By There are countless reasons why you may need the assistance of Slip and Fall attorneys, and these types of injuries often leave victims suffering with long-term disabilities and non-economic damages.
Slip and fall litigation has grown in recent years as more people have become aware of premises liability laws and their legal rights in general, but there’s still a lot of confusion about this personal injury niche. We’ve partnered up with the personal injury experts at Cefali & Cefali (based in Southern California) to create this list of FAQs that slip and fall attorneys often receive.
So below are some questions and answers about slip and fall injuries:
If I slip and fall on a damaged portion of a city’s sidewalk and get injured, can I sue the municipality?
It’s possible that the injured plaintiff could have legal precedent to seek damages from the municipality in this scenario, and this is mainly due to the duty of municipalities to repair sidewalks and streets.
What the plaintiff would need to prove is that the city failed to properly maintain the sidewalk for a significant period of time. There are all sorts of requirements and deadlines when seeking claims against municipalities, which is why slip and fall attorneys are always necessary in these all-too-common situations.
What happens if I get injured at a neighbor’s house during a party?
It’s definitely possible for party guests to seek damages against hosts, but it’ll largely depend upon how the slip and fall injuries happened. It is the party host’s liability to let guests know about certain dangerous conditions and other hazards that guests will likely fail to recognize.
For example, if a guest trips over a missing stair in a staircase and is injured, then they could recover damages in the instance that the host didn’t warn them about the missing stair. In this scenario, it’s the host’s legal responsibility to warn guests about the missing stair, put a sign up to keep people away from the staircase, or properly secure the staircase to ensure it’s safe for travel.
Can people receive compensation when they experience a slip and fall accident at a store or commercial property?
Just like with most personal injury cases, there will be specific facts that determine whether or not an accident victim is capable of recovering damages after a slip and fall at a store or commercial property.
Commercial properties (particularly stores that regularly host customers) have a legal duty to keep their floors safe. Furthermore, store employees regularly inspect public areas where dangerous conditions may exist. When a slippery substance on a floor causes a plaintiff to slip and injure themselves, they’ll have to prove that the substance was left for a significant period of time (or that the storeowner knew about the hazardous conditions).
What are the legal duties in terms of a property owner’s snow and ice removal?
Although snow and ice removal laws may vary depending upon location, most property owners are not required to remove snow and ice that accumulates outside a building. But, if an unnatural accumulation of snow or ice develops on a property, then the owner could become liable for potential slip and fall injuries.
And it’s also important to note that a property owner must adequately remove snow and/or ice when they elect to do so, because negligent removal can still pose hazardous conditions.
How long do dangerous conditions have to remain in order to prove a property owner “should have known” about them?
When it comes to verifying the duration of dangerous conditions in connection to a property owner’s negligence within slip and fall litigation, courts will often use the “reasonable person test”.
This means that the property owner “should have known” about the dangerous conditions if another reasonable person would have discovered the conditions under similar circumstances.
Contact The Slip and Fall Attorneys at Cefali & Cefali, APC To Learn More About This Niche of Personal Injury Law!
Slip and fall cases are often very complex and confusing, which is why it’s perfectly normal for you to have questions about this personal injury niche.
You can learn more about personal injury accidents and legal specifics by going through the link at the top of the page to the Cefali & Cefali slip and fall webpage!
