Slip and Fall

Under the personal injury laws in Kentucky, the owner of a store, office, or another type of business can be held liable for an injury from a fall due to the presence of a dangerous condition on the property including litter or debris on the floor. This liability is based on the duty of a business or landowner, including its agents and employees, in performing its duties, to exercise ordinary care for the safety of customer upon its premises.

If the evidence shows that the business failed its duty to exercise ordinary care and that such failure was the cause of the injury after you slipped and fell, then you might be able to recover damages for your injuries.

Attorney for Slip and Fall Cases in Kentucky

If you are a pedestrian and suffer a serious injury after a fall on another person's property because it was maintained in a negligent way, then contact an experienced personal injury attorney after a slip and fall accidents. Our premises liability attorneys in Northern Kentucky help clients seek damages for negligent maintenance of the property, failure to make the premises safe and/or provide warnings, and failure to properly train and/or supervise their employees working at the location.

Contact the attorneys at Steiden Law Offices to discuss your premises liability case and how much the case might be worth. We can talk with you about the facts of the case to determine whether there might be enough evidence to establishing a dangerous condition. If you were injured after you slipped and fell because of a slippery substance on the floor in a common area of a store, restaurant, or another type of business, then give us a call.

In these cases, it is important to complete an incident report to show why how the fall occurred and to identify the slippery substance that caused the fall. In a slip and fall case, the person that owns or maintains the premises will attempt to show the absence of negligence because the party who invited the injured customer to its business premises exercised reasonable care.

The attorneys at Steiden Law Offices can help you bring a personal injury action arising out of a claim of negligence after you suffer a slip and fall on another person's property or when your child was injured by an attractive nuisance. Call to discuss your case today.

Elements of a Slip and Fall Claim in Kentucky

In order to prevail in a negligence action for a slip and fall case in Northern Kentucky, a plaintiff must prove the existence of a duty, breach thereof, causation, and damages. Common law principles governing premises liability issues are applicable with respect to most slip and fall cases. The premises liability jurisprudence in Kentucky imposes duties upon those who own or occupy land because they are best situated to provide protections to those coming onto the premises.

In a slip and fall case alleging that a dangerous condition existed, the elements of the claim require proof of the following elements:

the person encountered a foreign substance or other dangerous condition on the business premises;
the encounter was a substantial factor in causing the accident and the customer's injuries; and
by reason of the presence of the substance or condition, the business premises were not in a reasonably safe condition for the use of business invitees.

This proof creates a rebuttable presumption sufficient to avoid a summary judgment or directed verdict, and shifts the burden of proving the absence of negligence. The premises owner that invited the injured customer onto the business premises will attempt to show that it exercised reasonable care. The business owner will often provide testimony about its policies and procedures for monitoring the floors and keeping patrons safe. Other evidence will show verbal training that employees were given.

Falls Caused by a Dangerous Condition

The initial burden in these cases is a showing that the slip and fall occurred due to the existence of a dangerous condition on the premises. In many of these cases, the plaintiff’s testimony is the main evidence that supports the finding that a dangerous condition existed. Other testimony can come from eye witnesses or surveillance tapes.

Slip and Fall on a Street or Sidewalk

Streets and sidewalks are established and maintained for the primary purpose of allowing the public to travel from one place to another. In most cases, the owners or occupants of premises adjoining a public street are under no common law duty to keep the sidewalk in good repair. One exception to this rule applies because of the common law duty that can be imposed on a landowner of an abutting public sidewalk where a defect is caused by the owner's affirmative conduct or negligence rising to the level of a nuisance.

Finding a Lawyer for a Slip and Fall Accident in Kentucky

Our personal injury attorneys can help you bring a product liability case against any person who owned, occupied, or possessed the property where you were seriously injured. After a serious injury, it is important to contact a personal injury attorney as soon as possible. The attorney can help you preserve evidence in the case so that the negligent parties can be held liable for your injuries.

Call our premises liability attorneys in Northern Kentucky at Steiden Law Offices. With offices conveniently located in Florence or Covington, we are here to help. Call today to discuss how much your case might be worth.

This article was last updated on Friday, October 6, 2017.