Trip and Fall Claims

Why Choose Lawsuit Legal for Your Trip and Fall Case

Our attorneys have gone up against major insurers and well-funded property owners in serious injury cases, and won results that changed how our clients live.

We build every case toward one outcome: the full value of your claim, recovered as quickly as the facts allow.

• Experience. A proven record on complex, serious-injury claims, including the fractures and head trauma that follow a hard fall onto pavement.
• Expertise. Trial-tested lawyers who know premises liability law and how to carry a case through the litigation process.
• Reputation. Recognized among the best, with the record to prove it: more than $100 million recovered and a 98% recovery rate across 40,000-plus cases.
• Resources. The means to take on the largest opponents and bring in the surveying, measurement, and building-code experts a defective-walkway case needs.
• Communication. A team that keeps you informed at every stage, from the first call through resolution.
• You Win or It's Free. Contingency representation with no upfront cost.

What Makes a Sidewalk Defect Worth a Claim?

You catch a raised slab with your toe and you are on the ground before you can react. A broken wrist or a fractured hip can follow from a height difference you never saw.

Not every imperfection in a walkway supports a case. Courts apply the trivial defect doctrine, which lets owners off the hook for minor, expected irregularities that a reasonable pedestrian would step over. The fight is usually about height: a small lip may be called trivial, while a larger or hidden height-differential hazard at a sidewalk slab, a settled asphalt patch, or a broken curb cut crosses into actionable territory. Photos, measurements, and the lighting at the spot all matter.

• Uneven sidewalk slabs. The most-litigated trip hazard. ADA and many local codes consider an unbeveled vertical change of 1/4 inch or more a violation.^[1]
• Raised pavement at construction transitions. Particularly common at curb cuts and driveway aprons.
• Broken or missing floor tiles. Indoor commercial trip hazards.
• Exposed cords and cables. Office settings, retail temporary setups, restaurant kitchens.
• Mat edges curled or uplifted. Particularly in entries.
• Wheel stops in walking paths. Parking lot trip hazards.
• Broken or non-compliant curb cuts. ADA-relevant; particularly affecting elderly and disabled pedestrians.
• Asphalt patches that settled below the surrounding pavement. Often forming a hidden ridge.
• Tree-root pavement uplift. Particularly common in older urban areas.
• Missing or non-functioning warning markings. At surface transitions, ramps, or grade changes.^[2]

Once you clear the trivial defect hurdle, the case turns on whether the owner or city knew about the defect. A slab that crept up over months, a logged maintenance complaint, or a prior repair on the same stretch all speak to how long the hazard existed before you fell. Defendants routinely argue you should have seen it and watched your footing, so what you recover often depends on how fault gets divided between you and the property. On top of any municipal notice window, every state sets a deadline to sue, so confirm the filing deadline for your claim early.

What to Do After a Trip and Fall

A defect that catches your foot is a defect a crew can grind down or patch by next week, so capturing it while it is still there is the first job.

• Photograph the defect with a coin or your shoe for scale before anyone repairs it. The defense will downplay the size, and a reference object in the frame answers that.
• Measure the height difference if you can. The vertical lift at a raised slab or a sunken patch is the number that pushes a defect past the trivial line.
• Note the exact location. Mark the address, the nearest storefront or pole, and which direction you were walking so the spot can be found again.
• Report it. Tell the property owner, store manager, or city, and log the complaint so there is a dated record.
• Get witnesses. Names and numbers of anyone who saw the fall or knows how long the defect had been there.
• See a doctor the same day. Catching a fall with an outstretched hand breaks wrists; early treatment documents the injury and links it to the fall.

How We Prove the Property Was at Fault

A trip and fall claim turns on four elements. The owner or municipality owed a duty to keep the walkway reasonably safe. The defect breached it. The responsible party knew or should have known the hazard was there, which is the question of how long the defect existed before you fell. And the defect caused your fall and your losses.

The evidence in a defective-surface case is physical and documentary. A precise measurement of the height differential, compared against the ADA and local-code thresholds the page describes above, shows the defect was actionable rather than trivial. Repair and work-order history reveals how long the lift sat, because a slab logged for repair months earlier and never fixed proves the owner had notice. Prior complaints about the same stretch of walkway close the loop on what the property already knew.

Economic Damages and Compensation in Trip and Fall Claims

The damages framework mirrors slip and fall.

Economic damages: emergency and surgical care, rehabilitation, future medical expenses, lost wages, lost earning capacity, and funeral expenses in fatal cases.

Non-economic damages: pain and suffering, loss of enjoyment of life, disfigurement, mental anguish, loss of consortium, survival and wrongful death damages.

Punitive damages where prior incidents at the same hazard established notice.

Settlement value tracks injury severity: tens of thousands to low six figures for minor injuries; mid-to-high six figures for wrist or ankle fractures requiring fixation; seven figures for catastrophic injuries (hip fracture in elderly, TBI from head strike, spinal cord injury).