Slip and Fall Lawyer

Our Kent slip and fall accident attorneys know that slips, trips, and falls can cause serious injuries and damages. We know that people who have sustained slip and fall or trip and fall injuries caused by a dangerous condition on someone else’s property are often hesitant seek financial compensation for those injuries. They are afraid of looking greedy or litigious, but the fact is, if someone’s negligent property maintenance caused your injuries, you deserve to be compensated.

Property owner’s duty of care

Homeowners and owners of public property and business property owe a duty of care to guests so that they are safe from dangerous property conditions. In general, property owners have a duty to correct and/or warn guests about dangerous conditions that they knew about or should know about.

What to do when you fall

Sometimes people do not report slip and falls because they feel like they should have been more careful or that they are just accident prone. Do not assume that is the case, especially if there is a dangerous condition that caused your fall.

• Take photos of the dangerous condition and then take photos of the entire area.
• Report the condition to the property owner immediately and if you are at a place of business or public property, make sure that they write an incident report.
• Seek medical treatment right away and make sure that you follow through with any recommended medical care.
• Look for video cameras in the area that may have captured your fall.
• Get contact information for any witnesses that may have seen the fall or at least saw the dangerous condition.

Defenses to slip or trip and fall claims

Readily apparent – The defendant may argue that the dangerous condition was readily apparent to the plaintiff and that he or she should have avoided the danger.

Trespassing – The defendant may argue that he or she did not owe a duty of care to the plaintiff because he or she was a trespasser. This defense is valid in some cases, but there are exceptions to the trespasser defense including when the trespasser is a child.

Beyond the extent of the invitation – The defendant may argue that the location where the guest fell was beyond the extent of the invitation. For example, if you are at a place of business and a sign on a door says “employees only,” but you walk through those doors anyway, the duty probably does not extend to injuries you may suffer from a fall behind those doors.

Did not know about the condition – The defendant may argue that he or she did not know about the condition and should not have known about the condition. It may also be argued that the defendant did not have reasonable time to discover and correct the dangerous condition.

Notice – The defendant may claim to have notified plaintiff of the dangerous condition and that the plaintiff was at fault for failing to adhere to the notice.

If you have been injured in a slip or trip and fall, contact our Kent slip and fall attorneys at Russell & Hill – Injury & Accident Attorneys to discuss your potential claim. You should not have to pay for the injuries you suffered due to a property owner’s negligence.