If you've slipped or tripped and become injured while on someone else's property, you may be able to recover compensation with a premises liability claim or lawsuit. A good premises liability attorney can analyze the particulars of your case and help you recover compensation. To achieve this, the property owner, property manager, or business will need to be found liable for the hazardous conditions that caused your injury, which isn't always easy to prove. 

Who Can Be Held Liable in a Slip and Fall Lawsuit?

On any property, a variety of hazardous conditions may lead to an accident. Such unsafe conditions might include unrepaired leaks, uncleaned spills, and wet floors without warning signs. Trip hazards may be created by loose floorboards, tiles, or carpeting, debris in walkways, or wiring carelessly strewn across the floor. Loose handrails in stairwells or on balconies can also lead to dangerous falls. 

The Property Owner, Manager, or Business May Be Liable

When a hazardous condition has caused an injury, whichever party is responsible for maintaining the property may be held liable. This might be the owner, manager, or business controlling the property. And if you were injured while visiting someone's home, the individual homeowner may be held liable. In Texas, the owner of a property owes a duty of care to anyone visiting their property, provided the visitor has the owner's consent to be on the premises. 

This duty of care involves ensuring that no safety hazards are allowed to exist and potential safety hazards are repaired promptly upon discovery. At the very least, visitors must be clearly warned about an existing hazard until it's repaired. Failure in this duty of care would constitute negligence and may make the property owner or manager liable to pay the injured party damages. 

The Challenges of Proving Liability

Proving fault can be tricky in slip-and-fall accidents; more so than in many other types of personal injury cases. This is because even if a hazardous condition existed, the property owner may not have had enough time to discover it before an accident occurred. 

For example, if a can of paint falls and spills over the floor of a store and a customer slips in it five minutes later, this may not be considered enough time for a store employee or the owner to notice the spill and clean it up. However, if the spilled paint still wasn't cleaned a whole day later, there may be a stronger case for negligence. 

Did the Injured Party Act Carelessly?

It's possible for visitors to act carelessly and injure themselves on any property, whether or not a hazard exists. As such, many slip-and-fall cases will see the defendant arguing that the injured party caused their own injury, at least in part. 

This would reduce or negate the property owner's liability. Therefore, the value of a claim often hinges on proving that the visitor acted with all due care and that the fault lies entirely with the property owner or manager. 

There May Be a Lack of Evidence

Premises liability cases can also be hindered by a lack of eyewitnesses or surveillance camera footage. If you were the only person to witness your accident, it becomes easier for the defendant to dispute various aspects of your claim. This is especially true if you neglected to collect photographic or video evidence of the hazardous condition before the property owner cleaned it up. 

Connecting the Accident to Your Injury

Even if you successfully prove that the property owner's negligence caused your accident, they may still dispute liability for your damages. Any delay in getting medical care, for example, may later be used to claim that your injuries were either not as severe as you claim or were caused elsewhere. 

For this reason, it's essential to seek medical treatment immediately following a slip-and-fall accident. Your doctor's report can then serve as evidence that your injuries were caused on the day. For the same reason, you should always report an accident to the property owner as soon as it occurs. 

How a Premises Liability Attorney Can Build Your Case 

The surest way to prove liability in slip-and-fall accidents is almost always with the aid of an experienced premises liability lawyer. Your lawyer can help you with accident reports and take over all communication with the property owner and their insurance company. They can then collect evidence to build a strong case against the defendant. This evidence might include property records, lease agreements, the property's history of prior accidents, potential eyewitnesses, and expert witnesses such as accident reconstruction experts, building inspectors, and flooring experts. 

With sufficient evidence in hand, your lawyer can fight to prove the at-fault party's negligence and negotiate a fair settlement on your behalf. Find out more here about how a seasoned local premises liability lawyer can help you win your case. 

Did Your Accident Occur at Work?

Employers also have a responsibility to protect their employees from harm, which means keeping their workplace free of dangerous conditions. Nevertheless, workplace injuries are unfortunately common, particularly in certain high-risk industries such as construction, transportation, and forestry. 

In most workplace injury cases, the injured employee will need to file a workers' compensation claim, which is a state-run insurance program held by the majority of businesses in Texas. Seeking compensation with a workers' compensation claim is a different process from other types of premises liability claims and lawsuits. To successfully navigate such a claim, it's best to find an attorney with a great deal of experience in workers' comp cases. 

As challenging as liability may be to prove in a slip-and-fall accident, injured victims regularly recover compensation with the aid of a skillful attorney. If you've suffered a slip-and-fall, don't hesitate to consult with an experienced local attorney to find out your legal options.