personal injury Defense

North Carolina Personal Injury Law Firm

Slip and Fall Accidents | Lawyers and Attorneys

Serving Chapel Hill and Raleigh North Carolina

If you have been injured on another person’s premises, you may have legal rights or actions even if it is just a careless slip and fall accident, call our North Carolina lawyers and attorneys.  Slip and fall cases encompass much more areas of law than the classic careless person slipping on a wet floor and falling down, injuring him or her. Every year thousands of people in America are hurt and receive injuries while on another person's property. The other person's property might be a residence, business, or even a vacation home. The area of law involving slipping and falling actually involves innocent parties becoming injured on the property owner's property when the accident could have been preventable.

Examples of slip and fall cases include construction site or work site injuries by non-workers, poor security measures in areas causing violent assault by third parties, pool drowning, falling debris or vegetation, products or equipment malfunctioning and injuring patrons of a store, and finally classic slip and falls caused by poorly maintained walkways or negligent maintenance of sidewalks.

Some more detailed examples would include a person running a business, but keeping an icy, snow covered walkway up to his store. Even when the business owner clearly knew that the snowy walkway created a large safety hazard to his customers, he refused to melt the ice or shovel away some of the snow. As a result of the negligent operation of his premises, several patrons are injured. They will most likely have a cause of action against the storekeeper.

Another example would include a large crowded shopping mall in a metropolitan area. The mall was well aware of large amounts of crime and gang activity in the vicinity. However, to cut costs, they do not hire any security and do not keep their lights on in the parking lot at night. As a result, a young woman is mugged and brutally assaulted by a few gang members. There is a reasonable chance that she may have a successful suit against the mall.

Another common example would be a construction site negligently maintaining a safe environment for pedestrians. A huge construction project of a skyscraper is going on downtown. Hundreds of workers in hardhats are working on various portions of the building. It is a very dangerous environment. However, the construction company does not cordon off the sidewalks just below the skyscraper. In addition, no warnings are posted near the work zone. One construction worker accidentally drops a wrench while working on something on the 4th floor. The wrench falls to the pavement onto a bystander's leg, causing a fracture. This would be another example of a lawsuit that may succeed.

In terms of North Carolina home owners leaving a dangerous premises, if a person who owns a swimming pool in a neighborhood leaves the pool unattended all the time and keeps no sort of gate around the pool, he or she may be held liable should a neighbor's child venture into the pool and get injured. To exacerbate the condition, the pool owner kept no life vests or floatation devices in the vicinity. Furthermore, he or she decided to not post any sort of warning signs whatsoever and did not even paint the cement around the swimming pool indicating how deep each part of the water was.

Large stores also have to maintain a reasonably safe condition for their patrons. If a large hardware store does not properly store heavy machining equipment and some heavy parts randomly come crashing down, injuring customers, the hardware store may be held liable. For grocery stores, if the staff leaves banana peels laying around the store that customers may slip on, the store may be held liable when someone does slip and get hurt.
For a claim of slip and fall to be meritorious in North Carolina, one must prove that the store owner/home owner or an agent of his or her was somehow negligent. In addition, one must prove that the negligence caused the accident. Furthermore, one must prove that the accident would not have occurred but for the negligence. In addition, it must be proved that the negligent actions or omissions were not too far attenuated or removed from the actual injury. Last, the plaintiff must also prove that the accident caused actual damages. In general, it must be proven that the conditions were actually dangerous and that the owner either knew of the dangerous condition or should have known of the dangerous condition. Also, the condition could be remedied at a reasonable cost that is less than the cost of the plaintiff's injury. As far as proving the owner's knowledge of the dangerous condition, subsequent measures to repair or remedy the dangerous condition after the plaintiff's accident are actually not admissible in court to prove the owner's knowledge of the dangerous condition. This rule is based on the interests of public policy.

Whether you were a person visiting a business for a business transaction, guest at a party, or even a trespasser, the person in charge of the premises does owe a certain duty to you to keep the premises reasonably safe. If you have been injured on another person's premises, you may have legal rights or actions.

The Chapel Hill personal injury attorneys and lawyers of Everett Law Firm P.A. understand the issues surrounding slip and fall accidents in North Carolina.  For a free personal injury legal consultation, feel free to email or call our Chapel Hill law office, to discuss your case.  Our toll free number is 800.942.8048.