Experienced Slip and Fall Lawyer in Los Angeles

There are a wide variety of slip-and-fall accidents. Some occur when a person walking loses traction and slips, typically falling backwards. This can occur on wet, icy, or freshly waxed floors. In other cases, the victim trips over an unseen hazard, such as loose carpet or uneven tiles. Still others are caused by the presence of physical objects that should not be where they are: electrical cords strewn across a hallway, or a mop bucket left out.

The common thread connecting these accidents is that they all involve some irregularity that causes the victim to trip, slip, and fall. If that irregularity was removed from the scenario, the victim would not have fallen and been injured.

Slip-and-fall accidents can cause serious physical injuries. A victim who slips and falls backward may break their wrists attempting to catch themselves, or hurt their back when they hit the ground. In other circumstances, the victim hits their head, leading to a significant, long-lasting head injury. Broken bones, cuts, and torn ligaments are all potential outcomes of a slip-and-fall event. In the worst cases, a slip-and-fall accident—especially near a hazard such as a swimming pool or sharp objects—can result in the death of the victim.

Not all physical injuries immediately manifest themselves. Due to the adrenaline rush of the fall and feelings of humiliation (more on this below), many victims walk away from the scene only to later realize that the fall has left them in tremendous pain or seriously injured.

More so than other types of personal injuries, there is an unfortunate tendency for slip-and-fall victims to blame themselves or accept responsibility for a fall, mostly due to the “embarrassment” of slipping and falling in a public space. Many victims will say things like, “I should have watched where I was going” or “I’m fine” just to escape the public attention of having fallen.

However, it is important for slip-and-fall victims to know and remember that—given the same circumstances—others would likely have fallen in the same way. A hazardous space that leads to a slip-and-fall often has little to do with the victim, and thinking otherwise allows the property owner to get away with negligent behavior.

The specific insurance company in question depends on the location that the slip-and-fall accident occurs at. However, regardless of the company or the type of policy, all insurers have a similar goal: through investigation, limit the liability of the property owner and the compensation owed to the slip-and-fall victim.

Since California law outlines specific criteria that need to be met before property owners, managers, or other parties can be held liable for slip-and-fall accidents on their premises, insurance companies seek to find evidence supporting the case that the insured party should not be held liable for the injuries sustained by the victim.

For example, our state’s law denotes that the person in charge of the property can only be found liable if they knew about the hazard or should have known about the hazard. The “should have known” is often open to debate, which is why slip-and-fall incidents are often complex and require experienced legal representation to navigate them.

For these reasons, as a slip-and-fall victim, never speak with an insurance company or property owner about the incident without first talking to our attorneys here at Blair & Ramirez LLP.