A property owner is not automatically responsible because you fell on their property. They are responsible if they knew about the hazard, or should have known about it and did nothing, and proving that second part is where most California slip and fall claims are won or lost.
This article is by Accident Lawyer of California, P.C., the personal injury practice of Aryan Aliakbarzadeh, Esq. in Northridge, California, admitted to the State Bar of California in October 2012. It describes how these cases work in California; it is not advice about yours.
The word that decides it is notice Link to this section
California does not make an owner the insurer of everyone who walks in. The California Supreme Court said so directly in Ortega v. Kmart Corp. (2001) 26 Cal.4th 1200.
What the law does require is reasonable care to keep the premises reasonably safe, and that includes making reasonable inspections of the areas customers use.
So the question becomes whether the owner knew, or should have known. Actual notice is when someone told them, or an employee saw it. Constructive notice is when the hazard sat there long enough that a reasonably careful owner would have found it.
The inspection rule, and why it helps you Link to this section
Here is the part of Ortega that matters most to someone who has just fallen.
You do not have to prove by direct evidence how long the spill or the hazard was there. Nobody expects you to have been watching the floor before you walked on it. The length of time can be proved by circumstantial evidence.
And if the owner cannot show they inspected the area within a reasonable period before you fell, a jury is allowed to infer that the hazard had been there long enough for them to have found it.
That is an inference, not an automatic win. The burden of producing evidence stays with you. But it means the owner’s own inspection records, or the absence of them, become central, and it means an owner who cannot say when that aisle was last checked has a problem.
The court also noted that self service stores, where customers handle merchandise themselves, may need more precautions and more frequent inspections than other premises.
The flip side is honest and worth knowing. An owner who did inspect reasonably is not negligent just because someone was hurt.
The evidence that disappears first Link to this section
Slip and fall claims are decided on things that stop existing within days.
Camera footage, which many systems overwrite within days or weeks.
The incident report the store made you sign, which you may not have a copy of.
Sweep logs and inspection sheets, which exist in most chains and are not volunteered.
The hazard itself, which gets mopped up within minutes of you leaving.
Your shoes, which get worn again and which the defense will later ask about.
Photographs you take on your phone before anyone cleans anything are often the single most valuable item in the file, and the moment you are least inclined to take them is the moment they matter.
If you fell on public property, the clock is much shorter Link to this section
This is the one that costs people otherwise good claims.
In California you generally have two years from the date of injury to file a personal injury lawsuit, under Code of Civil Procedure section 335.1.
But if you fell in a city or county building, on a public sidewalk, at a transit stop or anywhere else a public entity is responsible for, you have six months to file an administrative claim first, under Government Code section 911.2.
Six months disappears while you are still in treatment. A fall on a broken sidewalk outside a store may involve the city rather than the store, and the deadline attaches to whoever is actually responsible, not to whoever you assumed.
What the insurer will argue Link to this section
Expect three things, and none of them is a reason to give up.
That the hazard was open and obvious, so you should have seen it.
That you were looking at your phone, which they will ask about early and casually.
That your footwear was unsuitable, which is why they want to know what you were wearing.
All three go to whether you were partly at fault, and partial fault in California reduces the recovery by your percentage rather than ending the claim.
What to do this week Link to this section
Photograph the exact spot, the hazard, the lighting and the surrounding area, from several distances.
Report it to a manager and ask for a copy of the incident report before you leave. If they will not give you one, note the name of the person you reported it to.
Ask whether the area is covered by camera, and ask in writing that the footage be preserved. Today, not next month.
Keep the shoes you were wearing, unworn, in a bag.
See a doctor, and keep the appointments, because gaps in treatment get used.
If you want to understand what your claim is worth before you speak to anyone about money, read that first.
If a store has already told you they are not responsible, that is their opening position rather than a finding. The consultation costs nothing and the line is open 24 hours.