Ramie Shalabi | September 11, 2024 | Personal Injury

Two fully stocked aisles in a supermarket, a place where slip and fall incidents can occur

Columbia, South Carolina, is a bustling city. Whether shopping, exploring one of Capital City’s natural parks, or simply going to work, slipping and falling can derail your plans in a moment. You now face immediate pain, nagging injuries, medical bills, and time spent unable to earn a living.

Fortunately, you can seek damages for personal harm and expenses paid due to another’s negligence. Let Dayson Shalabi Burkett Law Firm, LLC (DSB) explain the essential elements of premises liability. We’ll also cover what to do after getting hurt, how a lawyer can help, and other information to help you navigate slip-and-fall settlements in South Carolina.

Understanding the Elements of Premises Liability

Anyone can claim another’s negligence caused injuries. However, a strong case needs to include information that helps prove what happened and who was responsible.

Proving that you were hurt on another’s property typically requires proving several elements, which can include:

  • Your status
  • A property contained an unsafe hazard or multiple dangers
  • Unsafe conditions caused your injury or injuries
  • You incurred damages from this incident

Your Status

Someone’s status probably isn’t used the way you usually use it regarding premises liability cases. This determining factor isn’t based on your net worth or job title. It means your status on another party’s property.

South Carolina separates a property’s visitors into four categories, which are:

  • Invitees: Invitees include clients and customers. They enter a property to benefit the property owner.
  • Licensees: These people enter a property for their benefit that’s unrelated to business reasons. This could be a business owner’s friend from high school or a mail carrier delivering a letter.
  • Trespassers: Trespassers enter properties illegally. Unless causing intentional harm, such as setting traps, property owners aren’t generally liable for trespasser-related injuries.
  • Children: This category primarily applies to children mistakenly entering a property with enticing features, such as a trampoline or swimming pool.

Unsafe Property

Some properties aren’t safe in all areas but can still function. In these cases, a property owner must warn clients, customers, and other visitors and keep them away from unsafe areas. If not, they breach their duties as property owners.

Dangers Lead to Your Injuries (Causation)

Arguably, the most critical aspect of premises liability is causation. In other words, you must link specific dangerous conditions to your injuries. Additionally, your injuries need to be the result of a foreseeable danger. A freak occurrence might not be held to the same scrutiny as something preventable.

Proving Damages

As any accident victim knows, they can incur many expenses combined with being sidelined from work. Linking these costs to your injuries allows you to obtain compensation from the responsible party.

Slip and Fall Incidents: What Comes Next

A sign indicating a slip risk, which a property owner displays to avoid premises liability issues

You now know the basics of premises liability. But what should you do immediately after getting hurt on another party’s property? Follow these steps.

Gather Evidence

If you require emergency care, seek it right away. If your slip and fall case caused severe injuries, the next thing you recall could be waking up in an ambulance or a hospital.

While post-accident medical care is a must, look over the scene of your injury. Taking photos or videos is ideal evidence. However, recalling the scene by memory can also be helpful. After your initial check-up, you can gather other evidence, such as security footage.

Get Medical Attention

Medical care after a slip and fall incident is critical, regardless of how you feel. Severe falls are likely to cause immense pain. However, more minor tumbles can also cause significant damage to your body. 

Getting a post-fall check-up lets medical professionals find out the true extent of your injuries. These visits also document your treatment and its costs, which help determine the amount of slip-and-fall settlements in South Carolina.

Report What Happened

Lastly, you should also report premises liability to a property’s owner. Not knowing this person or their location is understandable. This step could require having someone nearby track down the appropriate party.

A person or people may ask you for details about your accident. Providing this information is necessary and won’t serve to hurt your case. However, don’t admit fault or that you’re not injured.

Examples of Potential Premises Liability Cases

Because of our history as Columbia premises liability lawyers, we know slips and falls can occur anywhere. 

Examples of these injury-inducing situations can include:

  • Hot water burns when showering in a new home
  • Crushed by a store’s improperly stocked merchandise
  • Slipping on a grocery store’s wet floor
  • Falling downstairs outside a dimly-lit apartment complex
  • Burned by a hot beverage or food at a restaurant

Why Contact Our Columbia Premises Liability Lawyers?

A crowded interior of a building, which can sometimes be a source of slip-and-fall cases

Assistance With How to Proceed

Legal proceedings are often complex. Claims involving premise-related liability are no different. Columbia, South Carolina, requires injured parties to fill out paperwork, appear on scheduled dates, speak with other parties, and similar vital matters.

Having so many things to keep up with can be overwhelming while recovering from injuries. Therefore, a skilled law firm can take many things and stressors off your plate.

Experience Taking on Slip and Fall Cases

Chances are, this is your first time navigating the complexities of premises liability. This understandable inexperience can cause you to make mistakes throughout the claims process. You could also err in the courtroom, which might be costly. 

The Columbia premises liability lawyers at DSB have decades of combined experience representing injured people.

Help With Negotiations

It’s not uncommon for employers and insurance providers to present offers to injured parties lower than what their pain and suffering are worth. Choose DSB for a law firm that’s not afraid to stand up against companies after your slip and fall incident. Having us on your side may help you receive a higher slip-and-fall settlement in South Carolina. 
We hope to have helped shine some light on premises liability. Were you hurt on another party’s property? Contact DSB. We offer free consultations. Plus, DSB doesn’t receive any payment unless you obtain a favorable outcome in court or receive a settlement.