When you enter a business or visit another person’s property, you expect the conditions to be reasonably safe. However, this is not always the case, and accidents can happen every day. Dangerous conditions regularly cause people to slip and fall. Many people may view slip and fall accidents as generally unremarkable, but they can actually lead to serious and even life-threatening injuries. If an accident at someone else’s home, office, school, store, government building, or any other location causes you to slip and fall, you may have a claim for your medical expenses, lost earnings, physical pain, and emotional suffering.
Financial liability for slip and fall accidents is part of a subset of personal injury law called premises liability. Premises liability also covers other types of injuries that occur on public or private property such as falling merchandise injuries at big box stores, accidental drownings, and animal attacks. These cases can be complex and require representation by experienced and knowledgeable attorneys. To learn more about your rights to recover money in a slip and fall accident claim, call Dordulian Law Group for a free consultation today at 800-880-7777.
Icy walkways are also a major cause of slip and fall accidents in certain areas of the country. In Los Angeles, icy conditions are relatively rare, although water from rain may create dangerous and slippery conditions.
Ready to file a claim and pursue justice through a financial damages award? Our expert attorneys are available online or by phone now.
Injuries from a fall can range from minor, serious, or life-threatening depending on the type of fall, the location of the injury, the age of the victim, and the overall health of the victim. Injuries resulting from a slip and fall accident in California frequently include:
Don’t wait to file a claim for your slip and fall injury. Contact our top-rated, expert slip and fall attorneys online or by phone today.
With any fall-related injury, receiving prompt medical treatment is important. Do not delay seeking medical attention in an effort to “tough it out” and see if you feel better. Your visit to an urgent care center or hospital emergency room is necessary for your health, and can also be an important piece of evidence in your premises liability claim.
Slip and Fall Accident Statistics
The following statistics are provided by the National Floor Safety Institute (NFSI), a non-profit organization whose mission is, “to aid in the prevention of slips, trips, and falls through education, research, and standards development”:
- Falls account for more than 8 million emergency room visits annually
- 5% of all people who fall suffer a fracture
- Over 60% of nursing home residents fall every year
The Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) reports that floors and flooring materials contribute directly to more than 2 million injuries every year. Business owners may use carpet or rugs with the intent to reduce slip risks, while posing a new slip or trip risk. Defects in soft-surface flooring may include:
Dordulian Law Group Recognized for Securing One of the Top 20 Premises Liability Verdicts in California (2019).
The owner of a property or business is not automatically liable if an accident occurs and you are injured on their premises. For example, if the owner of a supermarket warned you about a recently cleaned up spill by posting a large “Caution: Wet Floor” sign that you did not see or heed because you were walking around a business while FaceTiming a friend, the property owner would likely not be liable for your injuries. However, if the property owner refused to turn on lights in a parking lot because they wanted to cut costs, they may be liable if you tripped on an uneven surface or pothole.
In California, when a slip and fall accident occurs, the court will look at whether or not the property owner used reasonable care to keep a property safe. Reasonable care could include fixing observed hazards, limiting customer access to high-risk areas, providing warnings to guests, and conducting inspections. Many grocery stores require courtesy clerks to walk the floor every 30 minutes and then sign a log documenting that they completed the “walk around” and inspection. This policy could be used as evidence of reasonable measures to keep a property safe.
Yes – In fact, slip and fall accidents actually represent the primary reason for employees needing to take time off work due to injury. The workers’ compensation system was developed to shield employers from being sued when their employees are injured on the job. In California, every business must have some form of workers’ compensation insurance to compensate injured employees. As an employee, workers’ compensation is available if you are injured due to your own fault, your employee’s fault, or no one’s fault.
If you slip and fall on the job, there are some instances where you could also pursue a premises liability claim against a third party. For example, if your employer sends you to a particular location to deliver a product and you experience a slip and fall accident there (perhaps due to the floor being cleaned with a product that caused the surface to become slippery), you may have a premises liability claim. These “crossover,” or third-party premises liability claims, can be complex, but Dordulian Law Group’s attorneys are experienced in such legal matters. We have successfully handled countless slip and fall accident and premises liability cases, helping our clients recover over $100 million in damages through the years. Some examples of our successful results in premises liability claims include:
After an accident occurs, you should take the following steps:
If you’ve been injured at work, contact our certified workers’ compensation specialists online or by phone for a free consultation today.
Across the country, verdicts and settlements reached in slip and fall accidents have emphasized the importance of building maintenance and safety. Some outcomes that have made headlines over the years include:
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DLG has recovered more than $100 million for personal injury victims like you. For over two decades we’ve managed to sustain a 98% success rate in trials. Take a moment to view some of our recent cases and results. At DLG, we are proud to have reached positive outcomes for so many injured clients, helping them get back on their feet and recover under what are often difficult circumstances.
If you’re hesitant to reach out about your case because you think that slip and fall accident lawyer fees are out of your reach, think again. At Dordulian Law Group, we’re so committed to your cause that we’re willing to work on contingency if we take your case. That means that unless we secure a settlement for you, you won’t owe us a penny. It’s important to us that high quality legal representation is available to everyone — not just those who can afford an hourly lawyer fee.
DLG doesn’t collect a fee unless we recover money for you. If we don’t win, you do not pay – it’s that simple. Our slip and fall accident lawyers are aggressive advocates for injury victims. We are happy to discuss your potential case and answer any questions you may have via a free consultation. To speak with an experienced and dedicated DLG slip and fall attorney, call us today at (800) 880-777 or contact us online.