Slip and Fall Lawyer in Los Angeles

Who is liable for a slip and fall in California, and how is it proved?

A property owner in California is not automatically responsible because someone fell. The duty is one of reasonable care, and the question that actually decides most of these cases is narrower than people expect: did the owner know about the hazard, or should they have known about it in time to do something?

That is the notice question. Actual notice means someone was told, or created the hazard themselves, such as an employee who spilled something. Constructive notice means it was there long enough that a reasonable inspection would have found it. A spill two minutes old is usually nobody’s fault. The same spill half an hour old, in an aisle with no inspection record, is a very different case. Responsibility can sit with:

• The property owner or landlord, for the condition of the premises.
• The business operating there, such as a store, restaurant or garage.
• A cleaning or maintenance contractor, when its work or its failure to inspect created or left the hazard.
• A public entity, for a dangerous condition of public property such as a city pavement, a county building, a transit station or a public school, under Government Code section 835.

The evidence that matters is rarely the photograph of the injury. It is the incident report, the inspection or sweep log, staff schedules, the maintenance records, reports of earlier incidents and, above all, the surveillance footage. Most retail and commercial systems in Los Angeles overwrite on a cycle measured in days or weeks. A written preservation demand sent quickly is often the difference between a provable case and one that comes down to two conflicting accounts.

How does comparative fault affect a fall claim?

Comparative fault is raised in nearly every one of these claims. California is a pure comparative fault state, so being partly responsible for not looking where you were going reduces a recovery rather than ending it, and the percentage an insurer assigns early is a negotiating position.

What insurance pays after a slip and fall?

Most recoveries come from the liability insurance of the responsible party, which can mean:

• The owner’s or landlord’s liability policy for the premises.
• The business operator’s commercial policy, where a tenant runs the store or restaurant.
• A contractor’s policy, where cleaning or maintenance was outsourced.
• A public entity’s claim process, which must be started within six months before any lawsuit.
• Health insurance, which pays treatment as it happens and may later claim reimbursement from the settlement. That reimbursement is negotiated before you receive a net figure.

If you fell while working, in a kitchen, a warehouse or a market, there can be two claims at once: workers’ compensation with your employer, and a separate claim against the owner of the premises or the cleaning company if they are different. That second path is the one that covers pain and suffering, which workers’ compensation does not pay.

What compensation can you recover after a slip and fall?

• Medical expenses, past and future, including surgery, therapy and long term care.
• Lost earnings and loss of future earning capacity.
• Property damage to belongings.
• Pain, suffering and emotional distress, and the loss of enjoyment of life.
• Wrongful death damages for the family under Code of Civil Procedure section 377.60 when a fall is fatal.

A case’s value cannot be known before the medical picture is clear. It turns on the injury, the treatment still to come and the strength of the evidence on what the owner knew.

How long do you have to file a slip and fall claim in California?

• Two years from the date of injury to file an injury lawsuit, under Code of Civil Procedure section 335.1.
• Three years for property damage only, under Code of Civil Procedure section 338.
• Six months to present a written claim if the fall happened on public property, under Government Code section 911.2. This shorter deadline governs, it is easily missed, and it is almost never recoverable once gone.

Under Los Angeles Superior Court Local Rule 2.3(a)(1)(A), a case is filed in the judicial district where the fall happened, which the Court’s filing locator identifies, not downtown by default.

How much does a slip and fall lawyer cost in Los Angeles?

No fee unless there is a recovery. Broukhim Legal PC takes slip and fall cases on a contingency fee, so there is nothing to pay up front and the fee is paid out of what is recovered. If nothing is recovered, no fee is owed. The fee agreement is put in writing and signed before any work starts, as California law requires, and it also explains how the costs of running the case are handled. Your first conversation is free, confidential and carries no obligation.

Personal injury lawyers across Los Angeles County

Broukhim Legal PC represents people hurt in falls throughout Los Angeles County from its office at 550 S Hill Street in downtown Los Angeles. Each city page sets out the courthouse an incident in that city is filed in, how a claim against that city is presented and the deadlines that apply:

See all locations we serve, or tell us about your fall for a free case review.

Meet your Los Angeles slip and fall lawyer

Bejan Broukhim, Founder and Lead Attorney
State Bar of California, license number 183036

Bejan Broukhim brings years of California legal experience to injury and mass tort cases and personally reviews each one. He earned his J.D. at the University of West Los Angeles School of Law, served as a judicial extern in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court and the Van Nuys Superior Court, and appeared in preliminary hearings as a certified law clerk with the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office. Every case is prepared from day one as though it will go to trial.

Office: 550 S Hill Street, Suite 1390, Los Angeles, CA 90013, serving all of Los Angeles County and California. Get directions