Who Can Be Held Liable In A Slip And Fall Case?

If you have ever been involved in a slip and fall accident on someone else’s property, you probably have many questions about whether the owner is liable for the accident.  Either the slip and fall accident was your own fault due to carelessness, being distracted, or acting irresponsibly; or your slip and fall accident was caused by negligence on the part of the property owner/possessor.  Additionally, the courts can assess proportional level of fault in their decisions, which take into account the liable actions of both the defendant and the plaintiff.  If the slip and fall accident was your own fault entirely, an injury lawyer will advise you not to file a slip and fall lawsuit.  Only if your slip and fall lawyer can find the owner or possessor of the property legally liable for your slip and fall accident will you have grounds for a slip and fall lawsuit.

Grounds for a Slip and Fall Lawsuit
Before you can file a slip and fall lawsuit, you must determine who is responsible for the condition of that property.  It may be an owner, a tenant, or a manager.  Generally, if an owner or a possessor of the property was negligent and did not correct a dangerous condition which caused your slip and fall accident.

Once you consult an accident lawyer to determine if you have grounds to file a lawsuit, your legal counsel must determine if the property owner/possessor acted responsibly in maintaining the safety of the property.  In order to win a slip and fall lawsuit, you must prove that one of three conditions existed on the site of your slip and fall accident. 

Your lawyer must prove that the property owner/possessor caused a dangerous condition on the property, filing a slip and fall lawsuit against them for your slip and fall accident.  It must be proven that the owner/possessor knew about a dangerous condition that led to the accident and did not correct it, leading to your slip and fall lawsuit.  Finally, a dangerous condition must have existed on the property for a period of time during which a reasonable owner/possessor should have corrected it, but did not, for your slip and fall lawyer to have grounds for filing a slip and fall lawsuit. 

In order to determine liability you must learn if the owner/possessor performed reasonable maintenance.  If a dangerous condition appears on the property and a visitor suffers a slip and fall accident before the owner has had time to correct it, your legal counsel may advise you not to file a slip and fall lawsuit.  Only if the owner had reasonable time to correct the condition can your injury lawyer advise you to file a claim.

In some circumstances, there may be building code violations that the owner/possessor did not correct, resulting in a slip and fall accident.  If you suffered a slip and fall accident due to structural, plumbing, or electrical code violations, your injury lawyer may have grounds to file a slip and fall lawsuit.

Dangerous Conditions
Generally, a slip and fall accident is the result of dangerous conditions that were either unnoticed or unexpected on someone’s property.  It is the job of a slip and fall lawyer to determine if dangerous conditions were unreasonable and made the owner/possessor liable for a slip and fall lawsuit.  There are many dangerous conditions, which lead to slip and fall accidents, but some examples that may warrant a slip and fall lawsuit are inadequate lighting, slippery steps, wet floors, torn carpets, cracked sidewalks, or hidden obstacles.  If you have suffered a slip and fall accident due to those dangerous conditions, your slip and fall lawyer may be able to file a slip and fall lawsuit. 

However, if the owner/possessor of the property posted warning signs or barriers to protect visitors from the dangerous condition, and you ignored them, suffering a slip and fall accident as a result, your slip and fall lawyer may determine that the owner/possessor is not liable for your injuries. Your slip and fall lawyer will need pictures or notes detailing the conditions at the time of your slip and fall accident to determine if the warnings and barriers would deter a reasonable person.  If not, there may be grounds for your slip and fall lawyer to file a slip and fall lawsuit.