American Bar Association
American Association for Justice
The Florida Bar 1950
Florida Justice Association

Slip and Fall, or Trip and Fall

In the State of Florida, a business establishment has certain duties to prevent injury to its patrons: maintain its premises in a reasonably safe condition; correct a dangerous condition about which the business either knew or should have known, by the use of reasonable care; and to warn of any dangerous condition about which the business had, or should have had, knowledge. If a business such as a restaurant, hotel, mall, or other shopping center fails to meet any one of these duties, causing injury to a customer, the business may be liable to provide compensation.

So often, when a business fails to meet its duties, people are injured as a result of a slip and fall or trip and fall. This can occur when a business creates or knows of a dangerous condition, but fails to take proper action to remedy it. A slip and fall in these circumstances can result in serious or even fatal injuries.

If you are injured on the property of another due to the owner’s negligence, you may have a claim for damages. Of course, a slip and fall or trip and fall does not only occur within a business establishment, but may also occur within the home of a property owner or renter. When a preventable fall occurs, the injured person has an ability to potentially recover from the responsible party. In this respect, the injured victim will likely need to prove the following: the business establishment had actual or constructive knowledge of the dangerous condition and should have taken action to remedy it. The requisite knowledge may be proven by circumstantial evidence showing that: (a) the dangerous condition existed for such a length of time that, in the exercise of ordinary care, the business establishment should have known of the condition; or (b) the condition occurred with regularity and was therefore foreseeable.

A slip and fall or trip and fall can occur, for example, in these common scenarios:

  • Spills on the floor;
  • Debris or merchandise blocking the walkways;
  • Unmarked wet floors from cleaning, spills, or rain from outside;
  • Lack of handrails or guardrails;
  • Malfunctioning escalators and elevators;
  • Unlevel flooring caused by damage;
  • Potholes or otherwise damaged asphalt or pavement;
  • Poor or inadequate lighting;
  • Unsecured flooring.

When a slip and fall happens, it is important to determine who was responsible for the fall. If there were dangerous or hazardous conditions that caused the victim to trip and injure himself, the owner or the renter who was in control of and in charge of maintaining the property can be held legally responsible for the slip and fall accident. If you are injured as the result of a slip and fall or trip and fall, the Florida injury lawyers of Klemick and Gampel, P.A., are able to provide you with experienced, competent, skillful representation.

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