Liabilities

Accidents do happen, and, in some cases, they’re completely unavoidable. But, sometimes, it can be caused due to someone else’s negligence as well. For example:

  • Broken tiles.
  • Wet floor. 
  • Leaky ceiling, etc.

If another person is responsible in this aspect for your injury, they can be considered as liable for the same. Nonetheless, there’s a catch to this whole scenario.

More to discover here.

Slip And Fall Accidents – The Theories Of Liabilities

Slip And Fall Accidents

A property owner, in essence, is entirely accountable for maintaining a secure environment in their house. Nevertheless, at the same time, it’s your responsibility to keep an eye on where you’re going and follow reasonable caution. Hence, when it comes to determining the liability of a slip-and-fall injury, we can only opt for three aspects. Here’s what you need to know about them.

  • An employee or the owner of the property is responsible for causing the condition that has led to the slip-and-fall accident.
  • The employee or the owner had known about the dangerous surface but didn’t repair or do anything about it at all. They didn’t even notify the users about it.
  • The employee or the owner should have been reasonable enough to seek and find the dangerous condition of the property.

In this case, “reasonable” is considered as a jargon and usually hinges on common sense. But, if your case goes to court, it’ll be on the judge and jury to determine –

  • If the owner of the property was reasonable in maintain their property, or
  • You were reasonable in not being careful or knowing that it was dangerous.

Remember: The “reasonable person standard” tends to be based upon a fictional individual who exercises proper skill, care, and judgment. This hypothetical person will be compared to the actual defendant or plaintiff for determining liability.

Proving Faults In Slip-And-Fall – The Critical Factors

When it comes to proving someone else’s fault in a slip-and-fall case, there are three different factors that may work in place. Please keep reading to get more information about them.

Factor 1: Negligence

The factor of negligence works when an individual entirely disregards someone else’s safety. However, in this aspect, the key questions are –

  • Does the person consider the condition to be hazardous? 
  • Or, did they have the opportunity or time to repair it?

In this case, the burden will be on the plaintiff to prove if the property-owner was negligent in managing their property or not. In other words, you, the injured individual, will need to show that the defendant could’ve prevented the whole scenario but didn’t.

Factor 2: Plaintiff’s Contributory Fault

Almost every state in the USA has some sort of comparative negligence. However, in some cases, you might find the contributory negligence standard as well. 

Therefore, in this case, if the defendant can prove that you contributed to the accident, you won’t get any money out of them. This law can even mitigate the overall fiscal compensation if you were a part of the accident.

Factor 3: Liability

Any entity or person with legal responsibility will be liable for anything that happens there. In some cases, their insurance policy might relieve them of liability. 

And, in that aspect, you will have to place your lawsuit against the insurance company and not on the homeowner.

Conditions To be Met

A residential property, in essence, has a minutely different standard than a commercial one. In this aspect, the following conditions need to be met before you can hold someone else liable –

  • It was quite foreseeable that the house’s condition would cause an injury.
  • The homeowner or the landlord had complete control over the problem that led to the injury.
  • It wouldn’t be unreasonably difficult or expensive to repair the condition.
  • The landlord or owner failed to prevent the accident reasonably, which prompted the injury to occur.

Where Should You Begin?

If you require legal assistance for slip and fall accidents in Philadelphia, don’t hesitate to reach out to a skilled Slip and Fall Lawyer PhiladelphiaThey can provide the expert guidance and representation you need to navigate the complexities of your case and seek the compensation you deserve.

If you have been severely injured due to the accident, it’s best to get proper medical treatment quickly. Once you’ve become healthy again, you should focus on reporting the injury and call your lawyer quickly. Offer them some information regarding the same accordingly, and make sure that they know the whole story. Once you’re done, you can, then, move onto creating a proper storyline for your claim. Good luck!