Specializing in Slip & Fall Cases

A Personal Injury Attorney for Premises Liability

At Morris Law, our personal injury attorney has the legal knowledge and experience you need to pursue an injury claim. If someone else’s negligence led to your slip and fall accident, we can help identify the responsible individuals and hold them accountable in a premises liability case. We will do everything we can to protect your rights and help you fight for the compensation you need to aid in your recovery. 

Our personal injury attorney knows that a slip and fall accident can result in a multitude of different injuries. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), over one million Americans suffer from injuries related to a slip and fall accident, with over 17,000 people dying in the U.S. annually from slip and fall incidents. In legal terms, slip and fall accidents typically fall under an area of law known as premises liability. If you or someone you love has been injured in a slip and fall accident, you have the right to pursue compensation for your injuries.

Premises Liability in South Carolina

Premises liability is a legal concept that occurs where the injury was caused by some type of unsafe or defective condition on someone else’s property. It is applicable in many personal injury cases, especially when it comes to slip and fall incidents. There are a few examples of where premises liability could come into play:

• Slip and fall accidents on commercial property
• Slip and fall accidents on someone else’s private property
• Slipping or falling at a swimming pool
• Slipping on an elevator
• Falling on an escalator
• Slipping or tripping on a defective sidewalk or aisle
• Tripping or falling due to inadequate maintenance of public or private premises

If you do get injured in a scenario similar to any of these, you may be able to file a premises liability lawsuit, and our personal injury attorney can help you make that determination. In South Carolina, the statute of limitations is three years from the date the accident occurred to file a claim or lawsuit. This means that the clock begins ticking from the date that the accident occurred, not when you first discovered your injuries or began receiving treatment. After that three-year window has passed, you are no longer eligible to bring the case to court.

How to Prove Fault

In order for someone to be held accountable, your personal injury attorney will need to prove that liability exists. In order to be responsible for someone being injured, one of the following things must be true:

• The owner of the premises or an employee must have caused the unsafe condition.
• The owner of the premises or an employee must have known of the dangerous condition and did nothing about it.
• The owner of the premises or an employee should have known of the dangerous condition because a reasonable person taking care of the property would have discovered and addressed the issue.

What Determines Liability

A duty of care exists for those who are property owners. That includes homeowners, business owners and government entities. You can even be held liable if someone gets injured on your property. In any negligence case, the duty of care has to be breached in order for you to successfully prove liability. To do so, these elements must be fulfilled:

1. The defendant had a duty of care to the plaintiff (injured person).
2. That duty was breached when the defendant’s action or inaction caused the plaintiff’s injury.
3. The plaintiff’s injury was proximately (directly) caused by the defendant.
4. The injury cost the plaintiff money or physical pain and suffering.

South Carolina’s Modified Comparative Negligence Law

South Carolina is considered a modified comparative negligence state with a 51% bar. This means that the only way you can be eligible to receive compensation is if you, as the victim, are found to be 50% at fault or less for causing the accident. If the court rules that you are 51% or more at fault for the accident, you will not be eligible to receive compensation. Additionally, if you are found to hold some level of fault for the accident, your compensation will be reduced by the percentage of fault that has been attributable to you.

For example, if you slip and fall on someone else’s property, but the court finds that you are 10% at fault for the accident because you were running when you should have been walking, your compensation will be reduced by 10% to account for your level of fault. If the court decides to award $100,000 in damages, you will only be eligible to collect $90,000. Our personal injury attorney can assist you in determining the percentage of at fault in your case.

You Deserve a Strong Personal Injury Attorney on Your Side

At the end of the day, bearing the burden of recovery after an accident is difficult enough without also dealing with the complex legalities of a personal injury claim. Luckily, you don’t have to face these challenges on your own.

For more than 15 years, Morris Law has been working with individuals and families who have been injured in a slip and fall accident to help them pursue the compensation they need to help them recover. We fight aggressively on your behalf to protect your rights and advocate for your needs, and we won’t back down when negotiating with insurance companies or opposing counsel so that you can get the compensation you deserve. 

Contact Us Today About Your Slip & Fall Case

If you or someone you love has been injured in a slip and fall accident, you are within your rights to pursue compensation. Call Morris Law at (864) 679-9999 today to schedule a one-on-one consultation. You can also submit a contact request form and we will reach out to you as quickly as possible.