What Kind of Proof Is Necessary for Your Slip-and-Fall Case?

When you slip and fall and suffer a serious injury, you are probably not thinking about proof for a case. Most likely, you are concerned about getting to your doctor and getting out of pain. Even so, just as you can take photos at car accident scenes that are helpful for a case, you can snap photos of the accident area where you slipped and fell.

The first thing you need to understand, is that based on changes in Florida law within the past few years, lawyers now have a greater burden of proof in slip-and-fall cases. The old law allowed law firms to show that a dangerous condition existed, and that condition was sufficient in most cases to obtain a settlement or award. Under the new law, your attorney must prove that the building or landowner had constructive knowledge of the hazard and was negligent about remedying it. Circumstantial evidence that shows constructive knowledge includes that the dangerous condition lasted for some time, and any ordinary businessperson would have discovered it within that amount of time. Another type of circumstantial evidence is to show that the dangerous condition occurred so regularly that it was foreseeable, and therefore the owner should have known about it and corrected it.

So, what can you do? You can take a photo of the hazardous condition at the time of your accident and get the contact information of anyone who witnessed your accident. You can ask a store clerk if they notice spills (or whatever the dangerous condition is) regularly. However, the best thing you can do is to consult with an experienced accident lawyer as soon as possible before evidence disappears.