If you fall down the stairs at someone’s home or business, you may be able to file a claim.
Most of us take the stairs on a daily basis — running down a flight of stairs to grab something that we forgot, dashing up the stairs to get to a meeting, or going up stairs to get to someone’s home. Stairs are a fact of daily life, yet many of us do not consider what can happen if we fall down stairs. Falling down a flight of stairs can result in serious, life-changing injuries — far worse than most slip and fall accidents. That is why it is so important that you have a skilled slip and fall attorney to represent you if you have been hurt in an accident on stairs.
If you fall down a set of stairs, you may suffer from a wide range of injuries, such as broken wrists or arms, shoulder injuries, neck or back injuries, spinal cord injuries (including paralysis), a broken hip, a broken tailbone, internal bleeding, organ damage, or even traumatic brain injury.
Stairs can be considered broken in any number of ways. Perhaps a set of stairs lacked a handrail, or poured concrete stairs were crumbling in the corners. Stone stairs could be wobbly or loose, and carpeted stairs could have loose edges that could cause a person to trip. Hard surface stairs could be slippery, and in bad weather, stairs that aren’t properly treated could lead to someone slipping and falling. Any set of stairs that isn’t properly maintained and updated could result in a slip and fall accident — and serious injuries.
To recover after falling down a set of stairs, your attorney must prove that the owner of the stairs had a duty of care towards you, that they were negligent by breaching that duty, that the owner’s negligence led to your injuries, and that you suffered injuries for which you can be compensated.
An owner has a duty of care towards you if you were legally on the property, such as if you were a guest at a house or a customer at a business. If you were trespassing or not legally on the property, the landowner does not owe you a duty of care. The owner has a duty to keep the premises reasonably safe for you and for other guests — which does not mean that it has to been in perfect condition, but that hazards are addressed. If there are open and obvious hazards that could easily be avoided, then the owner would not likely be held liable. Once you have shown that there is a duty of care, you then have to show that the owner breached that duty. For example, if you fell down the stairs because they were made of stone and steps shifted under your feet, and you can prove that the landlord knew that the stones were wobbly and did not fix them, that may be sufficient to prove liability. Finally, your injuries have to be connected to the breach — if your fall and resulting injuries were related to the wobbly stone, but you have evidence that the owner should have installed a handrail, then that likely will not qualify.
If you have been injured in a slip and fall accident on broken stairs, an experienced personal injury attorney can help you get the compensation you deserve for your injuries. Contact the Law Offices of Larry H. Parker today at 800-333-0000 or info@larryhparker.com to schedule a free initial appoint. We have more than 40 years of experience representing injured parties, and a 95% success rate. We never charge a fee unless we get money for you!
