Newark Slip and Fall Lawyer
Slip and fall incidents on another person or business’s property can result in painful injuries. The damages from a slip and fall injury may entitle you to a claim for compensation against a negligent property owner who failed to exercise reasonable care over their land.
Our Newark slip and fall lawyers could help you pursue maximum compensation through a personal injury lawsuit involving claims of premises liability. We are tenacious litigators who strive to treat each client like family when managing their claim. Under-settling is not an option with our firm as we prepare every case as if it were going to trial.
A Property Owner’s Liability for a Slip and Fall Injury
Property owners have varying degrees of duty to the visitors on their land depending on their relationship and purpose for being there. For example, property owners owe less duty to trespassers than they do to a visitor on their land for business or social purposes. Most cases require a property owner to exercise ordinary care in protecting guests from foreseeable and unreasonable risks of harm that exist because of a dangerous condition on the property. Common examples of issues that could cause a breach of this duty to a guest and cause them injury in a slip and fall incident include the following:
- Not cleaning up liquid spills
- Loose debris and other articles on the floor
- Missing or faulty handrails
- Poorly marked steps or changes in a floor’s level
A property owner is liable for injuries when they fail to remove or address the dangerous condition or warn visitors about it. An experienced Newark attorney could build a slip and fall case by reviewing the available evidence and identifying the potential issues that caused the incident.
How to Pursue Compensation for Damages After a Trip and Fall
Some property owners may contain insurance policies to compensate those with claims for injury. However, the limits of these insurance policies may not always cover the full extent of damages from a case. Filing an injury lawsuit is a formal court proceeding to recover maximum compensation in a case. Injured plaintiffs can usually pursue compensation for damages related to their pain and suffering, medical care expenses, lost wages, and other losses from a slip and fall.
The advocacy of a slip and fall lawyer in Newark could be beneficial in ensuring a claim states all relevant damages and establishes the liability of the negligent property owner. Some cases may also require defending against claims of an injured plaintiff’s contributory fault in causing their fall. State law limits awarded compensation in cases where a jury finds a plaintiff was also at fault for their injury. For example, running in a crowded store or disregarding signs that warn about possible hazards on a premises.
What Is Notice in a Slip and Fall Case?
In a premises liability case, notice refers to whether the property owner knew or should have known about a dangerous condition on their property. A person injured in a slip and fall accident in Newark must generally prove that the defendant had actual notice or constructive notice of the hazard before liability can be established.
Actual notice means the property owner was directly aware of the dangerous condition and failed to correct it. This often happens when a business creates the hazardous condition or receives complaints about it but takes no action. For example, a supermarket may know that a refrigerator is leaking water onto the floor, yet fail to clean the area or place warning signs nearby.
Constructive notice is more complex because it focuses on what the property owner reasonably should have known. A slip and fall attorney in Newark can investigate whether the dangerous condition existed long enough that proper inspections would have identified and corrected it. If a spill remained on the floor for an extended period without cleanup, a court may determine the property owner should have discovered the hazard.
How Can You Prove Actual Notice?
Actual notice may be established through maintenance records, employee testimony, surveillance footage, or prior complaints about the same condition. If a property owner created the dangerous condition, that evidence may strongly support a negligence claim. For example, a store employee who mops a floor without placing warning signs may create a foreseeable slipping hazard.
A premises fall accident lawyer in Newark may also review incident reports and inspection logs to determine whether the business previously documented similar problems. Repeated complaints about broken flooring, leaking equipment, or icy walkways may demonstrate that the property owner knew about the issue before the accident occurred.
In some cases, witness statements become critical evidence. Employees, customers, or maintenance workers may confirm that the hazardous condition existed before the accident and that no effort was made to fix it. These details may strengthen your ability to recover compensation for medical bills, lost wages, and pain and suffering.
Why Is Constructive Notice More Difficult to Prove?
Constructive notice cases often involve proving how long the dangerous condition existed before the fall occurred. A property owner may argue they had no reasonable opportunity to discover the hazard, especially if the condition developed moments before the accident.
For example, someone shopping in a grocery store may spill a drink seconds before another customer slips. In that situation, the store may argue it did not have enough time to identify and clean the spill. However, if surveillance footage shows the spill remained on the floor for a significant period, that evidence may support constructive notice. At GGL, we can move promptly to preserve important evidence and investigate the circumstances surrounding your fall.
Schedule a Free Case Evaluation with a Newark Trip and Fall Attorney
The deadline to file a personal injury claim is generally two years from the date of its cause. Late filings can result in a dismissal of the claim and a loss of the right to recover compensation against a negligent property owner. Schedule a free case evaluation with a Newark slip and fall lawyer from our firm today.
