side is going to argue that you were the responsible party in this matter, your actions were the direct cause of your injuries and the parties whom you are suing are not liable for damages. This is called comparative fault and it aims to prove that you hold some contributing factor in your slip and fall-related injuries and, regardless of whether you are found in part or completely liable in the reasons behind your slip and fall incident, you could receive little or no compensation.
Many states take comparative fault into account when a decision is being made in a slip and fall case. If it is decided that comparative fault applies and you hold some percentage of responsibility in the cause of your injuries, your damages would be commensurate with that percentage. As an example, if you are awarded $10,000 in damages, yet you are found to have 50% liability in the cause of your injuries, you would only be entitled to $5,000.
Some examples of comparative fault might include intoxication, walking while texting or being otherwise distracted, entering an area that is closed off to the public, or simply not paying attention to where you were walking due to carelessness or negligence on your part.
So here are some facts. If the conditions under which you fell down and sustained the injury are due to a slick surface due to weather or a torn carpet or an uneven walkway, these are all considered hazardous and it could be someone else’s responsibility for ensuring these conditions are avoided. A leaking pipe or a wet floor due to someone having just mopped it and failing to put out any warning to the general public could also mean someone else is liable for your injuries. Poor lighting is also a common cause of many slip and fall incidents. This poor illumination could be very dangerous, especially along stairwells and outdoor thoroughfares.
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