The slip-and-fall lawsuit is one of the most frequent types of personal injury lawsuits in California and the rest of the United States. One reason for the frequency of these cases is that there are many reasons a slip-and-fall incident can occur. In situations in which individuals trip or slip and then fall on property that belongs to another party, and the property owner failed to take the necessary actions to prevent or correct an issue that resulted in the slip and fall, that property owner may be financially liable for injuries sustained on the property.
One common condition that can result in someone slipping, falling and incurring an injury is the accumulation of ice. There are usually no laws that require property owners to remove snow or ice that buildup around their buildings because of the weather. However, if the state of a property results in the unnatural accumulation of snow or ice, the property owner may be held negligible for any resulting slip-and-fall accidents.
Property owners may be held negligible for accidents that result from a buildup of ice on a roof that melts, drips off due to a clogged drain and then turns to ice again on the ground. They might also be financially liable for accidents caused by ice patches created when ice melts on an improperly sloped parking lot.
A personal injury attorney may use premises liability law to hold negligent parties liable for the accidents that occurred on their property and caused injuries. Lawsuits may be filed against owners of homes, grocery stores, construction sites, daycare facilities, hospitals, apartment buildings or any other structure in which slip-and-fall accidents can be attributed to the failure to maintain the property. Financial damages may be pursued for the resulting broken bones or head injuries.