Slip and Fall Lawyer: Understanding Premise Liability and More

Slip and Fall Lawyer

WHAT IS A SLIP AND FALL?

A slip and fall claim in Indiana can happen when someone is hurt on someone else’s property. If you are hurt on another’s property, then you may have a slip and fall lawyer claim. Property owners have several responsibilities. The main legal responsibility of a property owner is a legal term known as the “duty of care.” Property owners have a duty of care to make sure visitors of their property are safe.

Indiana law requires property owners to ensure their property is safe for visitors. The level of care that a property owner is required to give visitors depends on what type of visitor you are. In Indiana, there are three main types of visitors under slip and fall law, they are:

• Invitees: Invitees are visitors who are invited onto a property. A common example of an invitee would be someone visiting a property to conduct business of some kind. If you go to the supermarket to shop for groceries, then you would be an invitee under Indiana law. When the supermarket opened its doors that day for business, it “invited” everyone to enter and conduct business there.
• Long ago, the Indiana Supreme Court ruled that invitees get the highest level of care under slip and fall law in the case of Burrell v. Meads. The owner of the supermarket in this example has a legal duty of care to reasonably ensure that invitees are safe when they enter and use the property.

• Licensees: Licensees are visitors who enter a property with the owner’s implied consent. Implied consent is an unsaid permission to enter for a specific type of visitor. A common example of a licensee would be a utility company entering a property to check a gas meter.

If you have been hurt on another’s property and are owed a legal duty of care as one of the three types of visitors discussed above, then you could have a case to win a money judgment. If you have specific questions about your potential slip and fall case, then it is important to speak to an experienced slip and fall attorney who can help guide you.

THE ATTRACTIVE NUISANCE DOCTRINE EXPLAINED

Under Indiana law, there is an exception to the rule about trespassers when the trespasser is a child. Under the attractive nuisance doctrine, a property owner is required to reasonably ensure the safety of a child who might be attracted to something on the property that is inherently dangerous for a child to play with on their own. An attractive nuisance is defined as something that exists on a property that:

• Is potentially dangerous,
• Is attractive to children,,
• Is unlikely to be understood to be dangerous by a child,,
• Will likely attract children to the property, and,
• Injuries are foreseeable,

A common example that is often used as an attractive nuisance is a swimming pool. The Indiana Court of Appeals, however, declared that a swimming pool is not an attractive nuisance in City of Indianapolis v. Johnson because children are warned of drowning from an early age. Attractive nuisances in Indiana can include things like trampolines, or sharp objects in open yards.

WHAT TYPES OF SLIP AND FALL CASES ARE THERE?

There are many types of slip and fall cases in Indiana. You can file a slip and fall claim for several types of cases that happen in many locations and for different types of injuries. You may be entitled to money for:

• General premises liability
• Construction site injuries
• Grocery store injuries
• Hotel injuries
• Parking lot injuries
• School property injuries
• Casino injuries
• Bar injuries
• Restaurant injuries
• Sidewalk injuries
• Bank injuries
• Crosswalk injuries
• Private property injuries

You may also be able to file a negligence claim against a property owner if they don’t keep their property safe for visitors. You may be entitled to money if you were hurt because of:

• Icy ground (ICY INJURIES)
• Wet floor
• Broken pavement
• Uneven pavement
• Dangerous objects