Slip and Fall Law

Slip and Fall Law

SLIP AND FALL LAW IN SAN FRANCISCO, CA

Slip and Falls at a business or residence in San Francisco or San Pablo, CA are among the easiest cases for a victim to inadvertently torpedo. To attach liability to the owner or possessor of the property, it must be shown that they did not use reasonable care to perform inspections to discover, remedy, and/or warn of dangerous conditions.

Victims sometime assume facts they do not know, offer assumptions as fact, and end up hurting their case. For example, since a property owner or possessor is only required to make reasonable inspections, a victim stating that the tomato he or she fell on "must have just fallen a few seconds ago from the person right in front of me" will help the store defend against a claim. The store will say "we could not have inspected, remedied and/or warned of the tomato because it just happened according to victim." The reality is that the victim does not really know and maybe the store inspection logs show that inspections have not been done in hours. Do not expect the store video surveillance to save you, as I have found that somehow they are always deleted even though an incident report was filed that day.

HOW CAN YOU AVOID HURTING YOUR SLIP AND FALL CASE?

  • Do not offer additional information about how the item, water, etc. found itself on the floor or how long it had been there.
  • Simply state to the management what happened.
  • Fill out and get copies of the report.
  • Get witness names and contact information. (This includes the names of all employees, managers, and customers in the vicinity.)
  • Obtain any necessary medical treatment.
  • Contact me immediately before their insurance adjuster tries to lowball you and get you to take a ridiculous settlement. You may find out months later that you have ligament or tendon tears requiring surgery, but be out of luck because the adjuster got you to settle.


 

 

I know how to handle landowners and tenants who place their profit above safety. Contact Law Office of Nikolaus W. Reed online or call me today and we will get it done.