Two Firms Said It Would Be Too Hard to Prove

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What happened in this case?

Our client stepped into a pothole in a commercial parking lot in Lafayette and broke her hip. Two other law firms had already told her the case would be hard to prove and declined to take it. We took it, and it settled for $140,000.

Figures shown are rounded; the exact amounts are on file. Past results are not a guarantee of future successes. Each case is different and is evaluated on its own facts.

On this page

• What made this case what it was?
• Can you sue a business because you fell on its property?
• What decides whether a fall case is winnable?
• What if they say you should have been watching where you were going?
• Hurt in a fall in Lafayette?
• Frequently asked questions

What made this case what it was?

She was walking into a store from a commercial parking lot when she stepped into a hole in the pavement she had not seen. She went down and could not get back up on her own. An ambulance took her to the hospital, where doctors found her hip was broken in several places. She had a hip replacement the next day, followed by two months of physical therapy.

We photographed the hole and the path she took into and out of the store, and we filed suit against the company that owned the lot. The case settled for $140,000.

Can you sue a business because you fell on its property?

Sometimes, and it is harder than people assume. It is not enough that you were hurt on someone’s property, or even that the property was in bad shape. In general you have to show the condition was unreasonably dangerous and that the business knew about it or should have, and Louisiana puts a real burden on the injured person to prove those things rather than on the business to explain itself.

That burden is why most of these claims are denied on the first phone call, and why the cases that succeed are the ones where somebody went and gathered proof early.

General legal principles, not advice about any particular case. Fall claims in Louisiana are governed by specific statutes whose requirements depend on the kind of property and the kind of business.

What decides whether a fall case is winnable?

Whether you can prove the hazard existed long enough for the business to have done something about it. A pothole helps here in a way a spilled drink does not, because a hole in asphalt does not appear in an afternoon. Weathering, patching, the condition of the surrounding lot, prior complaints, and the business’s own maintenance records can all speak to how long it had been there.

The second thing is what you do in the first days. Photographs before it gets patched, the names of anyone who saw it, and an incident report made while the lot still looks the way it looked when you fell. Potholes get filled after somebody falls in them, and once it is filled the argument becomes your word against a smooth surface.

What if they say you should have been watching where you were going?

Expect that argument. It is the first thing the other side says in almost every fall case, and it is not automatically a defense. People walk across parking lots looking for their car, carrying things, and with other cars moving around them, and a business that lets a hazard sit in a walking surface does not get to assume everyone will see it.

Whether it reduces or defeats a claim depends on the facts and on how fault is divided, which in Louisiana now matters more than it used to.

Hurt in a fall in Lafayette?

Call (337) 347-7177 for a free consultation. Take photographs first if you can, and call before the property changes. No fee unless we win.

Frequently asked questions

They filled the pothole right after I fell. Does that hurt my case?

Not necessarily, and it is not unusual. It does make photographs and witnesses far more valuable, which is why the first few days matter so much in a fall case.

Do I have a case if I did not report it that day?

Possibly, but it is harder, and the longer the gap the harder it gets. Report it as soon as you can and get medical attention, both because you need it and because the record matters.

Is a fall case worth less than a car accident?

Not inherently. The value comes from the injury, the care it requires, and what it costs you in work and function, the same as any other case. What is different is that fall cases are harder to win on liability, so more of them fail entirely rather than settling low.

Related reading: Do I have a slip and fall case in Louisiana?, who is responsible for a slip and fall, and slip and fall accidents in Louisiana stores.

Past results are not a guarantee of future successes. Every case depends on its own facts. Attorney advertising.