Palm Beach Gardens Slip and Fall Lawyer​

Common Causes of Slip and Fall Accidents in Palm Beach Gardens

Slip and fall accidents in Palm Beach County happen across retail centers, restaurants, hotels, apartment complexes, and public spaces. Some of the most common causes:

• Slippery surfaces caused by spilled liquids, tracked-in rainwater, recently mopped floors, or substances left on display floors
• Damaged or uneven walking surfaces, including broken tile, loose carpet, cracked sidewalks, and worn stair treads
• Inadequate lighting in stairwells, parking lots, parking garages, and back-of-house areas
• Cluttered walkways with merchandise, cables, cords, or display materials in customer paths
• Missing or broken handrails on stairs and ramps
• Failure to warn of known hazards through signs, cones, barriers, or floor markings

If one of these conditions contributed to your fall, photographs of the scene can be valuable evidence later in the case.

Common Slip and Fall Injuries

Slip and fall accidents often cause serious injuries that take weeks or months to fully appear. The injury patterns we see most:

• Broken bones: Wrist, hip, ankle, and arm fractures are common when people instinctively try to break their fall.
• Traumatic brain injury (TBI): Concussions and more severe brain injuries when the head strikes the floor, a counter, or another object.
• Neck and spinal cord injuries: Whiplash, herniated discs, vertebral fractures, and, in severe cases, partial paralysis.
• Soft tissue injuries: Torn ligaments, strained muscles, and rotator cuff damage.
• Hip injuries: Particularly serious for older adults and frequently requiring surgery and extended rehabilitation.
• Internal injuries: Damage to the kidneys, liver, or spleen from blunt impact.

Many Palm Beach Gardens fall victims seek emergency care at Palm Beach Gardens Medical Center or Jupiter Medical Center. Don’t skip follow-up care, since injuries that seem minor on the day of the fall can develop into chronic conditions weeks later.

What to Do After a Slip and Fall Accident

Get medical care first. After that, the most important steps usually happen in the first few days:

1. File an incident report. File a report with the business or property owner where you fell, and request a copy in writing. The internal incident report can become evidence in your case.
2. Photograph the scene before it changes. Take photos of the hazard (spilled liquid, broken tile, exposed cord, missing handrail), the surrounding area, the lighting conditions, and any warning signs (or absence of them). The hazard usually gets cleaned up within minutes, so this can’t wait.
3. Don’t give a recorded statement to the property owner’s insurer. Insurers often call quickly after a fall and ask for a recorded statement. Statements made in the first days can be used to argue you weren’t seriously hurt or were at fault.
4. Send a preservation letter to the business through a lawyer. Surveillance footage from grocery stores, restaurants, hotels, and retail locations is usually overwritten within a week. A formal preservation letter locks down the video before it’s lost.

Proving Negligence in a Florida Slip and Fall Case

Florida has a specific statute governing slip and fall claims against businesses. Under Fla. Stat. § 768.0755, the injured person has to prove four elements:

1. The business had actual or constructive knowledge of the dangerous condition before the fall.
2. The business should have taken action to remedy the condition.
3. The dangerous condition caused the fall.
4. The fall caused measurable damages (medical bills, lost wages, pain and suffering).

The actual or constructive knowledge requirement is what makes Florida slip and fall claims harder to win than they used to be. Before 2010, businesses had to prove they didn’t know about the hazard. Today, the injured person has to prove the business knew or should have known.

Constructive knowledge can be proven by showing the condition existed for long enough that the business should have known about it (a puddle visible on security footage for forty minutes, for example), or that the hazard occurred with regularity and was therefore foreseeable (an ice machine that leaks every few days). This is why surveillance video, maintenance logs, prior incident reports, and witness statements become the most important evidence in a Florida slip and fall case.

Comparative Negligence in Slip and Fall Cases

Florida applies modified comparative negligence under Fla. Stat. § 768.81, as amended by HB 837 in March 2023. If the injured person is found 50% or less at fault for the fall, damages are reduced by their percentage of fault. If the injured person is 51% or more at fault, recovery is barred entirely.

Insurance adjusters may try to assign comparative fault by arguing you were distracted by your phone, weren’t wearing appropriate shoes, ignored a posted warning, or walked through an area you shouldn’t have entered. A lawyer can respond with photos, surveillance footage, witness statements, and incident reports.

