Slip and Fall Accident Lawyers in Newark, New Jersey
From apartment lobbies to supermarket aisles, the places you pass through every day are supposed to be reasonably safe. Most property owners keep them that way. Some don’t, and when a wet floor without a sign, an icy walk nobody salted, or a broken step sends someone to the ground, the injuries can be serious and the medical bills immediate.
If you were hurt in a slip and fall in Newark, the attorneys at O’Connor, Parsons, Lane & Noble can tell you whether a property owner’s negligence is to blame and what your claim may be worth. We’ve won millions for injured New Jersey clients over decades of practice. Contact us for a free consultation to talk about your case.
The Injuries a Fall Can Cause
People tend to underestimate falls until they’ve had a bad one. Trying to catch yourself is often what does the damage. Among the injuries we see most often after a slip and fall are broken hips, sprains and strains, fractures in the wrist and arm from bracing against the ground, traumatic brain injuries and concussions from striking your head, and deep cuts from hitting a desk, shelf, or cabinet on the way down.
These aren’t minor. A broken hip can mean surgery and months of rehabilitation, and a head injury can have effects that outlast the bruises. Many of them were entirely preventable if the property owner had kept the place reasonably safe. Falls happen on unmaintained staircases, on spills that sat too long, on icy sidewalks, on objects left in a crowded aisle, on a curled-up rug, and in areas too poorly lit to see the hazard coming.
When a Property Owner Is Legally Responsible
Not every fall is someone else’s fault. New Jersey premises liability law sorts it out by asking what duty the property owner owed the person who fell, and that depends on why you were there. The law recognizes three categories of visitor.
Invitees are people on the property for the owner’s business benefit, such as customers, tenants, and employees. They get the strongest protection. A business owner has to keep the property reasonably safe, inspect for hazards, and either fix them or warn about them. If you were hurt at a store or business because the owner ignored that duty, you may have a premises liability claim covering your medical bills, lost wages, and pain and suffering.
Licensees are social guests, there for their own reasons rather than the owner’s benefit. Owners must keep the property reasonably safe and warn guests of known dangers, but they don’t have to inspect for hidden hazards the way a business must.
Trespassers enter without permission, and an owner’s only duty is to avoid intentionally or recklessly harming them. New Jersey carves out an important exception for children. If an owner knows kids are likely to come onto the property and knows of a hazard, they have to guard against it. The classic example is a locked fence around a swimming pool.
Landlords, Tenants, and Newark’s Sidewalk Rule
Responsibility gets more tangled with rented property. Landlords generally have to maintain their premises safely, inspect routinely, address hazards promptly, and warn about dangers, which includes reasonable snow and ice removal. But when a commercial landlord leases space to a tenant who controls and maintains the area, that duty can shift to the tenant. A store, for instance, may be responsible for keeping its own entrance and walkways safe for customers.
One New Jersey rule catches people off guard, and it matters a lot in a city like Newark. Owners of commercial property are generally responsible for the public sidewalk abutting their property, so if you fall on a broken or ice-covered sidewalk in front of a business, that business may be liable. Owners of purely residential property usually are not liable for the public sidewalk out front under the same standard. And New Jersey generally gives a commercial owner a reasonable time after a storm ends to clear snow and ice, rather than demanding the impossible during an active storm. These distinctions often decide who, if anyone, is on the hook, which is exactly the kind of thing worth having a lawyer sort out. Contact our slip and fall attorneys if you’re not sure which rule applies to where you fell.
What to Do After a Slip and Fall
What you do in the first minutes and days can make or break a claim.
Photograph the hazard before it’s cleaned up or repaired, because a puddle or broken step tends to vanish fast. Get the names and numbers of anyone who saw it happen. See a doctor promptly and follow the treatment plan, both for your health and to tie your injuries to the fall. Get the property or business owner’s insurance information, and if you fell at a business, insist that they create a written incident report. Then talk to a slip and fall attorney. If you’re badly hurt, gathering this evidence yourself may not be possible, which is all the more reason to bring in a lawyer quickly, before the proof disappears. We can review what exists and use an investigator to track down more.
How Long You Have, and What a Claim Is Worth
New Jersey generally gives you two years from the date of the fall to file a lawsuit. Miss that window and the court will very likely dismiss the case, so time genuinely matters.
A successful slip and fall claim can recover medical bills, rehabilitation costs, lost wages, pain and suffering, loss of consortium, and loss of enjoyment of life. No one can promise a specific number before reviewing the facts, because the value depends on how serious the injury is, how clear the owner’s negligence is, and what insurance is available. What we can do is calculate your damages honestly and point you to our past case results.
Speak With a New Jersey Slip and Fall Attorney
O’Connor, Parsons, Lane & Noble is a leader in New Jersey premises liability law. Our attorneys have been recognized by Super Lawyers and Best Lawyers, we’ve won multi-million-dollar results for injured clients, and we handle these cases on contingency, so a consultation costs you nothing.
If you were hurt on someone else’s property, give us a call at (908) 928-9200 or submit a free case evaluation online. We’ll review your case, answer your questions, and lay out your options.
Give us a call to schedule a free, confidential consultation. We’ll review your case, answer your questions, and share potential legal options.
Results may vary depending on your particular facts and legal circumstances.