Big Myth About Illinois Trip And Fall Lawsuits

Although they are some of the toughest cases to win, we love helping people find the best Illinois trip and fall attorney (or slip and fall) for their case. We’ve had multiple case wins for six and seven figures including a recent one where a client tripped and fell in a mall and recovered $1,100,000 for a back injury.

But these really are hard cases to win. There’s a big myth that if you get hurt on someone else’s property they are liable. That is simply not true.

That people believe this was made clear to me from a recent caller. He was at a gas station and put the pump hose in his car to get some gas. He wanted to wash his windshield too, so he attempted to step over the hose, but tripped and fell forward, breaking his wrist.

He called me and wanted to sue the gas station for his injury. I let him know we couldn’t help because the gas station hadn’t done anything wrong. He then replied to me with:

Well then how is it that if someone trips over their own shoelaces on my driveway and gets hurt that I can get sued?

I let him know that’s not a thing either even though apparently his insurance agent convinced him to get a bigger policy with this lie.

To sue anyone successfully for a trip and fall or slip and fall in Illinois, you have to prove negligence. The gas station wasn’t negligent because he stepped over a hose and fell. He wouldn’t be negligent if someone tripped over their own shoelaces and got hurt.

There is negligence when a property has a hidden defect like a hole covered with leaves. Or if you trip on stairs and there’s no railing to catch yourself. Or a pipe is coming from the ground and you can’t see it because it’s too dark. Or a lot of other reasons.

Negligence is the key. If you prove it you win. If you can’t prove it you have no case. It’s difficult at times because often when you fall, you are in so much pain that you don’t take a moment to find out what caused the fall. So to the extent you can after a fall or as soon as possible thereafter, look around and take pictures.

And while you have two years to sue from when these accidents happen in most situations, the need to prove negligence is why it’s incredibly important to get with an attorney who knows what they are doing ASAP. A delay could be the difference between winning and losing.

If you’d like to speak to one of our lawyers for free to have your case evaluated and get a referral to an elite premises liability lawyer in Illinois, please call us at 312-346-5320.