Dealing with Insurance Companies After a Fall

When dealing with insurance companies after a fall, avoid apologizing or admitting fault. Adjusters often call quickly and ask for a recorded statement or an early settlement offer. Both can hurt your case before you know the full extent of your injuries. Let your attorney handle the communication.

How Slip And Fall Claims Work

What you can expect once we take your case:

1. Investigation. We pull the incident report, gather witness statements, send a preservation letter for any surveillance footage, and inspect the location when possible.
2. Medical documentation. Your treating physicians’ records become the backbone of the damages portion of the case. We coordinate with your providers and, when needed, retain life-care planners for projected future medical costs.
3. Demand and negotiation. Once you reach maximum medical improvement, we send a demand package to the property owner’s insurer outlining liability, injuries, and damages.
4. Litigation, if necessary. If the insurer won’t pay fair value, we file suit in the Palm Beach County 15th Judicial Circuit. Discovery, depositions, mediation, and trial preparation follow.

How Long Do You Have to File a Slip and Fall Claim in Florida?

Under Fla. Stat. § 95.11(4)(a), as amended by HB 837 in March 2023, the statute of limitations for personal injury claims in Florida is two years from the date of injury. Anyone injured before March 24, 2023, may still be subject to the old four-year deadline. Cases that occurred after that date fall under the two-year window.

For slip and fall accidents on government or municipality property, Fla. Stat. § 768.28 requires written pre-suit notice to the agency before a lawsuit can be filed. Sovereign immunity also caps damages at $200,000 per claim and $300,000 per incident, with limited exceptions. The notice requirement and damages caps make government slip and fall cases procedurally different from claims against private businesses.

Compensation in a Slip and Fall Case

A slip and fall injury can affect your health, work, and daily life. Compensation in a slip and fall case may include:

• Emergency medical treatment and hospital bills
• Surgery and physical therapy
• Future medical care for chronic injuries
• Lost wages and lost earning capacity
• Pain and suffering
• Emotional distress and loss of enjoyment of life
• Property damage from the fall
• Out-of-pocket costs related to the injury

Fall injuries involving older adults often require more substantial care, including hospitalization, rehabilitation, and in-home care. We work with life-care planners to make sure the claim accounts for future needs before reaching any settlement.

Talk to a Palm Beach Gardens Slip And Fall Lawyer Today

Lytal, Reiter, Smith, Ivey & Fronrath represents injured people throughout Palm Beach County. We can investigate the fall, preserve surveillance footage and maintenance records, identify available insurance coverage, and pursue the compensation available under Florida law.

We handle slip and fall cases on a contingency fee basis. You don’t pay attorney’s fees upfront, and our fee comes out of the recovery if the case is successful. Separate costs may apply.

Call (561) 655-1990 or contact us online for a free, no-obligation consultation.

Frequently Asked Questions About Slip and Fall Accidents in Palm Beach Gardens

Can I file a claim if I slipped in a store but didn’t report it right away?

Late reporting can create evidentiary challenges, particularly under Fla. Stat. § 768.0755, which requires proof that the business had notice of the hazard. The longer the delay, the harder it can be to establish constructive knowledge. You can still pursue a claim within the two-year statute of limitations, but the case is generally stronger when reported immediately.

Will store surveillance footage be available for my claim?

Surveillance video isn’t guaranteed for any case. Many businesses overwrite footage within a week, and some keep it even shorter. The fastest way to preserve it is for a lawyer to send a formal preservation letter to the business and its insurer within days of the fall. Once the letter is sent, destroying the footage can become its own legal problem for the business.

What if I was distracted when I fell (like using my phone)?

You may be assigned partial fault under Florida’s modified comparative negligence rule (Fla. Stat. § 768.81). Your recovery would be reduced by your share of fault. At 51% or more, recovery is barred. Phone use alone usually isn’t enough to push fault past the 51% threshold, but adjusters will use it to argue down the value of the claim.

Can I file a claim for a fall on a sidewalk or public property?

Yes, but the procedure is different. Claims against a city, county, or state agency require written pre-suit notice under Fla. Stat. § 768.28 and are subject to sovereign immunity damage caps. Get a lawyer involved early on these cases because the notice deadlines and procedural requirements differ from claims against private businesses.

What if the business denies that the hazard existed?

Denial of the hazard is common in slip and fall cases, particularly when surveillance footage is unavailable or the incident report is missing. Photos taken at the scene, witness statements, prior incident reports, and maintenance logs become critical evidence. A lawyer can subpoena these records and use them to establish constructive knowledge even when the business disputes it.