Gelb & Gelb, P.C.
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Our Maryland slip and fall lawyers understand the pain and suffering that can result from this type of injury. Slip and fall cases are among the more traditional personal injury cases in Maryland. Slip and falls have been occurring since the beginning of time. Under the common law, we hold those legally liable who should have better maintained their premises. Of course, not every owes the same duty to people on their property. For example, a homeowner who has friends over does not owe the same duty to guests as a home improvement store with dangerous equipment sprawled throughout the store.
While we call these types of cases a “slip and fall”, the truth is you may have a case even if you did not slip but were still injured on someone else’s premises and those premises were maintained negligently. Below we will detail the duties different parties owe to guests as well as trespassers. If you still have any questions or have a case to discuss, contact us for a free consultation.
The most common example is a grocery store. However, it can also be a movie theater, a home improvement store, a restaurant, or any other form of public business. The disclaimer is that the rule is dependent on the type of business that is being conducted. For example, a haunted forest might be able to get away with more than a grocery store. This is because, when someone attends a haunted forest and buys a ticket, they know what they are signing up for and merely receiving what they ordered. Meanwhile, at a grocery store, customers may be older, and they are certainly not looking for any obstacles or adverse conditions.
The general rule for a business such as a store is that the business owes a general duty to use reasonable and ordinary care in keeping the property reasonably safe. So, what does this mean? The business must warn of or make safe nonobvious, dangerous conditions known by the business. Additionally, the business must make reasonable inspections to discover dangerous conditions and then make them safe. Of course, the classic slip and fall example is often quashed by a yellow sign on the floor. This is a warning and does generally, but not always, satisfy the legal duty to fix.
Your legal argument will hinge on a few factors. First, did the business inspect frequently enough to qualify as reasonable. Or was the business already somehow made aware such as by a customer telling a manager. Or was the danger so obvious that the thing spoke for itself, meaning no warning was needed. Second, did the business attempt to warn or otherwise fix the dangerous condition. These duties are owed to invitees of the business.
An invitee is a person who enters the premises by either an actual or implied invitation by the business. For example, if it is a store that is clearly open for business, this will qualify as an implied invitation, and you will be a business invitee for purposes of personal injury law in Maryland. However, it is possible to go outside the scope of your invitation, which means you will lose your legal title of invitee. A common example of this is if a customer goes into a section of the store or restaurant which is clearly marked as “employees only”. For questions on your specific question against a store or other business contact our experienced Maryland Slip and Fall Lawyers.
When you are visiting a friend’s house and you are injured, you may have a case against your friend, triggering his homeowner’s insurance. If you are invited onto the premises of your friend’s house, you are a licensee. This means you have a license to enter his or her private property. The duty owed by a licensor to a licensee is less than to an invitee. The main difference is that a homeowner does not have a duty to inspect for concealed defects. However, if he does know of a risk that the licensee is unlikely to discover, the homeowner does have a duty to warn or make safe.
This is a complex area of torts because there is a limitless number of places where an injury might occur. Accordingly, it is particularly important to contact a seasoned Maryland Slip and Fall Lawyer to discuss your unique facts. If a slip and fall has resulted in the loss of your loved one, click here for more information. Click here for other personal injury cases.
Gelb & Gelb, P.C.
N/aCopyright © 2023 Gelb & Gelb, P.C. All rights reserved.