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Our LocationsA slip and fall accident can happen any time of year and result in very serious injuries.
If you tried to catch yourself, you may be dealing with a broken arm or shattered wrist. Falling on your side or back can break your hip or tailbone. These injuries can lead to significant medical expenses and time off work. As a result, you owe medical providers money while earning less.
You may be able to recover compensation if another party is responsible for the fall.
If you slipped in a parking lot, there are a number of questions to ask about who is to blame and whether you can be compensated. This includes what led to your slip and whether you were working at the time.
To learn more about discovering who is liable for your slip and fall accident, contact the personal injury attorneys of Kisling, Nestico & Redick at 1-800-HURT-NOW. Initial consultations are free and there are no up-front costs. We only get paid when you recover compensation.
After a slip and fall, the first thing your attorney will look into is who was responsible for the condition of the parking lot. Was the parking lot public property, maintained by the county or city? Or was the lot owned, managed, and maintained by a private individual or business?
Generally, the liable party is the one responsible for maintaining the parking lot. A majority of parking lots are privately owned, which means dealing with a business and its insurance provider. Identifying the right party early matters, because more than one company may share responsibility for the same lot.
The owner of the property where you fell is often the first party to consider. A landlord, shopping center owner, or individual business owner who owns the lot has a legal responsibility to keep it reasonably safe. If the owner ignored a known hazard or failed to inspect the lot, they may be liable for your injuries.
Many large lots are run by a property management company rather than the owner. When a manager is hired to maintain the premises, handle repairs, and respond to complaints, that company can be held responsible for hazards it should have addressed. Leases and management contracts often spell out who controls maintenance.
Property owners frequently hire outside contractors to plow snow, salt walkways, and clear ice. If a contractor did the work poorly or skipped it entirely, that company may share liability for a fall on ice or snow. Sorting out these contracts is one reason it helps to have a lawyer investigate your claim.
Why you fell is also relevant. If you slipped because of clumsiness or ill-fitting footwear, you may be fully or partially at fault for your injuries, and you cannot hold anyone else accountable. More often, though, people slip because of a hazard in the parking lot that the property owner should have fixed.
Common parking lot hazards include:
If a hazard in the parking lot led to your slip and fall, your attorney will look into whether the individual or business responsible for the lot should have known about the condition and whether they had a duty to repair it.
Ohio winters bring snow, freezing rain, and black ice, and parking lots are some of the most dangerous places during the cold months. Owners are generally expected to clear accumulation and treat icy areas within a reasonable time. A lot that is left untreated for hours after a storm, or that refreezes because of poor drainage, can support a claim.
Worn asphalt, deep potholes, and crumbling curbs cause many parking lot falls in every season. These defects develop slowly, which means an owner who inspects the property has time to notice and repair them. When a long-standing pothole or broken curb causes your fall, that history can help prove the owner was negligent.
Burned-out fixtures and dim corners make it hard to see standing water, curbs, and uneven pavement. Poor lighting can turn a minor hazard into a serious fall, particularly at night or in covered garages. An owner who fails to maintain working lights may be responsible when darkness hides a danger you could not reasonably avoid.
Spilled oil, scattered trash, fallen merchandise, and stray shopping carts also cause falls. These hazards can appear quickly, so liability often depends on how long the danger was present and whether staff had a chance to clean it up. Photographs taken right after your fall can show exactly what was on the ground.
What you do in the minutes and days after a fall can protect both your health and your claim. Hazards get cleaned up and memories fade, so acting quickly matters.
Keep copies of your medical records and any receipts tied to the injury. The more documentation you have, the easier it is to show what happened and what it cost you.
Not sure whether you have a claim? Call KNR at 1-800-HURT-NOW for a free, no-risk review of your parking lot slip and fall.
A fall on hard pavement can cause lasting harm, and the costs add up fast. Some of the most common injuries from parking lot falls include:
Once your lawyer identifies who was responsible for the parking lot and what led to your slip and fall, the next question is whether that party had a duty to correct the issue.
Under Ohio premises liability law, owners and occupiers owe lawful guests and customers a duty of reasonable care regarding the condition of the premises. This means keeping the property safe and well-maintained for you and everyone else who uses it.
Whether a parking lot owner owed you a duty of care, and whether it breached that duty, are major legal questions, and your claim may rest on the answers. An experienced Ohio slip and fall lawyer can help you show an insurer or court that the owner did not uphold its duty and should be held responsible for your injuries.
Ohio follows a modified comparative negligence standard. In short, you may only recover damages if you are less than 50 percent at fault. If you are 50 percent or more responsible for your slip and fall, the owner of the lot will not have to compensate you for any of your injuries.
If you are 49 percent or less responsible, your recovery is reduced by your share of fault. For example, if you are 10 percent responsible, your compensation is reduced by 10 percent. You recover 100 percent of your damages only if you are in no way to blame.
Insurers often argue that you share blame so they can lower what they pay. They may claim you were looking at your phone, wearing inappropriate shoes, walking in an area that was clearly closed off, or ignoring a hazard you could plainly see. Each of these arguments, if accepted, can raise your percentage of fault and shrink your recovery. A lawyer can push back on exaggerated blame and present the facts that show the owner, not you, created the danger.
Your attorney will handle the situation differently if you were on the job when you fell.
When you are injured at work or while performing job duties, your recovery usually comes through Ohio’s workers’ compensation system. You must notify your employer of your injury right away and file a claim with your employer’s workers’ compensation insurance.
This insurance should cover your medical expenses and a portion of your lost wages. Unless a rare exception applies, you cannot sue your employer. However, if a third party caused your injuries while you were working, you may be able to bring a separate claim against that individual or business. A work injury in a parking lot can involve both a workers’ compensation claim and a third-party claim at the same time.
The party responsible for maintaining the lot is usually liable, which may be the property owner, a management company, or a snow and ice removal contractor. Liability depends on whether they knew or should have known about the ice and failed to treat it within a reasonable time. More than one party can share responsibility for the same fall.
Ohio law does not set an exact deadline. Owners must address hazards within a reasonable time after they knew or should have known about them. A pothole that existed for weeks is treated very differently from a spill that happened seconds before your fall. What is reasonable depends on the type of hazard and the circumstances.
Possibly. A warning sign does not automatically clear the owner of responsibility. The question is whether the warning was adequate and whether the owner did enough to keep you safe. If the sign was hidden, knocked over, or the hazard was worse than the warning suggested, you may still have a claim, though the sign can affect how fault is divided.
You may be able to recover medical expenses, lost wages, reduced earning capacity, and compensation for pain and suffering. The value depends on the severity of your injuries, your treatment, and how the fall affects your daily life. An attorney can review your costs and explain what your claim may be worth.
Yes. Report the fall to the manager or owner as soon as possible and ask for a written incident report. Prompt reporting creates a record of what happened and when, which makes it harder for an insurer to deny that the fall took place. Take photos and gather witness information before you leave if you can.
Pursuing damages for a slip and fall can become complicated fast. One fall can raise many legal questions, and blame is passed around quickly, so it helps to get answers and know what to expect.
A capable Ohio slip and fall lawyer can help you recover through an insurance settlement or workers’ compensation. If that is not likely, the Ohio injury lawyers of Kisling, Nestico & Redick will aggressively fight for you in court. You can also review our Ohio personal injury resources to learn more about the claims process.
Call KNR today at 1-800-HURT-NOW or contact us online to schedule a free, no-risk consultation.
