We Handle All Injury Cases

Slip And Fall Down

In order for you to be successful in a slip or fall down case, your attorney must be able to prove that someone was negligent. There are many laws governing slip and fall down cases. Generally, property must be maintained in a reasonably safe condition. The party who is responsible for maintaining the property is not necessarily the owner of the property. The responsible party is the owner unless this responsibility has been shifted to someone else through a contract. An example of this might be a tenant if the lease states that the tenant assumes responsibility for maintenance of the property.

One of the factors necessary to prove that a party was negligent is to show that the party received notice that the property was in a defective condition. There are two forms of this notice:

Actual notice: If the party responsible for maintaining the property actually received written notice or was told about the defect, or created the condition and failed to fix it within a reasonable time, that party may be found responsible for your injury.
Constructive notice: If the defective condition that caused your fall existed for such a long period of time and the party responsible for maintaining the property should have known about it and failed to fix it in a reasonable time, then that party may be found responsible for your injury.

SNOW AND ICE FALL DOWN INJURIES

Snow and ice cases have some special laws that limit the liability of the party responsible for clearing and sanding areas where snow and ice accumulate. Generally, the obligation to plow, salt or sand does not start until after the storm is over. Once it is over, the party responsible for maintenance has a reasonable time in which to plow, salt or sand. Once a party undertakes to plow, salt or sand, the process must be done in a reasonable fashion. There is no obligation to perfectly clear the snow and ice, only to do so in a reasonably safe manner.

As you can see, the laws regarding negligence can be very confusing and complicated. We are here to help. If you are a victim of a slip or fall down accident and you believe you may have a case, click here for a free case appraisal.

Pictures of the defect that show how it existed at the time of your fall are critical. If you have pictures, always provide them to your attorney. If you can take photos, you should. The pictures should be taken as soon as possible after your accident and they should show the defect and its relationship to large, fixed objects such as houses, stores or intersections.