Thousands of people are injured every year in slip and fall accidents. These types of accidents can happen to anyone at any time. When they do occur, understanding the laws of liability are key factors in deciding who is responsible for your injuries.
If you or someone you know has been injured in a slip and fall accident, contact the injury attorneys at Jacoby & Meyers, LLP NY today. Our team of personal injury professionals has the knowledge and experience to offer you quality legal representation.
While there is no easy way to determine who is responsible for a slip and fall accident, it is important to understand that while a property owner is responsible for creating a healthy and safe environment on their property, this does not automatically make them responsible for your accident and resultant damages.
In determining liability in a slip and fall accident, the property owner or landlord is liable if any of the following factors are true. First, the owner or landlord must have caused the spill, worn or torn spot, or other dangerous condition that led to your accident. Next, the property owner or landlord must have known about the dangerous condition and not done anything about it, leading to your accident and subsequent injuries. Or, the property owner or landlord should have been aware of the dangerous situation because a reasonable caretaker of the property would have seen it, repaired it, or had it maintained as to not let the issue get to the point of injuring someone.
The first two instances of determining liability in these cases are pretty clear cut and straight forward. However, the incidence of a “reasonable caretaker” is usually not as easily defined and may require stronger evidence and a longer discovery time. The word reasonable with regards to such cases, is defined by a property owner or landlord’s thorough and conscious efforts to keep a property clean and safe for anyone on the property.
It is required that any property owner or landlord practice a standard of reasonable care within their property. This is the action of maintaining, fixing, keeping up with, and warning of hazards as to avoid accidents on their property. The level of reasonable care practiced leading up to your accident, as well as how your actions played a role, will determine liability in your case.
If you or someone you know has been injured in a slip and fall accident, contact personal injury attorneys of Jacoby & Meyers, LLP NY today. Our team of personal injury professionals has the knowledge and experience to offer you quality legal representation while fighting for the compensation you need and deserve.