Premises Liability, including Falls and
Fractures

When someone is injured from a slip and fall or a trip and fall, the business or person who owns or runs the location where the fall took place may be liable if it can be proved that their negligence led to the injury. Whether you sustained fractures or other injuries from a slip and fall or a trip and fall, our firm will aggressively pursue the maximum compensation provided by law.

Slips and falls due to dangerous situations occur with great frequency. Often it may be due to a substance that has been left on a floor or a condition that causes the ground to be dangerously slippery. Sometimes there is an uneven surface or a hidden danger that cannot be perceived by someone until they fall. The law requires that premises be reasonably maintained and that people are entitled to be warned of known hazards. It is up to the trial lawyer to investigate whether there was a defect or known hazard and, if so, to prove it in court.

Retail liability occurs when a shopper is injured because of a dangerous condition in a store. The proliferation of “big box” stores has added to the risks that shoppers face. Now they are not only dealing with whatever risks a traditional store offers, but now they are essentially inside a working “warehouse.” It is not unusual to see forklifts and pallets loaded with merchandise being moved back and forth or up to high levels while shoppers walk through the store. This increases the chances for injuries in an already dangerous environment.

Mr. Leighton recently represented a 62 year old woman who attempted to retrieve a package of toilet paper from an overhead pallet at a warehouse store, Costco. The entire shrink wrapped pallet fell on her from above her head, causing a displaced and comminuted fracture of her leg. The defendant store defended by saying that this was not merchandise intended for sale (it claimed it was overstock). Mr. Leighton took the case to trial and proved that Costco knew its customers opened shrink wrapped pallets and did nothing to warn them or prevent customer access. Mr. Leighton used an expert and an accident reconstruction to demonstrate to the jury how the incident occurred and the reasonableness of the plaintiff. The jury returned a verdict of $1,007,000, which was more than ten times the offer before trial.

One of Mr. Leighton’s skills is in maximizing his client’s recovery for slip and fall injuries. In one case, he represented a woman who slipped and fell while walking out of a Wendy’s restaurant. She had slipped on a grease slick that was in front of the walkway up to the restaurant. The restaurant denied any responsibility. At trial, Mr. Leighton proved that the restaurant had a practice of carrying out its used grease from its fryers to the back of the restaurant along this path. Expert chemical analysis demonstrated that the grease on which our client slipped was the same as that which is used in the Wendy’s fryers. Mr. Leighton won a jury verdict in excess of $200,000.

In Marin v. Florida Supermarkets, Mr. Leighton obtained a verdict of $200,000 for a young woman who injured her back after slipping and falling on water inside a supermarket. The water was from damaged bottled water that sat on the store shelves, but which did not received appropriate attention once they began to leak.