Richmond Slip and Fall Attorney
Slip and fall accidents are the leading cause of injury in the United States. They involve what are categorized as same-level falls (as opposed to elevated falls, sometimes referred to as “falls from height”). If you have sustained a personal injury as a result of a slip and fall in Richmond or anywhere else in Virginia, our Richmond slip and fall lawyers can help you recover the compensation to which you are entitled.
Landowners and occupiers (such as a commercial business, landlord, or individual) can be held liable for injuries caused in a slip and fall if the fall was the result of an unreasonably dangerous condition and the owner or occupier knew or should have known of the dangerous condition or allowed such a condition to exist and failed to take corrective action or to warn of the dangerous condition. If this applies to your injury, contact a Richmond slip and fall lawyer today.
Causes of Slip and Fall Accidents
Slip and fall injuries occur as the result of a wide range of causes, including:
- Slippery substances on a walking surface
- Cluttered walkways
- Snow and ice caused by weather conditions
- Wet or icy conditions caused by improper drainage
- Poor or failed illumination of traveled portions of property
- Stairways that are not properly maintained
- Stairways in violation of building codes
- Worn treads
- Worn carpeting
- Defects in the defects in the floor covering (for example, raised tiles)
- Hidden depressions and holes (for example, covered by accumulated leaves)
If you have sustained an injury as a result of any of the above listed conditions, it is important that you do all you can to document the cause(s) and results of your injury. A Richmond slip and fall lawyer can review the factors that contributed to your injury and determine whether or not a claim is feasible to pursue in a court of law. Your slip and fall attorney in Richmond will likely also instruct you to carefully monitor and document both your injury and the associated medical costs in order to generate an accurate picture of your damages.
Proof of Liability in Slip and Fall Cases
Proof of liability basically means that a plaintiff must show how the conditions or factors that brought about the fall were caused by, or allowed to exist, by the property owner or someone else responsible for maintaining the property in a reasonably safe condition under circumstances where the property owner knew, or reasonably should have known of the existence of conditions that posed a threat to others coming upon the property.
Just because someone slips and falls on the property of another does not mean the property owner or person charged with maintaining the property is legally responsible for the accident. It must be shown that the property owner or person responsible for the maintenance of the property breached a duty to the injured person.
Breach of Duty
In order to prevail in a negligence action, the injured plaintiff must prove that the there was a legal duty that the defendant owed to the plaintiff, that the defendant breached that duty, that the plaintiff suffered damages, and that the damages were caused by the breach of the duty.
First, the plaintiff must establish that there is the duty:
It is well established that Virginia law imposes a duty upon property owners to maintain their property in a reasonably safe condition.
Then the plaintiff must show that the defendant breached that duty:
If a defendant who controls a property allows a hazardous or dangerous condition to exist upon the property, and that dangerous condition can foreseeably cause injury to others, this would constitute a breach of the duty owed to others who are lawfully present on the property. If the breach of that duty causes injury to a person lawfully coming upon the property, then a valid claim for negligence liability may exist and a Richmond slip and fall lawyer should be contacted.
How Can a Richmond Slip and Fall Lawyer Help?
Slip and fall cases involve complex legal issues. The standard of care imposed upon property owners differs based upon the relationship to the injured person. For instance, a landowner or occupier owes a very low duty of care to a trespasser, while a retail store owes a much higher duty of care to individuals who are patrons of the store. Slip and fall accident claims often require the retention of experts in building codes and safety standards. If you have been injured in a slip and fall in Richmond or anywhere else in Virginia and you are interested in pursuing a claim or lawsuit, contact an experienced Richmond slip and fall lawyer for a free consultation.
