The Fine Line Between an Accident and a Lawsuit
If you trip and fall inside a store, it is easy to assume the business is automatically responsible for your medical bills. But under Arizona law, the reality is much more complicated, and an overlooked detail can completely derail your claim. Winning a personal injury case requires proving specific legal elements that go far beyond the fact that an accident happened.
Watch: Attorney Fletcher Carpenter details the top three determining factors that play pivotal roles in the outcome of an Arizona slip and fall case.
In this video, Fletcher Carpenter walks through the three elements we use to evaluate premises liability cases. He covers everything from building code violations to hidden hazards, as well as explaining what an Arizona jury considers when deciding liability.
Factor 1: Building Code Violations
Just because you fall in a store or business does not automatically mean the business was negligent. The first thing we look at is whether the property owner violated specific building codes or established safety standards. If a code violation directly caused your injury, it provides strong evidence of negligence on the part of the business.
Failure to Maintain General Good Practices
Factor 2: “Good Practice” Violations
We also evaluate whether the business failed to follow general operational safety practices. For example, most retail stores and businesses are supposed to conduct regular floor sweeps to look for tripping hazards. Employees typically sign off on a log to document these routine checks. When reviewing a case, we often look at these records to see if a hazard sat on the floor all day because a required safety sweep was skipped.
Factor 3: Hidden Dangers
The third factor is whether the hazard causing the fall was hidden or if it was open and obvious to an ordinary person walking through the premises. If a danger is hidden, the business owner is much more likely to be held liable. Conversely, an Arizona jury typically expects a reasonable person to notice and avoid an open and obvious hazard. Our firm handled a case involving a one-inch metal bolt sticking out of a concrete walkway where a sign had been removed. Instead of being ground down safely, the bolt was painted the exact same color as the concrete, turning an obvious structural feature into a dangerous, hidden tripping hazard that caused a significant injury.
Get the Right Legal Guidance Today
Premises liability cases are highly dependent on the specific facts surrounding the injury. Proving that a property owner is legally responsible requires documenting maintenance failures, analyzing building standards, and demonstrating the nature of the hazard. Navigating these legal complexities and ensuring every element of your case is properly documented is exactly what experienced legal representation is for.
About Allen Carpenter PLC
Allen Carpenter PLC is an Arizona-based law firm that handles personal injury, wrongful death, insurance disputes, and bad faith claims in Arizona and all across the country. Attorneys Brian Allen, Fletcher Carpenter and Clark Richter have litigated hundreds of personal injury cases and recovered tens of millions of dollars for their clients.
If you’ve been injured in a slip and fall accident and want to understand the strength of your claim, don’t try to figure it out alone. The attorneys at Allen Carpenter are here to walk you through it.
