Slip,Trip & Fall Lawyer in Manhattan

Slip and Fall

Slip and Fall Accidents are accidents in which a person’s physical body falls on someone else’s property due to the negligence or deliberate wrongdoing of another person. Because these accidents take place on someone else’s property, the property owner is typically responsible for the subsequent injuries – though sometimes that is not the case.   

Causes of Slip and Falls  

There are a multitude of different conditions and reasons why a slip and fall can take place, including:

• Storefront Spills – When within a commercial storefront, the person who entered is considered an invitee whose safety must be maintained by the store owner. If there is a spill left unclean on the floor—or any hazardous obstacle left uncleared—this can lead to injury. If the invitee injures himself or herself in the commercial storefront, the store owner can be held liable for any damages sustained.
• Ice and Snow – During the winter, New York State imposes a duty of care for both homeowners and commercial spaces to ensure sidewalks, streets, and other pedestrian traffic paths are kept clear of any weather hazards such as snow and ice. The failure to fulfill this legal duty can amount to a claim of negligence.
• Unsafe Building Maintenance – whether residential or commercial – If any building—commercial storefront or public institution—falls into disrepair, it can lead to unsafe conditions for any pedestrian, which can lead to injuries. Store owners and public building stewards must maintain a duty of care to ensure any hazardous obstacles are clear and maintained to prevent possible injuries. Should an injury result from untreated disrepair, the injured person may be entitled to relief.
• Fallen Items – This type of fall is very common in department stores because there are items on shelves, in the aisles, and on fixtures in the middle of the floor. These items can create obstacles that are very easy for patrons to trip over.
• Sidewalk Ruptures – this type of fall is also very common in outdoor settings where there are holes and cracks in sidewalks or parking lots that can quickly cause someone to trip and fall.
• Strewn Materials – this type of fall is also very common on/around construction sites, where one can lose one’s footing over unsecured wiring or other objects, improper maintenance and or construction of stairs, platforms, and walkways, failure to clean debris, loose tiling or flooring, and missing and damaged handrails – amongst others.  

Proving Liability

In order to prove that a slip and fall accident was someone else’s fault since it happened on their property, the injured individual must prove that what caused their injury was the dangerous conditions themselves. Such conditions must have presented an unreasonable risk and should not have been anticipated by the injured individual upon entering that property. At the heart of proving who is at fault is negligence – and proving that the owner or possessor is indeed liable because they neglected to fix the condition(s) that created danger.   

Distinctions With Property Types  

There is, of course, a distinction between residential/commercial properties and government properties. For residential and commercial properties, landlords, tenants, and third parties can all be held liable if a tenant is injured due to negligent conditions. For government properties, however, the rules and processes will differ based on whether the property is owned by a local, state, or federal government entity. 

Trip and Fall

A trip and fall accident happens when a person trips over an object on the floor and cannot bring their other leg forward fast enough to prevent the fall. Examples of trip and fall scenarios include (but not limited to):

• Unsuitable floor coverings
• Getting a foot caught on an object
• Uneven or damaged floor surfaces
• Tripping over the elevation between the street and the sidewalk

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