Brentwood Slip and Fall Attorneys

Slip and falls, or trip and falls, can lead to serious injuries, such as brain trauma, spine injuries, and hip fractures. If a safety hazard on another’s property led to your slip and fall accident, Biren Law Group is here to advocate for you. You deserve compensation for your injuries—we’re here to strengthen your chances of getting it.

Our slip and fall accident lawyers in Brentwood have helped injured victims and families across Southern California secure millions in compensation after suffering preventable harm and losses. If you have questions about a potential slip and fall accident case, your rights, and how our firm can help, contact us for a free consultation.

Contact Biren Law Group online or call (310) 774-0078 for a free consultation. Our slip and fall attorneys won’t settle for less.

Who Is Liable for a Slip and Fall Accident?

Slip and fall accidents are among the most common types of personal injury cases which invoke premises liability – or, a landowner’s financial responsibility for injuries victims suffer on their property.

In theory, if someone slips, trips, or falls due to a preventable hazard on another’s property, the entity or individual who owns or controls that property would be liable for the resulting damages, such as medical bills, lost income, and pain and suffering. 

In practice, slip and fall cases are not always so simple.

These cases hinge on the element of duty, which requires landowners to:

• Keep property in a reasonably safe condition;
• Use reasonable care to discover dangerous conditions; and
• Repair, replace, or warn about dangerous conditions which could reasonably be expected to cause harm.

Proving Constructive Knowledge

Landowners are generally liable for damages caused by dangerous conditions they did not reasonably address on their property if they either knew or should have known about it.

This means property owners can be liable for slip and fall damages when:

• The property owner or their employee/agent caused a dangerous condition, such as a spill;
• The property owner or their employee/agent knew about a dangerous condition but failed to fix it or warn customers/prevent access to the area;
• The property owner or their employee/agent should have known about a dangerous condition because a “reasonable” person caring for the property would have discovered and repaired it.

While the first two scenarios show property owners can be held liable when they caused or knew about a dangerous condition, cases where a property owner should have known about a dangerous condition can be more difficult and will require meticulous investigation to prove constructive knowledge.

A landowner’s constructive knowledge can be demonstrated by evidence and documentation of prior incidents which show the landowner had sufficient time to discover a dangerous condition and make reasonable efforts to protect against it (CACI 1011). 

Evidence that can be gathered to support this may include:

• Company policies, safety manuals, rules and regulations (CC&Rs), and other internal records showing how maintenance, inspections, and safety procedures are handled;
• Maintenance or inspection logs showing when inspections or repairs were performed, what they entailed, and whether dangerous conditions were noted, repaired, or even recurrent;
• Incident reports or complaints to management regarding dangerous conditions;
• HOA meeting minutes, HOA newsletters, and other similar documents;
• Publicly available data, including prior lawsuit filings.

Common Places Where Slip and Falls Occur

One issue that has implications in a slip and fall case is the type of property involved. Slip and falls may occur on residential property (like a person’s home or rental house), commercial property (such as a business or retailer), or government property (such as a public park, subway station, or government building).

All property owners have a duty to ensure their premises are safe for visitors and guests. They can, therefore, be held accountable for any negligence that directly leads to a slip and fall.

Biren Law Group is well versed in litigating a variety of slip and fall cases, including those concerning:

• Icy floors
• Muddy floors
• Wet, slippery floors
• Broken stairs or escalators
• Uneven carpeting or other flooring
• Cluttered or blocked pathways
• Loose or broken tiles, bricks, or paving stones

No matter what type of property served as the backdrop of your slip and fall accident, our attorneys will fight to hold the negligent property owner accountable.

Residential Property

Depending on where a slip and fall accident took place, different rules and procedures may apply. In residential settings, landowners can be held responsible for accidents and injuries on their property. 

Examples include:

• A private home or residence
• Multi-family housing (i.e. apartment buildings, condominiums, and townhome complexes)
• Rental home or rented apartment/condo

Victims injured on residential property may seek compensation from a private homeowner (through their homeowner’s insurance), a landlord from whom they are renting the property, or a housing complex or HOA (through their commercial insurance policy).

In some cases, third parties may be potentially liable for damages, including third-party contractors and vendors (e.g., maintenance workers, apartment staff, and licensees performing work) who created the dangerous hazard, as well as product manufacturers responsible for defective products (e.g., defective handrails).

Commercial Property

Slip and fall accidents on commercial property can involve many different scenarios. 

Examples include:

• Slips on wet surfaces or puddles in the aisles of a grocery store or retailer
• Accidents resulting from a failure to warn about dangerous conditions
• Falls caused by open holes or changes in elevation on commercial property
• Trip and falls on uneven surfaces, walkways, and thresholds on commercial property

Slip and fall victims injured on commercial property may have a greater opportunity to recover the full scope of their damages, as commercial property owners typically have larger insurance policies than residential homeowners. However, commercial property owners are also usually corporations and therefore have financial interests in protecting their bottom line, and paying victims as little as possible.

