Slip and fall claims have many moving parts that influence the amount of compensation injured victims can secure. If you are a victim of a slip and fall accident, you need to prove that the owner of the property had a legal responsibility for the property’s condition and a duty of care to keep it safe. A Wisconsin slip and fall attorney should follow legal steps and work diligently to win your case.

Read on to learn how to prove your accident:

Establishing Duty of Care

When it comes to slip and fall cases, duty of care applies to the owner of the property. Such responsibility applies if you were an invitee when you slipped and fell on the property. Invitees have direct or general permission to be on a property and your presence benefits the owner. So, if you slipped and fell at a mall, you were the mall’s invitee. 

Proving the Owner Was Aware of the Hazard

Your attorney should also establish that the property owner knew or should have known that the hazard that caused your injury existed. Also, you should prove that the dangerous condition or hazard existed before the accident took place. But the notice requirement doesn’t apply in many situations. For instance, if a shop arranges its products in a way that leads to a hazard for customers, there shouldn’t be a notice requirement since the shop made the dangerous condition. Lastly, you must prove that the owner did not address the hazard despite their knowledge of its existence.

Understanding Duty of Reasonable Caution

In slip and fall cases, the defendants may argue that the injured party should have noticed the hazard and tried to avoid it. In fact, those who visit a property owned by another person should be reasonably observant. Often, property owners don’t face liability for injuries that result in open and obvious dangers. Likewise, plaintiffs usually cannot recover compensation if the defendant can prove they knew how to avoid the dangerous condition such as by taking another path, but chose not to do so.

Following a slip and fall accident, you need to act quickly, so you can preserve evidence. Also, you should be careful about what you say or do as it might be used against your claim. Some of the steps you can take to increase your chances of a successful outcome include documenting the hazard, having a list of witnesses, reporting the fall, visiting a doctor, and contacting an attorney.