A slip and fall is a type of premises liability accident where due to some hazard, a person slipped and fell on the property of another. Due to premises liability laws, that person can sue the owner of the property where the accident occurred, contingent on your ability to prove that the property owner is liable. This includes a few key aspects to prove: a duty of care, the breach of that duty of care, your damages were directly caused by this breach, and they are the sole or main contributing factor to your damages.
First, you must be able to prove that a duty of care existed between you and the property owner. There are three types of entrants: invitees who are invited on the property for the owner’s benefit, licensees who are permitted there for their own benefit, and trespassers who generally have no rights when entering another’s property. In Illinois, if you were an invitee or licensee on the property, you must prove so since that shows that you were owed a high duty of care. This means ensuring the invitee’s or licensee’s safety and providing a safe environment.
Second, you must prove that that duty of care was breached. Essentially, this means that the property owner was negligent. To prove negligence, you must prove that they did not act in a reasonable manner given the situation that you were in. This includes asking questions such as: was the hazard there for a reasonable amount of time that it should have been removed? Is there a policy for removing hazards or a reasonable time period that it should be removed? If a spilled drink in a coffee shop remained on the floor for one hour, that would likely be considered an unreasonable amount of time. It should be clear that the owner knew or should have known of the hazard and did nothing to remedy the situation when a reasonable person would have. Once you can establish that they acted negligently, you have a much stronger case.
Lastly, you must prove that the breach of duty inflicted injury and made you suffer actual damages. This can be proven by taking other factors of the situation into account. You should be able to prove things such as you rightfully being where you were at the time of the accident, that you acted reasonably and could not have reasonably foreseen the risk, and more. It should be clear that this would not have occurred had the hazard left by the owner not been there. To prove your injuries and damages to the court, you can show documents such as medical records, medical bills, pay stubs to prove your lost wages from being kept out of work, prescriptions by a doctor for a physical or mental condition that began after the accident, even just personal testimony, and many more.
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