Experienced slip and fall accident attorneys in Brentwood can help victims investigate their premises accidents, gather and preserve evidence, and determine who can be held liable – whether it be an employer/business, third-party contractor, public utility, product manufacturer, or some combination thereof.

Government Property

Slip and falls on government property may involve any type of publicly owned land.

Examples include:

• Public parks and playgrounds
• Public sidewalks and walkways
• Public or government buildings

When an injury occurs on government property, unique rules and procedures apply. That includes not only broad immunity protections that can shield government entities against liability, but also strict requirements for filing a Notice of Claim with the relevant municipality, County, State, or Federal government.

Under the California Tort Claims Act, victims injured on public property must provide a Notice of Claim within 6 months of the date of injury (as opposed to the two-year statute of limitations in most personal injury cases) in order to preserve their right to legal action and compensation.

Can I File A Lawsuit For A Slip And Fall At Work?

When most people think of slip and fall accidents, they tend to think of those at grocery stores and retail businesses, residential homes and housing complexes, and other locations where slip, trip, and fall risks are common.

However, not all slip and falls involve people in leisure-time activities; sometimes, they involve workers. Slip and fall accidents in the workplace can give rise to premises liability claims, particularly when owners failed to:

• Keep property in a reasonably safe condition;
• Use reasonable care to discover dangerous conditions; and
• Repair, replace, or warn about hazards that could reasonably be expected to cause harm.

Some slip and fall accident cases are straightforward, such as a store employee spilling liquid onto the ground, causing a customer to slip and fall. Others can be quite complex, especially when certain legal concepts, such as duty, notice, or concealed/obvious defect, are open to interpretation.

When a person slips, trips, or falls in the course of performing work-related duties, matters of workers’ compensation and third-party liability can also add to challenges in these cases.

Workers’ Comp Vs. Personal Injury: What’s The Difference?

When workers are injured in the course of performing job-related duties, their sole remedy against their employer is workers’ compensation. A type of no-fault insurance carried by most employers, workers’ comp can provide benefits (such as medical care, temporary and permanent disability benefits and vocational rehabilitation) to employees who are off work due to their injuries.

Unlike a personal injury lawsuit, you do not need to prove your employer was negligent because workers’ compensation is a no-fault system; if you are injured on the job you are entitled to recover benefits.

Of course, there are times where accidents involving workers result from the negligence of a third party; someone other than their employer or co-workers. In these cases, in addition to being entitled to collect workers’ compensation benefits, the injured worker can bring a third-party civil suit against the negligent person or entity who created the dangerous condition. Benefits under the worker’s compensation system are limited. The benefits you can receive in a third party civil suit are much broader and can more fully compensate the worker for the total harm suffered by the worker.

Third-Party Liability In Work Slip And Fall Case

There are an infinite number of situations where a worker can slip and fall as the result of a third party’s negligence.

Some examples include:

1. A worker who took the elevator to the second floor and, upon stepping out, slipped and fell. It turned out the cleaning vendor, a third party contracted by the worker’s employer, had just waxed the floor with excessively slippery compound and failed to warn of the danger until the compound completely dried.
2. A worker who slipped and fell on his normally pristine loading dock. It turned out that a vendor was using his own forklift to offload the truck’s contents, but it was leaking oil; he left without cleaning the oil up or warning the dock manager of the condition.
3. A worker who was loading his flatbed truck with empty containers. He parked where the loading dock man directed him. Empty containers were stacked higher than they were supposed to be. When the wind picked up, the containers fell on the truck driver, causing him injury.

Though workers’ compensation claims do not require victims to prove fault and liability, civil suits filed outside of the workers’ comp system do. As with other premises claims, third party work injury suits will require victims to prove the key elements of a premises case, including:

• Duty;
• Breach of Duty;
• Negligence / Causation; and
• Damages.

Workplace slip and fall accidents can create challenges in determining who can be held responsible, as the person or entity who created the dangerous condition which caused the accident is typically long gone before it occurs.

As such, it becomes critical for injured workers and families to take steps to gather and preserve as much information as possible, and to immediately bring their case to the attention of experienced attorneys who can help conduct premises liability investigations, identify potentially liable parties, and compile the evidence required to support claims of negligence.

Potentially Liable Third Parties

Third-party premises liability claims are not limited to slip and fall cases, they can include any type of accident where a third party’s negligence is a cause of the accident. Third parties in these types of cases may include one or more third parties, such as:

• Third party contractors / vendors on a worksite;
• Maintenance or cleaning crews;
• Premises owners (when work is performed on property owned by someone other than a worker’s employer);
• Manufacturers of defective products;
• Transportation, loading dock, or distribution companies;
• Equipment or machinery repair companies;
• Negligent motorists (not associated with a worker’s employer);

In some fields of work, such as construction, there may be a number of contractors and subcontractors involved in a project and / or present on a worksite. In addition to being liable for negligence of their own doing, third-party contractors can also be liable for injuries and damages that result from dangerous conditions created by their employees, even if they argue they had no notice or knowledge of the dangerous condition (CACI 1012).

