Individuals expect to be safe and protected upon entering another person’s home or a place of business. Unfortunately, however, unexpected events could result in slip and fall accidents. Such occurrences could result in serious, potentially debilitating injuries.
Fortunately, a facet of civil legality known as personal injury law enables injured parties to seek compensation from those they believe were responsible for such incidents.
Premises Liability
Every homeowner, business proprietor, or property manager are legally-bound by a principle known as duty of care.
This means said individuals bear responsibility for ensuring their property’s interior and exterior are safe and secure for guests and patrons to traverse through and across. Moreover, property holders must alert frequenters of any known hazard, like a wet floor, broken stairs, or damaged parking lot.
Proprietors and overseers failing to meet these regulations could be held accountable should someone slip, fall, and sustain injuries as a result.
The Civil Process
That said, merely falling and becoming injured does not entitle a prospective plaintiff to a cash reward. Success in a slip and fall case mandates that certain vital information be firmly established.
The Plaintiff’s Status
The injured party’s status is crucial to a slip and fall proceeding’s outcome. The three most common status categories are invitee, licensee, and trespasser.
An invitee is someone the property or business owner readily invites onto the premises. Examples of such individuals or a homeowner’s guests or a business’s customers.
Licensees are persons present inside a home or establishment to perform a specific function. Common illustrations of such characters, include construction, plumbing, and electrical contractors.
Trespassers typically are not invited onto the property in question and often possess irresponsible or malfeasant intentions.
Not surprisingly, those deemed invitees and licensees stand a far better chance of winning slip and fall civil suits than do trespassers.
Proving Fault
Establishing status is only the first stage. Even invitees and licensees must demonstrate fault on the defendant’s part.
Success in a personal injury cases rests on the plaintiff and their legal team’s capacity to illustrate four key issues, the accused allowed a hazardous situation to occur or failed to warn guests of its existence, this danger led to the plaintiff’s accident, the plaintiff’s injuries are related to the accident and no other preexisting physical or medical condition, and the compensation sought is strictly related to those injuries.
Contacting Us
The slip and fall accident attorneys at Gary Phillips Accident Law hold significant experience handling slip and fall incidents and have produced favorable results for numerous clients.
For a free consultation, or to learn more about our firm, please visit https://www.garyphillipsaccidentlaw.com/.
