St. Augustine Slip & Fall Lawyers
Understanding Slip, Trip & Fall Incidents in St. Augustine
When you visit someone else’s home, a retail store, or any other private or public place, you expect the property to be well-maintained and in a reasonably safe condition. In fact, under Florida premises liability laws, property owners are required to ensure their premises are free of any hazards that could cause foreseeable injury or harm. This means conducting adequate property maintenance, repairing or removing hazards, and warning guests of any dangerous conditions. When property owners negligently fail to do this, they can be held legally liable for accidents and injuries.
If you slipped, tripped, and/or fell on someone else’s property, and you believe the property owner was to blame, reach out to Canan Law right away. You may have grounds for a slip and fall case and could be entitled to financial compensation for your medical bills, lost income, physical pain, emotional suffering, and more. Our highly experienced slip and fall accident attorneys are here to help you understand your legal options and help you fight to maximize your claim.
Contact us online or call our office today at (904) 849-2266 to get started with a free, no-obligation consultation with our St. Augustine premises liability lawyers.
Who Is Liable for a Slip & Fall?
Slip, trip, and fall claims are some of the most common types of personal injury cases—as well as some of the most contested. Because many people think of slip and fall accidents as being the result of human error or general clumsiness, it can be challenging to prove that someone else was liable for the incident.
How to Win a Slip & Fall Case
In Florida, there are several elements you must prove to be successful in your slip and fall injury case. Generally speaking, the issue of negligence is often decided based on common sense, but there are many defenses available to property owners accused of negligent conduct.
To win a slip and fall case, our attorneys work to establish the following elements:
- The property owner owed you a duty of care, meaning you were lawfully on the property as an invitee or licensee
- The property owner failed to adequately/reasonably address (repair, remove, warn of, etc.) a dangerous condition or created a dangerous condition
- The property owner knew or should have known that the dangerous condition posed a foreseeable risk of injury
- You were injured because of the dangerous condition and suffered measurable damages (e.g., medical bills, lost wages, pain and suffering, etc.)
Often, property owners allege that they did, in fact, take steps to remove or repair a dangerous condition or that the injured person (the “plaintiff”) was negligent or otherwise contributed to their injuries. The property owner may argue that they could not have known about the dangerous condition or, conversely, that it was so open and obvious that the plaintiff could have easily avoided it.
Our slip and fall attorneys in St. Augustine work to counteract these and other common defenses. We look at various factors—such as whether the property owner’s attempts to repair or remove the dangerous condition were adequate and reasonable, how long the condition existed before the accident, the nature of the dangerous condition itself, and more—and use this information to build strong cases on behalf of our clients.