For employees of contractors who are hired by premises owners to perform work on their property, there are specific elements to prove when bringing a claim. Per CACI 1009B, that includes proving:

1. The defendant owned, leased, occupied, or controlled the property where work was being performed;
2. The defendant retained control over safety conditions on the worksite;
3. The defendant negligently exercised their retained control over safety conditions (i.e. was negligent in keeping property in a reasonably safe condition); and
4. That a worker suffered harm and damages as a result of the property owner’s negligence.

If you have questions about a work slip and fall accident, premises liability, or another personal injury matter, our team is available to review your case during a free consultation.

Can You Sue for a Sidewalk Injury in Los Angeles?

Sidewalk trip-and-fall cases can be complex for a few reasons:

• First, the liable party will vary depending on who owns the sidewalk. 
• Next, the sidewalk may be repaired before you can gather evidence. 
• Finally, the city of Los Angeles is known for its reluctance to pay out compensation for injury claims. 

Fortunately, a good trial attorney can guide you through the entire legal process, making sure that your claim does not go ignored. Biren Law Group has more than 40 years of experience in holding negligent parties liable for property hazards. As a family-owned firm, we treat our clients like family. If you are looking for aggressive, capable legal representation after a sidewalk trip-and-fall accident, look no further than our trial team.

Who Is Liable for a Trip & Fall on an Uneven Sidewalk?

State law mandates that negligent property owners and/or the city may be held liable for sidewalk defects that lead to injury. The key word here is “negligent” — those injured must prove that the party to whom the sidewalk belongs knew or should have known that it was hazardous but still neglected to repair it.

To prove negligence, a slip and fall accident lawyer will typically look into city databases to locate any reports of the sidewalk defect. If no reports are found, a lawyer may also point to the regular traffic the sidewalk sees, especially by city employees, to highlight that the city should have known of the defect.

Sometimes, a property owner will argue that they should not be responsible for a sidewalk defect created by the city. A common example of this is when a tree planted by the city breaks up the sidewalk outside the property owner’s house. Within the same vein, the city will sometimes refuse to repair a public sidewalk that was broken up by a tree planted on private property.

It is best to seek the help of a legal professional well-versed in premises liability law for these cases. Our firm will thoroughly examine the details of your case and refer to the law to determine liability.

Common Issues in Slip & Fall Cases

Slip and fall cases, like any premises liability action, focus on the legal duty a landowner (or a party with sufficient control of a property) has to act with reasonable care in the upkeep of property.

Though all landowners have a duty to exercise reasonable care in keeping their premises safe, that duty can be different depending on the likelihood (foreseeability) of injury.

For example, a landowner’s duty may vary when:

• Dangerous conditions on a property are openly obvious. When conditions are open and obvious to the extent that any reasonable person would identify them and know they are dangerous, landowners do not have a duty to warn guests (or customers) about the hazard. However, if the dangerous condition poses risks of foreseeable, they may still have the duty to make reasonable efforts to repair or replace the hazard (CACI 1004).
• A defect on a landowner’s property is trivial. Landowners are generally not liable for damages arising from insignificant defects on the property (CACI 1003).
• They are a landlord renting to a tenant. Landlords must conduct reasonable periodic inspections of the property and common areas under their control whenever they have the legal right of possession, and before leasing the property to tenants to discover and address dangerous conditions (CACI 1006).

Additionally, while there may be many challenging issues present in slip and fall cases, certain types of cases can be more difficult than others. Examples include cases where:

• Dangerous conditions exist only under certain circumstances. This includes hazards which are difficult to perceive, and which a reasonable person would not be expected to identify, such as a certain type of tile or walking surface that is safe until it is wet, at which point it becomes unreasonably slippery.
• Dangerous conditions are concealed. This includes dangerous conditions which no reasonable person would be expected to identify, such as a stairway that appears safe to most people, but in reality is dangerous due to improperly sized treads or risers, or an absence of handrails. In some cases, this may mean dangerous conditions which caused a slip and fall resulted from product defects or the negligence of a third party.
• Adjacent or abutting property: Though premises liability applies to a landowner’s property, it may also extend to adjacent or abutting property. While landowners are not obligated to maintain a public street or sidewalk abutting their property, they do have a duty to avoid creating an unsafe condition on the surrounding street or sidewalk (CACI 1007), such as a homeowner leaving tree limbs on a heavily used sidewalk in front their home after trimming.

Recover Compensation for Your Injuries

Backed by more than 40 years of experience in premises liability law, our Los Angeles slip and fall lawyers never shy away from a case. We have successfully taken on thousands of negligent property owners on behalf of our injured clients. Our work ethic, innovative thinking, and genuine dedication to our clients have won us the respect of our peers and clients, as well as acclaim from Super Lawyers®, the American Board of Trial Advocates, the American Association for Justice, among others.

Why wait to get started? Give our Brentwood slip and fall lawyers a call today at (310) 774-0078.