Slip and fall accidents often result in serious injuries, such as broken bones and head trauma. A property owner has a duty to maintain it and warn visitors of hazards. An owner who fails to do so could be found liable for resulting injuries.
Injuries from a fall can seriously hurt victims, and it can impact their livelihoods and day-to-day life. You should not have to suffer the emotional or mental impact of injuries alone, especially when you are also handling physical recovery from your accident. These injuries can also strain your finances due to hospital bills and temporary or long-term job loss.
A Miami slip and fall caused by cracked or defective or broken sidewalks lawyer might be able to help you. The Law Offices of Anidjar & Levine could help you file a personal injury lawsuit to seek compensation for your injuries and related losses. Call our office today at 1-800-747-3733 to discuss your case with a member of our staff.
Florida Laws on Premises Liability for Businesses
Under Florida law, people who visit a property can be divided into three categories. The duty of care that a property owner owes an individual depends on the visitor’s status.
Visitors to a business, or invitees, are owed the highest duty of care. Businesses must follow government regulations to protect visitors from danger, and they must undergo routine safety inspections.
Social guests, or licensees, may be invited to a home or property, or they may be uninvited guests. The owner has a duty to warn licensees of dangerous conditions.
Trespassers are not invited and often enter a property without the owner’s knowledge. In Florida, a property owner is not required to protect trespassers or warn them of hazards. However, an owner may not intentionally harm trespassers either.
The owner of a property has a duty to keep it reasonably safe. If the owner is aware of, or should be aware of, a hazard on the property, such as a damaged sidewalk, the owner has a duty to make necessary repairs and protect visitors from harm until the sidewalk has been fixed.
For example, the owner may put cones or signs near or around a damaged section of the sidewalk to draw attention to it, or they could rope off the area to keep people away. If the owner knows of a damaged sidewalk and an accident is foreseeable, but the owner nonetheless fails to take action to prevent an accident, the property owner may be found liable if someone gets hurt.
How Premises Liability Laws Apply to Public Property in Florida
In Florida, sidewalks are not necessarily considered public property, and a city or county is not necessarily responsible for maintenance. In some cases, someone who owns or occupies an adjacent property is responsible.
Under Miami Code of Ordinances § 54-54, the owner, occupant, or agent of a property bordering or touching a sidewalk may not place or remove materials or allow trees or other vegetation to become overgrown and endanger the general public.
In some cases, a government and its agents may be protected from liability by sovereign immunity. Per Florida Statutes § 768.28, however, this does not always apply if your injury occurred in certain circumstances.
How a Miami Slip and Fall Caused by Cracked or Defective or Broken Sidewalks Lawyer Can Help You
If you suffered serious injuries after falling on a damaged sidewalk, you might be entitled to financial recovery. Figuring out who was liable may be straightforward if you fell at a business. Still, things could be more complicated if you were hurt when you fell on a public sidewalk because of Florida law regarding liability for maintenance. If your actions contributed to the accident, you could be found partly liable for your injuries. For example, suppose you were walking in an area where you should not have been or looking at your cell phone instead of paying attention to your surroundings. In that case, the property owner could argue you were at least partly liable for your injuries.
Under Florida’s comparative negligence law, Florida Statutes § 768.81, you may be eligible for a financial award that can be reduced to account for your share of liability.
The team at the Law Offices of Anidjar & Levine can sort things out. We can review the facts surrounding the slip and fall accident and determine who was liable. If we determine that a business owner or a government entity was responsible, we could file a personal injury lawsuit on your behalf. Call us at 1-800-747-3733 to discuss your case.
Contact a Miami Slip and Fall Caused by Cracked or Defective or Broken Sidewalks Lawyer
An attorney with the Law Offices of Anidjar & Levine can manage your slip and fall case from start to finish. We can handle all communications for you and negotiate with parties involved in the incident. We can also help you build a solid case for recovery. You may be entitled to a financial award to compensate you for your past and future medical bills, lost income, and pain and suffering.
If you want to take legal action, you have only a set time to do so. The processes and statutes of limitations to file a lawsuit in Florida differ based on the person or entity being sued. You will have four years to sue a business, according to Florida Statutes § 95.11.
To file a lawsuit against the government, you will have to provide the appropriate agency with notice within three years of the date when you were injured. Your Miami slip and fall caused by cracked or defective or broken sidewalks lawyer will file your case on time, leaving you to focus on healing from your accident.
Call the Law Offices of Anidjar & Levine today at 1-800-747-3733 so that our team can get to work on your case as quickly as possible and help you recover the awards you deserve.
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