Slip and fall

Cases we handle

NORTH CAROLINA SLIP AND FALL LAW

In North Carolina, the law protects people who are injured on property owned by other people. The technical name for this area of North Carolina law “PREMISES LIABILITY,” and the most common type of cases that are brought under premises liability are “slip and fall” cases.

At their core, slip and fall cases are brought under the theory of NEGLIGENCE. Generally speaking, negligence is the idea in the law that when a person is injured by another person, the injured person is entitled to damages if the person who caused the injury failed to act as a reasonably prudent person. Since slip and fall cases are brought under the theory of negligence, many of the common defenses to negligence also come into play in slip and fall cases, such as contributory negligence.

Nevertheless, slip and fall cases often concern extremely serious injuries, such as: concussion and brain injuries, broken bones, joint tears (such as knee and shoulder tears), internal bleeding, and spinal injuries. Due to the severity of the injuries that can occur following a slip and fall case, it is critically important to seek proper medical treatment immediately following your injury. Also critically important following your injury is determining whether a liable party exists and the precise identity of the liable party.

Typically, the LIABLE PARTY in a slip and fall case is the owner of the premises. In North Carolina, property owners have a legal duty to ensure the safety of their property. Property owners can breach their legal duty to ensure the safety of their property several ways. For example, if the property owner made repairs to their property, but did so in an incorrect or insufficient way, then the property owner may have breached their legal duty. In addition, if a property owner failed to place adequate warnings about unsafe conditions, then the property owner may have breached their legal duty. Further, if a property owner knew, or even if the property owner should have known, about an unsafe condition, then that property owner may have breached their legal duty as a property owner.

ELEMENTS OF A SLIP AND FALL CASE

In more straightforward terms, the following elements must be shown in order to establish a slip and fall case:

The property owner had a legal duty to warn you of an unsafe or hazardous condition;
The property owner failed to warn you of the unsafe or hazardous condition;
The failure of the property owner to warn you of the unsafe or hazardous condition resulted in your being injured; and
Your damages are a result of your injury.

If you were injured on someone else’s property, and the property owner failed to uphold their duty as the owner of that land, then you are entitled to a wide array of damages. As a person injured on someone else’s property, you may be entitled to compensation for your medical bills, pain and suffering, lost wages, and even the decrease if your quality of life.

Common slip and fall cases include:

Missing or defective stairs
Uneven sidewalks, pavement, and walkways
Freshly waxed or washed floors
Poor or dim lighting
Slippery or slick floors
Loose or poorly placed door mats
Snow or ice
Standing water
Holes left exposed
Carpets or runs that are torn or ripped
Hazards without warning or caution signs

CONTRIBUTORY NEGLIGENCE

As mentioned earlier, slip and fall cases are subject to many of the same defenses that are commonly used in ordinary negligence cases. The most significant of these defenses is CONTRIBUTORY NEGLIGENCE. North Carolina is one of the few states in the country that has a pure contributory negligence defense, and it is a critical and powerful tool at the hands of defendants. The doctrine of contributory negligence states that, if the negligence of the person bringing the claim contributed at all (even 1%) to their injury, then that person is barred from bringing a claim. In other words, a plaintiff is completely barred from bringing a claim of negligence if the plaintiff’s negligence contributed to their injury.

WHAT HAPPENS NEXT?

After a slip and fall accident, you may be suffering from a serious and/or debilitating injury, and of course, that should be your first and primary focus. The first step following a slip and fall accident is to obtain medical assistance, whether that means calling 911 or getting transportation to the nearest hospital. Following your medical assistance, it will also be critical to obtain photographs of the scene of your injury. Photographs of the scene will help demonstrate to others precisely how you were injured, and how the property owner’s negligence contributed to your injury. In addition to photos, your attorney should talk to you about investigating the scene of the accident, interviewing witnesses or employees, reviewing incident reports and other records, and contacting engineering experts about any safety defects at your accident scene.