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Slip and Falls and Financial Recovery

BIKLaw Medical Malpractice Lawyer > Personal Injury > Slip and Falls and Financial Recovery

What happens if you slip and fall or trip and fall in a Los Angeles department store, grocery store, or mall? Can you sue the owner or business? Should you contact a lawyer?

In California, slip and fall accidents are generally considered “premises liability” cases. Did the property owner or possessor act with reasonable care so that slipping or tripping was not likely to occur?  When answering this question, the law focuses on whether the property owner makes consistent and thorough efforts to keep the property safe and clean.

Commercial Property Owners and Premises Liability

Individuals who enter grocery stores, malls, department stores, doctor offices, and other places of business are considered ‘invitees’. An invitee is one who enters a property with the possessor’s permission in order to confer economic benefit on the possessor or who enters a property that is open to the public.

The possessor of the property (the business or landowner, as the case may be) has a duty to protect invitees from potential harm and warn them if there is a hidden or concealed danger that the possessor either had prior knowledge or could have discovered by a reasonable inspection. This means that the possessor must protect invitees from all reasonably knowable conditions in the store or office, such that the possessor has a duty to inspect and repair.

Potential Injuries with Slip and Falls

A variety of trip and fall accidents occurring at a Los Angeles retail stores can lead to personal injury claims. Did you fall due to wet or obstructed floors? Poorly lit or dark stairwells? Loose floor tiles or carpeting? Fallen merchandise? Clothes on the ground? A broken or cracked sidewalk or pavement in front of the store? If you answered yes, you may have a potential slip and fall claim.

Who is Responsible for my Injuries?

If you were injured in aslip and fall accident in Los Angeles, it is important that you retain a skilled attorney to walk you through the process. With the help of your lawyer you must prove that the owner/possessor was negligent. This means that either [1] owner/possessor or employee caused the condition, [2] owner/possessor or employee knew of the condition but failed to correct it, or [3] owner/possessor or employee should have known of the condition because a reasonable person would have discovered the condition. The burden is on you to prove that the owner/possessor knew or should have known about the conditions that caused your injury. Then, your slip and fall attorney must show that the owner/possessor breached the standard of care by failing to fix the condition within a reasonable time and that the breach is what caused your injury.

What Compensation is Available for Slip and Fall Injuries?

The victim of a slip and fall accident may be able to recover compensatory damages for injuries suffered. Compensation is to cover payment of past and future medical expenses, lost wages, lost future earnings, and even emotional distress, mental anguish, pain and suffering, loss of consortium, and general inconvenience.

For more information on how to file a slip and fall lawsuit, or to discuss your ability to recover money for your injuries, contact the aggressive trial lawyers at BIKLAW today.

 

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