When a slip-and-fall or trip-and-fall happens at a store, an office or some other commercial property, the owner may be responsible – but not always. It is necessary to prove that an unreasonably dangerous condition caused your injury, that the owner knew or should have known of the danger, and that the owner did not correct the danger or give reasonable warning. This kind of case most often arises in stores when some liquid is spilled on the floor. In order to win such a case, the accident victim must prove that store employees knew or should have known of the danger. If the person who falls does not know where the liquid came from, who spilled it, how long it was there, etc., the claim might not be possible to win. You only have one chance to find these things out – right after you fall. Ask questions. Find out if anyone else witnessed the fall or if they saw the wet area. Try to notice whether the liquid was leaking from a freezer unit. Notice whether any employee was working right there in the area before you fell.
The answers to these questions may be the difference between a successful claim and a lost claim. Always report the injury to a store manager and ask to have an incident report completed. Be prepared that the building management and their insurance company may try to blame you for the incident by arguing that you did not watch where you were going.
Call us at (480) 588-5999 as soon as possible after such an incident while all of these facts are still fresh in your mind.