When a person sustains an injury from a slip and fall or a trip and fall, the owner of the subject premises may be liable if it can be proved that their negligence led to the injury. Whether you sustained fractures, or neurologic injuries from a slip and fall or a trip and fall, our trial attorneys will aggressively pursue the maximum compensation provided by law. For a complete list of the firm's representative results, go to our Verdicts and Settlements section.
Slip and falls is an area of personal injury responsible for countless injuries every year, some of which are extremely serious. One misstep on a slippery floor or broken step can land an unassuming victim in a wheelchair, while a stumble over a manhole cover can cause anything from a broken leg to a permanent spinal cord injury. Everyone agrees that these and similar slip and fall accidents are perilous. If you slip and fall on someone else's property, that person may be responsible and liable for your injuries.
Premises liability is the law that governs slip and fall accidents and determines who is at fault. Premises liability laws vary from state to state and jurisdiction to jurisdiction. Every premises liability case is evaluated on an individual basis and considers whether or not the property owner took precautions to make the area safe as well as whether or not you ‑ or the victim ‑ contributed to the slip and fall accident. A plaintiff would have to prove the following in order to hold the property owner responsible and have a premises liability case:
1. That the property owner caused the unsafe condition and the subsequent slip and fall accident.
2. That the property owner knew or should have known about the condition but did nothing to correct it.
3. That the property owner should have known about the danger, because a "reasonable" person would have found the problem and taken steps to prevent injuries caused by the slip and fall accident.
When determining if a property owner's actions were in fact reasonable, the court must consider how long the unsafe condition that contributed to the slip and fall accident existed and whether the owner had time to discover and ultimately fix the problem. It must also consider whether the steps taken were appropriate or reasonable and whether the carelessness of the victim contributed to the slip and fall injury. Be aware that the reasonable person standard applies not only to the property owner, but also to the plaintiff.
To help determine who is to blame for your slip and fall injury, we will investigate every aspect of the incident. There are some exceptions to general slip and fall and premises liability cases such as trespassers. Property owners are not necessarily subject to premises liability laws when it comes to injuries incurred by trespassers on their property. This is also true of burglars and other uninvited guests.
Children are an exception to the trespassing rule because the law acknowledges that children often do not perceive danger as well as adults. A property owner must take steps to ensure the safety of children who play in the area, even if they are not supposed to be there.
Currently, there are workers' compensation laws in place that hold employers strictly liable for most on‑the‑job injuries, including those resulting from slip and fall accidents, that their employees suffer. However, the amount of damages that the injured can collect is limited.
Government Property
In cases of government property, such as public parks, the federal or state government may bear legal responsibility for personal injuries incurred on the premises. Slip and fall / premises liability cases against the government are covered by either the Federal Tort Claims Act or similar state tort claims acts. Cases must be brought within a certain time limit.
For over 30 years, Leesfield Leighton & Partners has strongly and efficiently represented victims of falls and fractures. Our firm represented a 62 year‑old woman who attempted to grab toilet paper from an overhead pallet at a warehouse store. The entire shrink wrapped pallet fell on her, causing displaced comminuted, unstable fractures of the lateral tibial plateau, a proximal transverse fracture of the tibia below the medial tibial plateau, and a comminuted fracture of the fibula. Defendant claimed that it was obvious that this was not merchandise for sale. (It claimed to be overstock.) At trial, Plaintiff proved that defendant knew that customers opened shrink wrapped pallets and did nothing to warn them or prevent customer access. Verdict was $1,007,000.
In a tragic case our firm handled, a child was struck by a falling lobster trap displayed at defendant's store causing brain damage. Our firm obtained a $1,000,000 settlement. For a complete list of the firm's representative results, go to our Verdicts and Settlements section.
To contact one of our experienced trial lawyers call our Miami law office today at 800-836-6400 or click here for a free and full case evaluation.
