SLIP/TRIP & FALL When lawful pedestrians walk around, living their busy lives, they should not be injured by the negligence of government agencies who fail to properly construct, maintain, or repair our public sidewalks and crosswalks. Such pedestrians should likewise never be injured due to the negligence of private premises' owners in residential or commercial spaces. When dangerous conditions are ignored and persistently permitted to exist, negligence can lead to serious injuries and sometimes death. Municipal agencies all too often negligently repair cracks and potholes in public areas instead of fixing these dangerous conditions correctly the very first time they are reported to keep them from re-occurring. It is important to keep in mind, based on the numerous people who daily travel over our public sidewalks and crosswalks, that it is very likely that you were not the first person to slip, trip, or fall on the defective condition that caused your injury.

If you are injured in a public area, do not hesitate to call 911 for public assistance to create a written record of the event. Defects in the common areas of residential buildings and commercial premises are not always readily apparent to the untrained eyes of an accident victim. Sometimes, an indoor area may have insufficient lighting, missing handrails, slanted or smooth stairway steps, or even missing anti-slip strips on those same stairway steps in violation of the applicable building code.

A smart lawyer will always visit an accident scene quickly after any injury occurs to make important observations. For example, discoloration stains on a ceiling or walls may indicate an ongoing leaking water problem. A very smart thing to do for any lawyer in such a situation would be to approach nearby residential or commercial tenants to ask them about the maintenance history and ongoing structural problems of any accident location, which might otherwise seem pristine to the naked eye. At our law firm, we pay attention to the details of any case — and that makes all the difference.