Slip and Fall Law Firms

How to choose a slip and fall lawyer

These cases have a reputation for being easy and they are the opposite. Falling on somebody's property proves nothing on its own: the owner has to have known about the hazard, or to have had it there long enough that they should have, and proving that depends on records the owner holds and footage that erases itself. Everything below follows from that.

Notice is the case

Actual notice means somebody told them, or they created the hazard. Constructive notice means it was there long enough that a reasonable inspection would have found it, which turns on inspection logs, cleaning schedules and how often staff walked that aisle. A spill that happened ninety seconds before the fall is usually not a case; the same spill two hours old usually is.

Which means the first thing worth asking a firm is how it establishes how long the hazard had been there, because that is the entire argument.

The footage is overwritten on a loop

Most retail and commercial camera systems overwrite on a cycle measured in days or a few weeks. Incident reports, inspection sheets and staffing records are equally routine to discard. A preservation letter sent in the first week is often the difference between a provable case and one that rests on the client's word.

Ask what the firm sends, when, and whether it has had to move against a defendant who let footage be erased after being asked to keep it.

• How soon do you send a preservation letter, and what does it cover?
• How will you show how long the hazard had been there?
• Do you get the inspection and cleaning logs, and how?
• How do you handle an argument that the danger was open and obvious?
• Is this property owned by a public authority, and does that change the deadline?

The defence is about you, and about why you were there

Expect two arguments. The first is comparative fault: that you were distracted, wearing the wrong shoes, or ignoring a sign, which in most states reduces recovery by your share and in some bars it. The second is that the hazard was open and obvious, so no warning was owed.

Why you were on the property matters too. Many states still owe a different duty to an invited customer than to a social guest or a trespasser, and that category can decide the claim before anybody discusses the floor.