Slip and Fall Attorney

Slip and falls are the second leading cause of injuries in the United States. They account for an estimated 16,000 deaths each year. Many more slip and falls result in personal injuries. Often these injuries and deaths are caused by a dangerous or hazardous condition in someone else's property. A personal injury or wrongful death from a fall that is caused by a hazardous condition may entitle the victim or the victim's family to compensation.

Why Do Slip and Fall Accidents Occur?

Over 70% of falls occur due to dangerous conditions and hazards in our environment. Dangerous conditions that cause slip and fall accidents frequently result from poor design or improper maintenance. Other hazards are created by the presence of slippery surfaces and substances, such as areas with food spillage or water leakage.

Where Do Slip and Fall Accidents Occur?

Slip and fall accidents occur virtually everywhere - in a supermarket or shopping mall; at school or at an office; or on a sidewalk. Your slip and fall may be caused, for example, by a defect in flooring, which may be wet or uneven, or else it may be attributable to inadequate lighting that obstructs your ability to foresee a danger.

How Do Slip and Fall Accidents Occur?

Slip and fall accidents have two main types of mechanism. In one slip and fall scenario, your front foot slips forward, causing you to fall backward. In the alternative scenario, your rear foot slips backward, causing you to fall forward. A related type of accident, a trip and fall, occurs when your foot comes into contact with an obstacle, such as a protrusion, along your path.

The traumatic impact of a slip and fall or a trip and fall accident can cause severe and long-lasting injuries. Therefore, if you suffer a slip and fall or a trip and fall, it is in your best interests that you seek medical and legal help without delay.

A Property Owner's Duty to Prevent Slip and Fall Accidents

The law requires that property owners use reasonable care in the management and maintenance of their premises and avoid exposing others to an unreasonable risk of harm, such as a slip and fall or a trip and fall. Therefore, property owners have a duty to reasonably inspect for any unsafe conditions on their premises and either to repair or give adequate warning of conditions that pose a risk of harm to others.

The victim of a slip and fall must prove that the property owner knew or should have known about the hazard that caused the slip and fall accident, and that he failed to remedy it. If the property owner, or any of his employees, created the dangerous condition that caused the slip and fall injury, knowledge of the hazard may be automatically imputed to them. However, if the hazard was created by a non-employee, such as a customer, the claimant must show that there was time enough for the property owner to have discovered and repaired the dangerous condition, or that the hazardous condition occurred with such frequency that the owner should have been aware of its presence.

In some instances, a property owner may have a duty to post warnings of a danger (such as "wet floor" signs), but these warnings must be visible and effective in order to be deemed sufficient.

Choosing the Right Slip and Fall Lawyer

Slip and fall cases are often challenging and difficult to prove. To prevail, a slip and fall attorney must establish not only the existence of a dangerous condition, but the property owner's actual or constructive knowledge of that condition. An experienced California trip and fall attorney would initiate an immediate investigation, and:

Conduct a site inspection to ascertain the dangerous condition that caused the slip and fall accident;

Secure evidence of the dangerous condition before it "disappears";

Track down witnesses to the slip and fall accident or with knowledge of the dangerous condition;

Locate proof of prior complaints about the dangerous condition or of prior slip and fall accidents at the same location.

A resourceful slip and fall attorney would then hire the appropriate experts on safety standards to determine the applicability and violation of governmental codes and regulations, and thus establish liability on the part of the negligent property owner for the slip and fall. For example, if the slip and fall occurred on a faulty staircase, he might engage the services of a structural engineer to show deviation in the height or width of the steps.

In having handled hundreds of slip and fall cases, as well as trip and fall cases, Babcock Partners has developed an expertise in such cases and has secured sizeable recoveries for clients hurt in slip and fall or trip and fall accidents. Babcock Partners has both substantial experience and resources to best handle your slip and fall or trip and fall case. For a free consultation on a slip and fall or trip and fall case, please call us at 866-309-0911 or e-mail us.

Premises Liability / Shopping Accidents

If an accident occurs in a public building, in a grocery store, or in a retail outlet such as Home Depot or Wal-Mart and someone is injured or killed as the result—defense attorneys are called into action almost immediately to protect the business or owner of the building in question from as much damage as possible.

Don't be fooled!

The Slip and Fall Lawyers at Babcock Partners aggressively fight to protect the rights of slip and fall injury victims and people hurt in slip and fall.

Our premises liability lawyers represent clients in the Baton Rouge and throughout the state of Louisiana in accident and slip and fall injury claims.