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Arizona Slip and Fall Lawyers

Each year, tens of thousands of Americans get injured on private properties as a result of slip and fall accidents and trip and fall accidents. If you've been the victim of a slip and fall or trip and fall, and you believe a third party or somebody else is responsible for the fall and the injury you suffered, it's critical to secure assistance from an experienced law firm.

Here are some topics to consider when weighing whether to pursue a slip and fall claim:

Is someone else - a company, another person, or another entity - responsible for the fall?

If a property owner, employee, or other party created dangerous or slippery conditions, under some circumstances the law holds the negligent party responsible and there may be a legal case worth pursuing. Likewise, if an employee, owner, or other responsible person or party knew of unreasonably dangerous or hazardous on-property conditions but did nothing to remedy them, legal responsibility may be assessed. Also, if an employee, owner, or other person or party did not use "reasonable care" to locate, remove, or reduce a hazard, liability may be assessed in an Arizona slip and fall or Arizona trip and fall case. Under Arizona law, this standard as discussed under the terminology of whether the owner or possessor of the property where the slip and fall or trip and fall occurred "knew or should have known" about the condition that caused the injury. However, Arizona judges and juries vary widely on what they consider to be an unreasonably dangerous condition and whether the company or person knew or should have known about the dangerous condition. As a result, one case will not always lead to the same conclusion with all judges and juries.

Did Your Own Carelessness Contribute To the Slip and Fall? If So, How Much?

In Arizona, comparative fault principles - "comparative fault" - applies to the person who was injured in a slip and fall or trip and fall incident. If the person who was hurt was hurt because of their own carelessness or negligence - such as by ignoring warnings, walking around intoxicated or on medications that affected the ability to take reasonable precautions, or where the injured person was otherwise distracted -- the fault may well lie with the person that was injured. Not every trip and fall or slip and fall injury in Arizona was caused by the negligence of someone else. In many cases, when someone falls it may be their own error or failure to pay proper attention that caused the incident. On the other hand, sometimes someone knows of a dangerous condition that is likely to hurt someone and not be noticed, and that property owner does nothing about the condition.

Different Tiers of Claimants

According to Arizona law, slip and fall plaintiffs can be broadly categorized into invitees, trespassers, and licensees. Invitees are individuals who are asked on to a given property for commerce/business. An employee or an applicant for a position might be considered an invitee, for instance. More commonly, business invitees are customers at a store or business who are injured while shopping or otherwise visiting the business. Licensees are social visitors to properties, such as a friend or family member invited over to a home, not knowing that a dangerous condition exists on the property. Trespassers are unauthorized visitors, such as someone who comes onto property without permission.

Not surprisingly, the legal standard for an Arizona slip and fall case or trip and fall case varies widely depending upon the status. For someone who has no right to be on the property, it is very difficult (as it should be in most such cases) to win under Arizona law. This is not only a legal issue, but it is a factual one - Arizona residents and juries are not going to be sympathetic to a trespasser who was hurt in most cases. On the other end, the person who is shopping and suffers and injury due to a fall because of something the store owner failed to warn about or correct is more likely to be deserving of compensation under the law.

An invitee or licensee who slips on a wet floor that was mopped but where no sign was put up, for instance, may have a case, while a trespasser who slips on the same wet floor may not.

To learn more about your rights and responsibilities under Arizona slip and fall law or trip and fall law, contact the expert legal team here at Breyer Law Office, P.C. We've been battle-tested for over 12 years, and we can offer you a free, confidential assessment of your case.