premises liability

Slip and Fall Accidents Can Cause Severe Injuries and Other Consequences

By Personal Injury Lawyer on February 15, 2010

What is often surprising is the severity of injuries that result from slip-and-fall and trip-and-fall accidents. So many people who do slip and fall do not get hurt, so they do not expect to see a serious injury as the result of these kinds of accidents. As experienced Chandler slip and fall accident attorneys, we have seen many serious injuries resulting from such accidents. Serious injuries can easily occur in such cases when someone falls unexpectedly and therefore lands awkwardly, sometimes causing serious injury. There have even been cases in which someone died due to a slip-and-fall or trip-and-fall accident.

We have a societal responsibility to avoid causing injury to other people. The property owner or store owner has this same duty. When a person is negligent and allows a dangerous condition to exist that may cause injury to an innocent person, it is important for that person to be held accountable. When injuries do actually occur, it is even more important that the injured person have an experienced personal injury attorney on their side to protect his or her rights and to hold the negligent party accountable.

When you want honest answers to questions you may have about a Chandler trip-and-fall claim, contact the best Maricopa County premise liability attorney you can find. At Breyer Law Offices, P.C., are happy to help and to answer your questions. As Arizona personal injury lawyers, we have helped many people over the years who have been injured due to someone else’s negligence due to these kinds of accidents. For a free consultation, please call us at 623-930-8064.

Is a homeowner responsible for injuries just because someone got hurt on their property?

By Personal Injury Lawyer on May 10, 2009

The answer is No. A homeowner is only responsible for personal injuries to an individual who is hurt at their home if the homeowner did something wrong. In other words, if you were at someone’s home and tripped over your own shoelaces, there would be no claim against the homeowner. The homeowner did not do anything wrong if you tripped over your own shoelaces.

More specifically the law, reduced to plain English, if someone who was hurt and brings a claim against the owner or occupier of the land (a homeowner, for instance) must show the following:

1. you were injured
2. your injuries were caused by the negligence of the homeowner
3. that the homeowner knew or should have known that their negligence created an unreasonably dangerous condition

Let’s say you tripped over a rug at another person’s home. You would have to show that there was something about the rug that created an unreasonably dangerous condition that caused you to fall. If the rug was laid out perfectly fine and safe but you tripped over your own shoelaces as you were going over the rug, then that would not be enough to claim negligence against the homeowner.

That being said, each case is different. Especially in Arizona slip and fall cases, it is important to review the facts with an attorney. In almost all slip and fall cases, we have to hire experts to testify as to the condition being a dangerous one. Experts can range from building code violations to safety measures that should have been taken in a home or establishment. In slip and fall cases it is vital to speak to a skilled slip and fall attorney in Phoenix as soon as possible as evidence is destroyed very quickly in these cases. For instance, in the above “rug case” it would be important to see exactly where the rug was and how it was laid out in the home. If the rug is destroyed and the person sells the home then it could be difficult to later prove liability. This is why it is important to gather evidence as soon as possible in a slip and fall case.