SLIP & FALL

Serious accidents can happen anywhere, whether you are in your apartment or someone else’s home, a store, parking lot, pool, bar, or countless other places. If you were injured on property that is controlled by another party, you may have a premises liability claim if that party was negligent in managing its property. A premises liability claim may be filed against whoever owns, leases, occupies, manages, or otherwise controls the place at which the accident occurred. Potential defendants can include landlords, homeowners, tenants whose home you visit, store owners, and businesses. However, it is generally not possible to bring a premises liability suit against state and federal governments for accidents that happen on government property, due to sovereign immunity.

To establish a premises liability claim, the plaintiff must show that the defendant had control of the property, the defendant was negligent in the use or maintenance of the property, the plaintiff was hurt as a result, and damages arose from the accident. In general, a person or entity has a duty to keep the property in a reasonably safe condition, and this typically includes reasonable inspections of the property. A defendant is negligent, therefore, if a condition on the property created an unreasonable risk of an accident, and the defendant knew of the condition or should have known by exercising reasonable care but failed to warn, repair, or otherwise protect others from harm. While the defendant does not have to warn of a condition that is so open and obvious that a person would be expected to recognize it, the defendant must still take reasonable steps to repair it. In some specific situations, such as those involving landlords and tenants, employers and employees, or business proprietors and patrons, the requirements may be more nuanced.

Damages in premises liability cases may include medical expenses, lost earnings, and other past and future economic damages, as well as non-economic damages, such as pain and suffering. In some cases, the California rule of comparative fault may apply to reduce the plaintiff’s damages. This happens in situations when both parties are found to be negligent, and the plaintiff’s damages are reduced by the amount equal to his or her responsibility for the harm.