Slip & Falls in Commercial Businesses

Slip and falls are often dismissed as minor events, where claimants are sometimes wrongfully characterized as bringing frivolous claims for monetary gain. Contrary to popular belief, though, slip and fall accidents are the second leading cause of injuries nationwide, many serious. Further, they are the root cause of a staggering 16,000 fatalities annually. Many times, these avoidable injuries and deaths are caused by dangerous and hazardous conditions on the property of a commercial business, like a restaurant, shopping mall, market, and department store.

If you or a loved one has been injured or wrongfully killed following a slip and fall in a commercial business, contact the experienced Boston personal injury lawyers at Bellotti Law Group, P.C. today for a FREE consultation at 617-225-2100. We have successfully handled hundreds of slip-and-fall cases over the last few decades. You may be entitled to compensation for medical bills, lost wages, pain and suffering, and wrongful death.

Most slip and falls, over 70 percent to be exact, are the result of dangerous conditions and hazardous environments. Frequently, inadequate lighting preventing you from seeing a danger, poor property designs, improper and/or infrequent maintenance, and faulty construction are the direct causes of injury. Other hazards are created by wet or slippery surfaces due to food spills or water leakage.

Massachusetts state law requires property owners to take reasonable care in the management and maintenance of their premises. This includes protecting visitors from unreasonable risks of injury, including slip and falls. As a result, it is incumbent upon property owners to frequently inspect and maintain their premises to ensure there are no unsafe conditions. If there are hazards, owners must repair the dangerous defect or give adequate warning of the harm.

Slip-and-fall victims must show that the property owner knew or should have known about the unreasonably dangerous condition that caused the slip and fall and subsequently failed to correct it or adequately warn about it.

The Boston personal injury attorneys at Bellotti Law Group, P.C. know a thorough and swift investigation of your claim is critical to its success. Sometimes, knowledge of a dangerous condition can be automatically imputed to business owners if the hazardous condition was created by an employee (e.g., not placing "wet floor" signs after cleaning) or if there was enough time for a dangerous condition to be reasonably discovered and repaired before the slip and fall (i.e., a rotten banana peel found, signifying the condition had been in place for enough time to be reasonably discovered and remedied). We may even show that a condition occurs with such frequency that it should have been reasonably known and remedied by store owners (e.g., grapes falling to ground from slanted cart consistently). Perhaps "warnings" given were not clearly visible or effective as to absolve the premises owner of liability. Our attorneys will amass a team of experts if necessary to give your claim the highest chance for success. Call us today for a free consultation at 617-225-2100 or use our safe and secure contact form.