While slipping and falling may seem like an incident associated with the elderly, just about anyone can experience a slip and fall due to a property owner’s negligent action or inaction.
If this situation describes you or someone you care about, the Sarasota personal injury attorneys at Shapiro | Delgado | Hofmann wants to assure you that you may have recourse to bring a suit against that third party in a Florida court of law.
Interested in getting more information? Contact the trusted Sarasota slip and fall attorneys for your free, no-obligation slip and fall case review today.
Premises liability is the governing legal concept that concerns a property owner’s duty of care for invitees, licensees, and even trespassers on any given property. It is the broad category that cases such as slip and fall, dog bite, and even amusement park accidents fall under.
For an individual to be able to file and win a suit against a negligent property owner or occupier, there must be four elements present in the case:
In Florida, like many other states, the level of duty of care greatly depends on what type of business or activity you were participating in while on the property.
Let’s examine those levels of care more in-depth.
An invitee is defined by the Cornell Law School Legal Information Institute as “a person who enters land with the permission of the owner and does so either to confer an economic benefit on the possessor or is entering premises that are open to the general public.”
This means individuals who enter a property intending to do business with the organization or are freely available to enter. Examples of this type of premises would be grocery stores and hospitals.
In Florida, invitees are owed the highest duty of care. Suppose an invitee is unaware of a dangerous condition that causes them to fall. In that case, the property owner will likely be held responsible if said property owner knew about the condition or would have known if the owner inspected the property properly.
The second level of care is offered to licensees in Florida. Similar to invitees, licensees are on the property at the express or implied invitation of the property owner. But these two differ because licensees do not have a “mutually beneficial commercial relationship to the owner,” according to Cornell Law School Legal Information Institute.
An example of a licensee relationship is when an individual goes to a party at a friend’s house. In this example, the duty of care is less strict, meaning the individuals are only required to be warned about dangerous conditions (that could cause a slip and fall) that the property owners were aware of.
In some states, trespassers are not given any duty of care whatsoever, according to the Cornell Law School Legal Information Institute. Florida is not one of these states, however.
While the duty of care given to trespassers is the lowest, the Florida property owner or manager is still expected to exercise enough care to prevent injury from recklessness while on the property.
But, there are some exceptions to this lowest duty of care. Those are:
No matter what duty of care is owed to a Florida individual, everyone has the right not to slip and fall while someone else’s property.
Most Defendants will fight liability in Slip and Fall claims, meaning they will try to blame you. It is essential to preserve the evidence by sending spoliation letters. Spoliation letters force a Defendant to preserve things like accident reports, surveillance footage, and maintenance records after an accident. If they receive a letter and do not preserve the evidence, a Florida Court could rule that liability will be considered proven.
When a victim decides to bring a premises liability case, they have two years from the time they sought medical attention to do so. If the injuries stemmed from a slip and fall case result in the victim’s wrongful death, the estate executor has two years from the time of death to bring a case against the negligent property owner.
While the statute of limitations in Florida slip and fall cases seems generous, victims and their families should not wait to start legal proceedings.
Shapiro Delgado is great! I found them through reviews online. I reached out and they were able to provide the help I needed with my case. Adam was extremely punctual and easy to talk to which made the process less stressful for me. I was always updated and kept in the loop. Highly recommend!
– Jake H.
I’ve known Adam Shapiro for many years, and there isn’t anyone else in Florida that I’d trust with my case.
Adam and his team made the entire process easy, made me feel important and understood, and worked tirelessly to get us justice.
I highly recommend working with Shapiro | Delgado | Hofmann.
– Sam M.
The mistake I made was not calling David much sooner. His knowledge and skills proved to be so important in putting what was a very difficult period behind me. I really just can’t say enough great things about David and Shapiro | Delgado | Hofmann.
With millions in successful trial verdicts and settlements to our name, our track record says it all. In fact, In similar premises liability claims, we’ve gotten settlements and verdicts over $1,000,000.
That’s why you shouldn’t delay seeking legal recourse in your premises liability case. Get in touch with our team for your free, no-obligation slip and fall case review. In that consultation, we’ll discuss the four elements that make up a slip and fall case and determine if you have grounds to bring your case.
Talk to our Sarasota slip and fall attorneys today to get started working towards maximum compensation in your case. Call (941) 954-4000 or fill out our online form to schedule your free initial case review.
