Slip or Trip and Fall Accidents

"The implicit contract between you and the store owner is that you won't end up in the hospital for shopping there."
- Todd Barsumian

Falls have been reported as one of the leading causes of accidental or unintentional injuries, including death.  After motor vehicle accidents, one of the most common compensable injuries is the kind that happens on someone else's property.  Sometimes called slip and falls or premises liability cases, they include:

• Slipping and falling in a store on a spilled liquid or slippery surface;
• Injuring yourself when a banister or railing gives way or a stair collapses;
• Tripping on an uneven sidewalk;
• Falling into an unmarked construction hole; and
• Being injured by a malfunctioning automatic door or elevator door.

Landowners have a duty to exercise reasonable care for the protection of persons invited to be on their property.  The best slip and fall lawyers know that it is much more than just falling that creates liability, but the comparative knowledge of the landowner and invitee.  A possessor of land is subject to liability for physical harm caused to invitees by a condition on land if the landowner:

• knows or by the exercise of reasonable care would discover the condition, and should realize that it involves an unreasonable risk of harm to invitees, and
• should expect that invites will not discover or realize the danger or will fail to protect themselves against it, and
• fails to exercise reasonable care to protect invitees against the danger.

Landlords also have duties and can be held liable for causing preventable injuries to tenants and their guests.  Under Indiana law, landlords must exercise reasonable care to maintain common areas in a safe and reasonably fit condition.  Landlords can also be held liable for failing to give notice of hidden defects in leased or rented apartments, or by making negligent repairs to defective conditions in leased or rented homes.  The best slip-and-fall law firms taking on a complex premises liability case will undertake a thorough investigation of the circumstances leading up to and surrounding your injury.  This will often entail the taking of multiple statements or depositions together with using extensive fact-finding tools. 

Not every injury at a store or office or apartment building constitutes premises liability. The accident must have been preventable with an ordinary amount of care. Slipping during an ice storm probably may not qualify; slipping a day later because the store owner failed to shovel or salt the walkways very well may.  An experienced slip-and-fall lawyer can help you differentiate whether someone may be held legally responsible for your injury.

Slip-and-fall injuries are often quite severe. Slipping on a wet floor can cause greater injuries than a bumped head; a serious fall can cause concussion, traumatic brain damage, fractured skull, heart attack, and even death.

Indianapolis and Evansville Slip-And-Fall Lawyers Here to Help

Barsumian Armiger Injury Lawyers takes personal injury cases arising from slip and falls seriously. If you or a family member is injured as a result of a negligent landowner or landlord, you may be entitled to compensation for your pain and suffering.

For a free consultation with an experienced slip or trip and fall attorney about your case, contact Barsumian Armiger Injury Lawyers at (844) 268-7775.  Or, if you would like more information about some of the most commonly asked questions of Indiana slip or trip and fall lawyers, you can find it here.