Slip and fall accidents can cause serious and permanent injuries–even death. Slip and fall injuries occur when the injured person least expects an injury. It may be when the young woman is pushing her shopping cart through the store unaware that two seconds after her next step into the clear water on the concrete floor she will be on her back looking at the ceiling. It may be when the teenager is climbing stairs unaware that the next step has no support and will give way leaving him lying prone face down on the stairs, or a middle aged person who as he grabs a railing never expects the railing to just give way causing him to fall two stories.

Slip and fall injuries may result in concussions, traumatic brain injuries, broken bones, torn ligaments and other injuries. Although you expect and trust property owners to remove hazards and dangers and to keep their premises safe, if they or their employees are not careful and mindful of dangers, their customers, patrons, lawful visitors, or guests suffer injuries. Often injuries in a premises case are severe and life changing all because of the business or property owner’s negligence.

When experiencing significant injuries from a slip and fall, the type of duty owed by a business (or property) owner depends on the nature of the relationship between the business (or property) owner and the injured person. For Virginia slip and fall injuries, if the injured person was an invitee (customer), then the business (or property) owner owes a duty of reasonable care to fix known hazards or sufficiently warn the customer of the hazard until it can be removed. In North Carolina, if the injured person was a lawful visitor to the property, then the business or property owner owes a similar duty of care to the injured person. As a matter of proof, the injured person must prove that the business (or property) owner, or their employee/agent either created the hazard or knew that the hazard existed and failed to remove the hazardous condition, or failed to warn the injured person of the hazardous condition. An example would be knowing of a wet floor, but not placing wet floor sign(s) that would be seen by a reasonable person walking near the wet floor. Many slip and fall cases end up in litigation because the business’ employees will not admit that they screwed up. Some of this evidence may be discovered in Answers to Interrogatories and Production by a business or property owner defendant of material such as video surveillance, maintenance logs, and employee rosters leading to depositions under oath of employees.

If you have a serious injury from a slip and fall, you may have the legal right to pursue a slip and fall claim and lawsuit. The outcome of these types of cases hinges on numerous factors. For these reasons, it is critical to the success of your injury case that you hire a skilled and experienced lawyer who knows the relevant law! The attorneys of Slaughter & Lupton Law, PLLC are experts in Virginia and North Carolina slip and fall cases. With significant litigation experience representing numerous individuals injured on others' property, we possess the necessary skills and resources to effectively represent you and fight for the maximum recovery for you! Our commitment is to advocate for your rights and diligently work toward holding negligent property owners accountable.

Please don’t wait. Contact Slaughter & Lupton Law, PLLC right now for a free initial consultation and discover how we can aid you in your premises liability claim.