Our Claremore Slip and Fall Lawyers can help you if you’ve suffered a slip and fall. Have you or a loved one suffered injuries while on another person’s property? Contact our Slip and Fall Lawyers for a free consultation. Pursuant to Oklahoma’s premise liability laws, you may be able to obtain compensation for your injury by filing a personal injury lawsuit.
Legal Status of Guests in Slip and Fall Cases:
Property owners and residents must provide proper warning of known hazards to guests on their property. They must maintain a relatively safe environment when guest are on the premises. The following guests can file a lawsuit against a property owner for bodily damages arising from an injury based on premise liability:
- Invitee
Property owners and residents owe invited guests the highest level of care in ensuring the safety of the premises. An invitee is someone invited onto the property such as a retail store customer. It also includes individuals who come onto property at the express or implied invitation of the possessor to conduct some type of business transaction within the scope of the invitation.
If the danger is obvious to the invitee, the possessor does not need to provide a warning, unless it is a foreseeable dangerous condition. The possessor of the property must inspect the premises to make it safe for the invitee. Thus, if the possessor knows of dangers, he/she must tell the invitee. The invitee can then decide to stay or leave.
- Licensee
A licensee refers to a person invited onto a person’s property/residence for any purpose other than conducting a business transaction. The law generally considers social guests to be licensees. A possessor of land will be held liable for an licensee’s bodily injury if he/she knows about a dangerous condition on his/her property, or should have known, and fails to exercise reasonable care to make the condition safe, or warn the licensee of the condition. The licensee, however, must not know of the dangerous condition in order to file a claim for damages.
Injury to a Trespasser:
A trespasser is someone who enters the property of another without their express permission or without a legal reason to be there. A property owner must avoid willful or wanton misconduct that might cause harm to the trespasser. Further, a landowner aware of a trespasser’s presence, must warn him/her of any known dangers.
Who is Responsible in a Slip and Fall Case:
A guest must prove the following elements in order to sue the possessor of land for damages arising from an injury incurred while on their property:
- Possessors of land must owe the property owner a duty of care;
- The land owner must breach his/her duty of care;
- The possessor of land actions must be the actual and proximate cause of the guest’s bodily injury.
- The guest must incur some type of bodily injury as a result of the possessor’s of land action, or lack thereof.
Depending on where the injury occurres, multiple parties may be liable. There are certain legal requirements that must be met if the injury occurred on a government facility. Contact our attorneys for more information.
Common Types of Premise Liability Accidents:
Slip and Fall accidents are typically caused by the following dangerous conditions:
- Uneven surface
- Dark and broken stairs
- Inadequate lighting
- Wet or slippery floors
- Malfunctioning elevator
- Negligent security to prevent criminal activity
Example 1: Drew the mail carrier walked onto Beth’s property in Oklahoma to deliver a package. Drew slips and falls over a crack in the pathway leading up to the doorway. Drew can file a premise liability claim against Beth for bodily damages.
Example 2: Drew invites Beth over for a swim in his pool. Beth attempts to dive off of the diving board. Unbeknownst to Beth, the diving board is broken and she slips and falls causing damage to her spine. Beth can file a civil claim against Drew for bodily damages.
Hire Our Claremore Slip and Fall Lawyers:
If you or a loved one has been injured on the property of another, contact our Claremore slip and fall lawyers for a consultation. We can provide you with legal guidance on how to best proceed in order to obtain compensation for your personal injury accident. Contact Claremore Attorneys Law Office today or read our attorneys blog for more information.
