San Diego Slip and Fall Accident Lawyer

What is "Premises Liability?"

Every year, millions of Americans are injured in accidents where they slip or trip, and fall.
Of these millions of accident victims, over 14,000 die as a result of their injuries, and several hundred thousand suffer permanent disability. In many cases, these accidents could have been prevented if the owner/occupier of the premises had used reasonable care. Over seventy percent of these accidents are the result of a dangerous condition on the premises which causes or contributes to the accident. These dangerous conditions, and the accidents and injuries which result, are caused by the failure of the landowner or occupier to perform reasonable maintenance of the premises. Where the owner or occupier is found to
be negligent, they are responsible for the injuries which result.

California has adopted the comparative fault doctrine, which means slip and fall victims can be compensated even though they are partly at fault for the accident. In California, the success rate at trial for plaintiffs in slip and fall cases has increased from less than 40 percent to over 60 percent since the adoption of the comparative fault doctrine. The success rate for settling slip and fall cases without trial is much higher.

Among personal injury lawyers, slip and fall cases are considered the hardest to win. For this reason, many personal injury lawyers do not accept slip and fall cases, and these cases tend to be undervalued by defendants. For a slip and fall plaintiff to be fairly compensated, their attorney must be familiar with the special requirements to prove a slip and fall case, and must adequately prepare the case.

There are often no witnesses to the plaintiff's fall; there is often no evidence available to prove hazards existed on the walkway surface prior to the accident. In addition to proving the hazard existed, plaintiff must prove the owner or occupier of the premises knew or should have known about the hazard, and failed to warn plaintiff. Obtaining evidence to prove this critical issue of notice often requires the filing of a lawsuit. Under these circumstances, the plaintiff is best served by a skilled lawyer familiar with the rules of discovery that specifically apply to premises liability cases.

While most cases eventually settle before trial, preparation for trial is the key to obtaining the maximum settlement. At the Law Offices of Howard Alan Kitay, every case is prepared for trial; as a result, most of Mr. Kitay's clients obtain the best possible settlement without ever going to trial.