I slipped and got hurt at a store, condo, or hotel in Palm Beach County. Is the owner responsible?

What has to be shown for a fall claim to hold up in Florida?

Three pieces fit together. There has to be a hazard: a puddle from a leaking cooler, grapes in the produce aisle, a torn mat at an entrance, a lifted paver, a loose handrail, or a dark stairwell. The owner has to have known about it or had reason to know, because an employee caused it, because it was there long enough to be found on a reasonable inspection, or because it kept happening. And that hazard has to be what made you fall and caused your injuries.

The burden is heaviest for a slip on a temporary substance inside a business. For those cases Fla. Stat. § 768.0755 says the injured person must prove the business had actual or constructive knowledge of the substance. Falls caused by a building defect, such as a broken step or missing railing, are decided under ordinary negligence rules, but proof of what the owner knew still drives the case.

How can I prove the store knew about the spill?

Most of the proof comes from the store's own records. Surveillance video can show when the spill appeared, how many minutes passed, and whether employees walked past it. Floor inspection or sweep logs show when someone last checked the aisle. Earlier incident reports and maintenance tickets can show that a cooler, ice machine, or roof leak caused the same problem again and again, which is the regularity the statute talks about.

Stores do not keep that material forever. Video is usually recorded over within about 30 days unless someone asks in writing for it to be kept. Wolfson & Leon sends a preservation letter to the business as soon as the firm is hired, and the sooner that letter goes out, the more of the evidence is still there.

What if I fell at The Square, a mall, a hotel on Palm Beach, or my condo?

Shopping centers such as The Square in downtown West Palm Beach, the Palm Beach Outlets, and The Gardens Mall often split responsibility. The store you were in controls its own floor, while the center's owner or management company usually controls common walkways, garages, and parking areas. Which one controlled the spot where you fell decides who answers for it, and sometimes both share it.

Hotels and resorts on Palm Beach island and in downtown West Palm Beach owe their guests reasonable care. Pool decks, polished stone lobbies that get wet from rain carried in at the door, and bathroom floors are where many hotel falls happen, and a hotel is a business, so a slip on a substance there falls under § 768.0755. In a condominium or HOA community, the association usually maintains the common areas, such as stairways, garages, walkways, and the pool, so a fall there is typically a claim against the association and its liability insurance rather than against your neighbors personally.

What should I do in the first day or two after a fall?

• Tell a manager, front desk, or the building's management before you leave, and ask that an incident report be written. Get the name of the person you spoke to. Sign nothing beyond an acknowledgment that you reported the fall.
• Take photos of the exact spot right away: the liquid or object, the lighting, the floor surface, whether any warning sign was nearby, and your shoes.
• Ask anyone who saw the fall, or the hazard before it, for a name and phone number. A stranger who noticed the spill ten minutes earlier can be the most important witness in the case.
• See a doctor that day and describe exactly how you fell. A gap between the fall and the first visit is the first thing an insurer points to.
• Set aside the shoes and clothing you wore, without washing them.
• Do not give a recorded statement to the property owner's insurance company until you have talked to a lawyer.

Is there a deadline to sue after a fall in Palm Beach County?

Yes. For falls on or after March 24, 2023, you generally have two years to file suit (Fla. Stat. § 95.11), and most of these cases are filed in the Fifteenth Judicial Circuit. Falls on public property work differently. A cracked city sidewalk, a county park, a public beach access, or a public school can involve a government owner, and before suing you must send written notice to the agency and to the Department of Financial Services under Fla. Stat. § 768.28(6). Those steps have their own time limits, so a government fall should be looked at quickly.

What can I be compensated for after a fall on someone else's property?

A fall caused by an owner's negligence can support a claim for medical care, lost income, and pain and suffering. Unlike a car crash, a premises case has no PIP and no permanent-injury threshold, so pain and suffering can be claimed for any injury the negligence caused, not only a permanent one. If a jury decides you share the blame, Fla. Stat. § 768.81 lowers the award by your percentage, and a share above 50% ends the claim. Stores, shopping centers, hotels, and condominium associations in Palm Beach County generally carry liability insurance with meaningful limits, so the harder question in most fall cases is proving what the owner knew under Fla. Stat. § 768.0755, not whether there is a policy to pay.

Which mistakes most often damage a fall claim?

• Leaving without telling anyone. If there is no report, the owner will say the fall never happened on its property.
• Letting weeks go by before calling a lawyer. The video that shows how long the hazard was there is usually gone in about 30 days.
• Agreeing on a recorded call that you weren't paying attention. The owner's insurer will build its defense around that sentence.
• Washing or throwing out your shoes. Footwear is one of the first things the defense raises.
• Signing an incident report written in the owner's words. Sign only to acknowledge that you reported the fall.
• Putting off medical care. Records from the same day connect your injury with the fall; a week's delay gives the insurer room to doubt it.