Thousands of people are injured each year in slip and fall accidents. While the elderly are more susceptible to injury in a fall, that does not mean that slip and fall accidents don't happen to people of all ages.

When someone is injured in a slip and fall accident, is the property owner or lessee automatically responsible? Not necessarily. Each slip and fall case is unique and very fact specific; it comes down to whether the injured person was entitled to be on the property, and whether the property owner or lessee acted negligently.

Was the property owner negligent?

Did the property owner or lessee know about the dangerous condition? Did they have time to learn about it? If they knew that a dangerous condition existed, did they take action to correct it in a timely manner?

These are all important questions, and the answers will determine if the property owner or lessee is legally liable for the person's injuries. Let's say that a customer in a grocery store dropped a bottle of shampoo that squired all over the floor. The customer left it there and walked away without reporting it.

A minute later, another customer walks down the aisle and slips on the shampoo. Is the store liable? Not necessarily since it didn't know about the spill, nor did it have time to clean it up.

On the other hand, if a customer spilled shampoo and notified the manager right away, but the manager ignored the complaint and the spill sat there for three hours before another customer slipped in it, the store would likely be found liable because it knew about the spill, but failed to clean it up.

The other consideration in slip and fall cases is whether the injured person was invited to be on the property. Essentially, property owners have the highest duty of care to their customers, but the lowest duty of care to trespassers.

Injured in a slip and fall accident? Contact a personal injury attorney to file a claim!