Landowners may be liable for a slip and fall that occurs on their property, according to New York slip and fall laws. When reviewing these types of cases, a judge or jury considers both the circumstances that led to the fall and the reason the injured individual was on the property.
Slip and fall cases require great attention to detail to achieve a positive result because of the complexity of the laws and requirements of proving a case. An experienced Brooklyn slip and fall lawyer could examine your case with a fresh perspective to help you pursue the compensation you deserve for your injuries and losses. A skilled personal injury lawyer could help you build a powerful strategy and defend your legal right to recovery.
What Counts as a Slip and Fall Accident?
The primary requirement for any valid slip and fall case is that the slip happened on someone else’s property—a category which can include rented space. For example, if an apartment tenant’s dishwasher leaks onto the kitchen floor, they have a duty to tell the landlord about it. If the landlord fails to fix the leak and the tenant slips on it and is injured, the landlord may be held responsible for the damages.
Most slips and falls, however, happen on property that is open to the public, like shopping malls, grocery stores, and movie theaters. Icy walkways, liquid spills, rainfall from a recent storm, or even equipment left out in a public walkway can all create avoidable hazards.
All landowners have a duty to provide reasonable protection or warning from hazards to visitors onto their land unless the visitor is trespassing. For an owner to be held legally liable for an accident, however, the plaintiff must prove the owner was negligent in their actions or inactions.
Defining the Negligence of an Owner
Slip and fall cases generally allege that the property owner was negligent in their care and maintenance of the property. For an owner to be considered legally negligent, they must have known the hazard existed or should have had knowledge of the hazard before the incident. They should have then taken steps to remove or warn of the hazard.
The degree to which the landowner knew about the hazard is often the central question of a slip and fall claim. Evidence such as a history of prior similar incidents, employee logs, and video surveillance footage may all serve to prove a plaintiff’s case. For more information about negligence law, contact a knowledgeable Brooklyn slip and fall lawyer.
Comparative Negligence
Even in cases where a landowner is both cognizant of a hazard and negligent in remedying it, a plaintiff’s case may still be restricted by the concept of comparative negligence. This means that a plaintiff’s award in a civil suit can be limited by their percentage of fault for the accident. This amount is assigned to them by a jury.
For example, if a plaintiff slips on ice and separates their knee, the jury may find the property owner responsible for not properly warning and protecting pedestrians. However, the jury may also find that the defendant contributed to the accident by running through the area instead of walking. The plaintiff’s total award may then be reduced because of their contribution to causing the accident. Fortunately, a skilled attorney could work tirelessly to help a plaintiff recover as much compensation as possible.
Allow Brooklyn Slip and Fall Lawyers to Handle a Claim
When a person slips and falls on another’s property and is injured, they may have the right to seek damages. Even in situations where the plaintiff may have contributed a large part to the accident due to their own carelessness, they still may collect compensation.
Slips and falls can result in severe injuries ranging from severe bruising to broken bones and concussions. While you focus on recovering physically, a Brooklyn slip and fall lawyer could work on your behalf to recover economic damages from the negligent landowner and their insurance company.
