Slip and Fall · Dangerous Conditions · Inadequate Maintenance
Property owners and businesses have a responsibility to maintain reasonably safe premises. Golde Law Firm represents people injured because of dangerous property conditions, including falls, inadequate maintenance, defective stairs, poor lighting, and other preventable hazards.
Premises cases are often dismissed as simple falls. They are not. The question California law asks is what the owner or operator knew about the hazard, how long it had been there, and what a reasonable inspection would have turned up. Answering that takes maintenance logs, inspection schedules, incident reports, and surveillance footage — records that belong to the property owner and are frequently overwritten within days.
The firm looks at who actually controlled the space where you were hurt. A landlord, a property-management company, a tenant business, a maintenance contractor, and a janitorial vendor can each carry a share of responsibility, and each may carry separate insurance.
These injuries are also commonly more serious than they first appear. Fractures, head injuries, and back injuries from a fall can require months of treatment, and their full extent is often not known at the time an insurer first offers to close the claim.
Ask the business or property manager to create an incident report, and request a copy before you leave if one is available.
The hazard is usually repaired or cleaned within hours. Photographs taken that day are often the only proof it existed.
Employees and other customers who saw the condition — or saw you fall — can be difficult to locate weeks later.
Surveillance video is frequently recorded over on a short cycle, and maintenance records are not always retained. Evidence in premises cases can be lost long before a claim is formally presented.