Friday, June 22, 2007

Mall Falls

The general concept of Personal Injury or Tort Law regarding premise liability is that the owner of the property is legally liable for the safety of the property. If you are injured as a result of the dangerous condition present in the property, you may be entitled to claim damages against the owner of said property.

However, there are said to be varying degrees of liability when it comes to safety of the owned property. As a general rule, an owner of a commercial establishment has a much higher liability for injuries caused on the commercial property as opposed to injuries sustained as a cause of private property.

Hence, if you are walking on a commercial establishment like target and you slipped and fell on the floor due to a wet substance left lying there for a long time, the owner of target is liable for your injuries. However, if you are at a friend’s house and you tripped and fall on a piece of furniture haphazardly placed in the middle of the living room or tripped on a toy left on the steps of the house, you may not be able to claim damages against your friend.

The most common case where premise liability can be considered is slip and fall accidents in malls . A lot of patrons or customers sustained injuries as a result of slips and falls due to wet or slippery floor caused by unattended puddle of water or slippery substances which are not promptly addressed by the maintenance of the commercial establishments.