Orlando slip and fall attorney

Florida slip-and-fall injury lawsuits are among the trickiest in which to prevail, thanks to a high proof burden standard in this (and many other states) requiring evidence the business had actual or constructive notice of the dangerous condition that caused the plaintiff to slip.

This is not to say they aren’t worth pursuing. Many slip-and-fall claims in Florida are actionable, and it’s especially important in cases where serious injury resulted to at least explore the viability of a claim. That’s because these incidents can result in serious and lasting injuries, depending on the floor material, how hard the person fell, at what angle they fell and how fragile their body was to begin with. Some of the most common injuries we see in Orlando grocery store slip-and-fall cases include: Head injuries (including traumatic brain injuries), hip fractures, back and spinal cord injuries, shoulder injuries, sprains and fractures (particularly of wrists and ankles).

However, in contested claims (where the insurer refuses to make a payment), before a court can consider the severity of your injuries and what you might be owed, there first must be a decision about whether the defendant business owner/ manager is negligent. Having an experienced injury lawyer on your case as soon as possible is imperative because certain critical evidence – which you might not even realize is important – could be lost forever if it’s not promptly preserved. For example, if you don’t know what you slipped on or how long it was there, you will have a very tough time prevailing in a slip-and-fall case. But it’s possible certain evidence – such as security surveillance footage – may offer key information that can help answer these questions – and save your case. However, if your attorney doesn’t request that it be preserved, it might be deleted by the store (common practice for many businesses with such cameras). Continue reading →

A recent Florida slip-and-fall lawsuit ended in disappointment for the plaintiff after the Third District Court of Appeal affirmed summary judgment for defendant Costco on grounds the element of actual or constructive knowledge had not been established.

Florida is somewhat unique in this requirement, since the legislature in 2010 introduced F.S. 768.0755. Generally, dangerous conditions on a property subject the owner/ controller of that property to premises liability claims if someone is hurt on site. Plaintiffs in all cases need to show negligence, which involves proof that defendant owed a duty of care to plaintiff, defendant breached that duty, the breach caused plaintiff’s injury and plaintiff’s injury resulted in monetary damages. Slip-and-fall lawsuits are a unique subcategory of premises liability claims in that they require evidence the property owner either knew about the dangerous condition or should have known about it and failed to act on it.

To prove actual knowledge, plaintiff must show defendant either created the condition or was expressly made aware of it. Most slip-and-fall lawsuits in Florida, however, are proven with evidence of constructive knowledge. This can be shown in one of two ways, per the statute: The condition existed for a long enough period of time that property owner should have discovered in the exercise of ordinary care or secondly that the condition occurred with regularity and was thus foreseeable. This provision applies only to cases that involve a business establishment wherein an invitee slipped and fell on a “transitory foreign substance,” meaning something that isn’t supposed to be present on the floor and the invitee wouldn’t expect to encounter it. Continue reading →

Articles Tagged with Orlando slip and fall attorney

Slip-and-Fall Injury Lawsuit Fails for Lack of Notice Proof

Florida Slip-and-Fall Lawsuits Require Proof of Actual or Constructive Knowledge