Slip and fall accidents can happen when you least expect them. You could be walking in the grocery store, minding your own business, and suddenly lose your footing, leaving you on the ground confused and with a painful injury. Slip and falls can result from a variety of hazards, such as liquid spills, uneven walkways, and other poorly maintained areas of a property, but they can almost always be prevented with a bit of forethought and proactive action.
Property owners and landlords are legally required to provide safe and passable premises for any patrons in the area. For example, if the owner of an apartment complex notices that the walkway from the building to the parking lot is starting to break apart and decay, they must take proactive action to fix the walkway before it becomes dangerous to anyone traversing the area. Any property owner that fails to do so is breaching their legal “duty of care,” which means their responsibility to care for the patrons who maneuver through their property.
Property owners’ duty of care isn’t limited to the small business shops you find in your local community; The sentiment also applies to major retailers, like Lowe's, Home Depot, and Walmart. You would think that these major retailers would utilize their extensive resources to ensure that their property is as safe as possible, but this is often not the case. Even major retailers can act negligently and expose their customers to a risk of injury, and it’s more common than you’d think.
A property owner that breaches their duty of care and neglects to repair a hazardous area on their property is liable for any damage caused by the hazard. If you find yourself injured in a slip and fall accident resulting from third-party negligence, you might be able to file a lawsuit against the at-fault party, but this comes with a degree of difficulty. You’ll have to prove that the at-fault party acted negligently leading up to your accident, and you’ll also have to display that the at-fault party failed to respond to the hazard within a “reasonable amount of time.” The latter provision is often the most difficult to prove, as the “reasonable” measurement is vague and will vary from case to case.
There’s a lot that goes into a successful slip and fall case, so why gamble with the results? Lowe's and other major retailers will almost always untether their expensive legal team to fight against your case, but teaming up with an experienced law firm can allow you to sidestep their tactics. At Morgan & Morgan, we have a proven track record of recovering the fullest extent of our client’s rightful compensation against major retailers. If you were injured in a slip and fall at Lowe's, trust America’s largest personal injury firm to advocate for your rights—Morgan & Morgan.
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