Slip & Fall Accidents

The traumatic impact of a slip and fall (or a trip and fall)  accident can cause severe and long-lasting injuries. If you suffer a slip and fall, it is in your best interest that you file an injury report with a representative of the property owner and seek medical and legal help without delay.

Louisiana law requires that property owners use reasonable care in the management and maintenance of their premises and avoid exposing others to an unreasonable risk of harm, such as a slip and fall.  Therefore, property owners have a duty to reasonably inspect for any unsafe conditions on their premises and either to repair or give adequate warning of conditions that pose a risk of harm to others.

The victim of a slip and fall in Louisiana must prove that the property owner knew or should have known about the hazard that caused the slip and fall accident, and that he failed to remedy it. If the property owner, or any of his employees, created the dangerous condition that caused the slip and fall injury, knowledge of the hazard may be automatically imputed to them.  However, if the hazard was created by a non-employee, such as a customer, the claimant must show that there was time enough for the property owner to have discovered and repaired the dangerous condition, or that the hazardous condition occurred with such frequency that the owner should have been aware of its presence.

In some instances, a property owner may have a duty to post warnings of a danger (such as “wet floor” signs), but these warnings must be visible and effective in order to be deemed sufficient.

With the advent of “tort reform” in the 1990’s, slip and fall cases are often challenging and very difficult to prove. To prevail, a slip and fall attorney must establish not only the existence of a dangerous condition, but the property owner’s actual or constructive knowledge of that condition.

Schoenfeld Law Firm attorneys have successfully handled all aspects of slip and fall injuries throughout the State of Louisiana and are prepared to aggressively pursue a recovery for damages resulting from your injury.

Whether in the Lafayette, Acadiana, or New Orleans area, our attorneys are ready to assist.