March 24, 2020 Slip, Trip, or Fall Chris Stolmeier

San Antonio Slip and Fall Lawyers

If you suffer injuries from a Slip and Fall on another person’s property you may be concerned about whether or not you have a legal claim against the property owner. If you have this concern, you should immediately contact an experienced San Antonio Slip and Fall lawyer, such as Stolmeier Law. Stolmeier Law can quickly evaluate your situation and provide you the best advice to strengthen your legal claim.

If you are unable to immediately contact Stolmeier Law for advice, we have created a thorough list of tips on what to do after you suffer a Slip and Fall. Slip and Falls are unexpected. So knowing these tips prior to ever suffering a Slip and Fall will provide you the best ability to care for yourself and collect evidence of your Slip and Fall. While it is not a deal breaker for your legal claim to not exercise these tips after you suffer a Slip and Fall, it becomes more difficult to prove your Slip and Fall claim. The more evidence of your Slip and Fall the better.

Now, if you do or do not follow these tips and collect this evidence, you may still be concerned about whether you have any legal claim against a property owner. This article will explain the elements you need to prove in a Slip and Fall against a property owner. Every element needs to be proven, and some elements are easier to prove than others. 

Compare your experiences with the elements that need to be proven below.

Duty

If you have suffered injuries as a result of a Slip and Fall on someone else’s property, you must show the property owner owed you a duty of care. The duty of care a property owner owes to you depends on what type of visitor you are. I will briefly describe the different types of visitor the law considers, but this link provides are more thorough explanation of what type of premise visitor you are.

Types of premises visitors:

• • InviteeAn invitee is the most classic premises visitor. An invitee is a person who is invited onto the property owner’s land as a member of the public or a person who enters the property owner’s land for the purpose of conducting business with the property owner. An example of an invitee is a person who enters a grocery store to shop. The property owner owes the invitee a reasonable duty of care. This means the property owner must act with the same reasonable care as any other property owner would act to remedy a hazardous.
• • LicenseeA licensee is another classification for a premises visitor. A licensee is a person who the property owner gives permission to enter onto the land, but does not give permission to the general public to enter the land. A property owner owes a lesser duty to licensees than to invitees. A property owner owes a duty to licensees to warn of known latent (hidden or concealed) dangers.
• • TrespasserA trespasser is the last classification of a premises visitor, but is realistically an intruder. Trespassers are people who enter another’s property without the property owner’s permission. A trespasser is owed no duty, except for some limited exceptions. These exceptions include such when a property owner discovers or knows about a trespasser.

If you fit into one of the three categories above, then great, we are on our way to determining if you have a Slip and Fall claim.

Breach of Duty

Next you have to show the property owner breached a duty to you. The property owner’s breach of duty depends on your specific facts. As mentioned above, a property owner owes a different duty to invitees, licensees, and trespassers. The most common breach of duty occurs in premises negligence, other breaches occur with negligent activity, and negligent undertaking. The following are the ways property owners can negligently breach their duty:

• • The property owner or employees created a dangerous condition that caused your Slip and Fall. For example, the property owner or employee created a spill that caused your Slip and Fall.
  • The property owner or employees knew about dangerous condition and did not take action to remedy the dangerous condition. For example, the property owner or employees tripped over a defective entrance mat, thus having knowledge about a dangerous condition, and failed to make the mat safe.
  • The property owner or employees should have known about a dangerous condition and did not take action to remedy the dangerous condition. For example, a spill occurs in a highly trafficked area or is present for a long enough time that the property owner or employees should have known about it, and failed to remedy the dangerous condition.

Causation

The property owner or employees breached their duty to care to you, and that breach proximately caused your injuries. Essentially, if the breach of duty sufficiently leads to your injuries, then the property owner or employees caused your injury.

Damages

Your injuries must result in compensable damages. If you cannot prove any monetary damages as a result of your Slip and Fall, then you cannot hold the property owner responsible.

If all four of these elements can be proven then may have a claim against the property owner for your Slip and Fall.

Contact Stolmeier Law, San Antonio Slip and Fall Lawyers

We are San Antonio Slip and Fall lawyers. Stolmeier Law has served Slip and Fall victims for over 35 years in San Antonio and South Texas. We know the tricks insurance companies use to pay your nothing or pay you pennies on the dollar. Stolmeier Law is dedicated to getting you the most compensation possible for your Slip and Fall injuries. So if you or a loved you has been seriously injured from a Slip and Fall on another person’s property you should contact Stolmeier Law, San Antonio Slip and Fall lawyers. Slip and Fall? Call Stolmeier Law.