Oregon Slip, Trip, and Fall Attorney
Premises Liability Lawyer Serving Portland and Surrounding Areas
Each year, one in every three adults age 65 and older falls. Children are also at high risk of fall injuries caused by dangerous conditions. A study reported by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control, for example, found that playgrounds in low-income areas had more maintenance-related hazards than playgrounds in high-income areas, including significantly more trash, rusty play equipment, and damaged fall surfaces.
Dangerous premises kill around 14,000 people and cause serious personal injury and permanent disability to several hundred thousand more every year. Falls in retail stores, on stairways, and in parking lots can lead to moderate to severe injuries, such as hip fractures and head traumas.
Despite the severity and high numbers of injuries caused by dangerous premises, however, premises liability cases are often given low or no values by insurance companies and defense lawyers. Defenses such as alleged compliance with building codes, obviousness of hazards, and comparative fault of the victim are likely to be employed in any case involving a fall of other injury in or around a dangerous commercial property.
Extensive investigation and case preparation are required to obtain compensation for the serious injury or death that unsafe premises can cause. In most cases, some physical feature or condition is a major contributing factor in a plaintiff’s injury. It may be simple or complex: water or other liquid on the floor of a supermarket or restaurant, for example, or a stairway with risers and treads having dimensions slightly out of compliance with those required for safe use.
Oregon Premises Liability Claims—Who is Responsible for Injury in a Slip-and-Fall Case?
The job of our Portland injury law office is to identify the causes of premises injuries. We study the mechanisms of walking and falling, the friction of the surfaces where fall injury occurred, and the surrounding circumstances, including factors such as inadequate lighting, uncleaned debris or spills, and obstructions interfering with safety.
Under Oregon law, a premises owner is generally liable for injuries caused by conditions of the property that the owner caused or allowed intentionally or in reckless disregard of the rights or safety of others. The owner may also be liable for failure to warn of known but hidden dangerous conditions of the property that might cause an injury.
Contact an Oregon Premises Liability Lawyer
If you a loved one have been seriously injured in a slip, trip, or fall accident at a store, construction site, office building, amusement park, parking lot, or other dangerous premises, contact Portland slip/fall attorney Dane Johnson at (503) 975-8298 or online for a free confidential initial consultation.
