Slip and Fall Accidents
“Slip and Fall” is a term used for a personal injury case where a person slips or trips and is subsequently injured on another’s property. These cases are a subset of premises liability claims or torts claims.
Slip and fall accidents can arise from things such as torn carpeting, wet flooring, poor lighting, narrow stairs, and uneven terrain.
Typically, the injured person (the plaintiff) must have sustained some type of bodily injury to be able to collect.
Establishing a Slip and Fall Case
There is no clear test for whether someone is legally responsible for someone else’s injury. In most cases, an individual injured in a slip and fall on someone else’s property most prove two things:
- The cause of the accident was a dangerous condition, and
- The owner or possessor of the property knew of the dangerous condition, i.e., a condition that presents an unreasonable risk to a person on the property that the person could not have anticipated under the circumstances.
It is important to note the requirements of prong two above. The injured person still has an obligation to avoid dangerous conditions that they could have reasonably anticipated.
Changes may occur in this area of law. The information provided is brought to you as a public service, and is intended to help you better understand the law in general. It is not intended to be legal advice regarding your particular problem or substitute for the advice of a lawyer.