Port St Lucie Slip and Fall Lawyer

Florida law requires property owners and occupiers (such as tenants) to maintain their premises in a reasonably safe condition. When they fail to do so, and someone is injured as a result, they may be held legally responsible for any injuries that result.

To successfully pursue a slip and fall claim in Florida, you must prove the following:

1. A Dangerous Condition Existed: There was a hazardous condition on the property, such as a spill or an uneven surface.
2. The Property Owner Knew or Should Have Known About It: This is known as actual or constructive knowledge. For example, if a spill had been present in a grocery store aisle long enough that the owner should have discovered it, they may be liable for any slip-and-fall injuries.
3. The Owner Failed to Fix or Warn About the Hazard: The property owner did not take reasonable steps to correct the danger or warn visitors about it.
4. You Suffered Injuries as a Result: You must show that the hazard directly caused your injuries.

Importantly, under Florida law, property owners have different duties related to keeping their property safe for different types of people. Specifically, a property owner has greater responsibility when it comes to protecting people who are welcomed onto their property. 

Florida law divides visitors into three categories:

1. Invitees enter a property with the owner’s permission, typically for the owner’s financial benefit (such as a customer at a store). Property owners owe the highest duty of care to invitees. When a property owner has actual or constructive notice of a hazardous condition, they must exercise reasonable care for the invitee’s safety. This means that a property owner must inspect their property to discover hazards, warn invitees about hidden dangers, or take steps to fix the hazard.
2. Licensees come onto a person’s property with the owner’s permission, but typically, the purpose is more for the guest’s benefit than the owner’s. Social guests are an example of licensees. Property owners are required to warn licensees of unsafe conditions if they have actual knowledge of the problem. They can also be held liable for willful, wanton, or other intentional misconduct.
3. Trespassers are people who are on a property without permission. In Florida, property owners have a limited duty when it comes to trespassers. In Florida, a trespasser can be either discovered (i.e., the land owner learns that they are coming onto the property before they are injured) or undiscovered. For discovered trespassers, property owners must warn of known dangerous conditions that aren’t readily observable, and can also be liable for intentional or grossly negligent misconduct. For undiscovered trespassers, property owners are only liable for intentional harm.

There is a lot of nuance when it comes to Florida premises liability law. For example, property owners can be liable to child trespassers if they have an “attractive nuisance” on their property (a hazard that is attractive to kids, such as a swimming pool). Property owners must take steps to protect children from attractive nuisances, such as fencing in their pool area. 

In Florida, a property owner may not be liable if the hazard was open and obvious to visitors. Florida is a comparative negligence state, which means that if you were partially at fault for the accident, your total recovery could be reduced. So if you were on your phone and not paying attention to where you were going, that could affect your case if you could have otherwise seen and avoided the hazard.

Given the complexity of slip-and-fall cases, it is vital that you have a seasoned Port St. Lucie premises liability lawyer to represent you. Our attorneys will thoroughly analyze and investigate your case, working hard to get you the money that you deserve for your injuries.