Slip and fall cases can be challenging to pursue due to laws favoring landowners. A store's liability often depends on whether they had notice of the hazard. If a dangerous condition, like oil on the floor, is present and known, the store may be held responsible. Understanding these nuances is crucial for anyone injured in such incidents.
If you slip and fall, seek medical attention if needed and report the incident to store management. Document the scene and gather witness information if possible.
Liability is determined by whether the property owner had notice of the hazard and failed to address it. Evidence of prior incidents or visible dangers can support your claim.
Yes, you may still have a case even if you were partially at fault. Many jurisdictions allow for comparative negligence, which means your compensation may be reduced based on your level of fault.
One of the common cause and cases we handle are what we call slip and fall cases. Now I'll tell you, slip and fall cases are very difficult. Probably other than medical malpractice cases, they're the most difficult case to pursue because the law is written so in favor of the landowner. And let me give you an example of why these cases are very difficult. Let's say you're in Walmart and you come around the edge of the aisle and all of a sudden your feet fly out from under you and down you go and you're injured. And you notice as you're laying there on the floor that there's oil on the floor. You couldn't see it, the floor was polished. There was no way to discern if this was vegetable oil in the middle of the aisle. Well, is Walmart liable? Possibly. Let me tell you how Walmart is liable and how they're not. Well, let's say the person ahead of you just moments before had dropped that bottle of oil in his field and then you fall in it. Walmart is probably not responsible because they didn't have notice. They didn't have time to clean up the oil. They didn't have time to remedy the problem. But now let's look at it from this angle. Let's say that you fall down in the oil and you notice that it's dirty and you can see cart tracks or you can see where people have walked through the oil and they've got dirty footprints leading from it. Well, in that case, Walmart most likely is responsible because they've had notice. Now, that doesn't mean that someone had to go and tell Walmart, "Hey, you've got oil in the floor in aisle five." Walmart has an obligation to look at their store, look at the areas where they have traffic because in a slip and fall case, you and I, a customer in Walmart or any store, is considered an invitee and they have a duty to protect us from dangers. In that oil that's allowed to sit on the floor and become dirty and people walk through it, that's a danger. And in that type of case, you have a claim and Walmart cannot get off the hook. So if you've fallen to oil or any other thing that may cause you to trip, give us a call. We can tell you whether or not we think you have a case and we'll be happy to help you if you do.
