Serious falls can upend your life and leave you with costly losses. If your fall occurred at somebody else’s home or place of business, you may be able to pursue compensation for your losses. However, establishing liability in Houston slip and fall claims is not always easy, so it is critical to work with a diligent legal team. A seasoned slip and fall attorney could help you navigate a personal injury lawsuit.
Understanding Slip or Trip and Fall Accident Claims
A slip and fall claim is a lawsuit that follows an accident where somebody suffers an injury because they fell after encountering a dangerous condition on someone else’s property. To succeed in a legal claim against the property’s owner, manager, or caretaker, the injured person must prove that the dangerous condition was hidden and unreasonably dangerous.
Proving liability after a slip and fall can be difficult for a Houston resident looking to claim damages, especially if they cannot prove the dangerous condition was hidden. Suppose someone slips on a wet floor at a grocery store after entering an area that had been cordoned off by a rope and had a sign posted that the floor was wet because it was freshly mopped. That injured person would probably not have a viable legal claim because the dangerous condition of the wet floor was not hidden.
However, suppose someone slips on a wet floor at a grocery store because the floor was freshly mopped, and there was no sign indicating the floor could be wet. That injured person might have a strong claim for compensation because they would have had no way of determining that the floor was wet, as the condition was hidden. A seasoned legal team could review the facts from an accident to determine if an injured party has a potentially viable claim.
Proving Liability in a Slip and Fall Lawsuit
A property owner or caretaker owes a duty of care to keep their property in reasonable and safe condition for legal visitors. Landowners, caretakers, managers, business owners and anyone else in charge of maintaining a property owe a duty of care to certain people who visit their property. Therefore, when a breach of that duty causes injury to another person, the Houston property owner may be held liable for damages in a slip and fall case. However, that duty of care varies depending on the class of visitor.
Duty to Trespassers
If the person who fell was a trespasser, the property owner would most likely owe them no duty of care. However, if the trespasser was a child, the homeowner or business owner could be liable under the attractive nuisance doctrine. If the property had something dangerous, such as a gravel pit, that attracted a child to trespass, jump in it, and suffer harm in a fall, the owner could be liable for the child’s injuries.
Licensee
In some cases, the injured person may be a licensee or a person who is there with the owner’s express or implied permission, such as a house or social guest. The property owner would owe them a duty of care with respect to only dangerous conditions that the property owner knew or should have known about.
Invitee
Suppose the person who tripped or slipped was an invitee or someone who is on the property for financial or commercial benefit. In this case, the property owner owes them the highest duty of care. Property owners need to regularly inspect their building or dwelling for hidden fall hazards and remove them.
A dedicated attorney could investigate an accident to determine what class of visitor the injured person was.
Contact a Houston Attorney About Proving Liability After a Fall
Establishing liability in Houston slip and fall claims can be time-consuming and difficult. You need to work with a dedicated legal team who is not afraid to ask tough questions to get the answers you need. A trusted local attorney could carefully examine the evidence to learn more about the dangerous condition that caused your fall. We could also help you gather evidence proving the property owner’s liability. Call our office today to schedule a consultation and get started.