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You can sue for a slip and fall in Kennewick, Washington. A successful slip and fall lawsuit generally requires more than showing that you fell on someone else’s property; you must establish the legal basis for holding the responsible party liable. At Craig Swapp & Associates, our Kennewick slip and fall lawyers can represent people injured in slip and fall accidents, including those involving wet floors, uneven surfaces, inadequate lighting, and other unsafe property conditions.
Kennewick slip and fall accidents fall under premises liability. Washington premises liability law does not automatically make a property owner responsible whenever someone gets hurt. You generally must establish negligence and show that the defendant owed a duty of care, breached that duty, and caused an injury resulting in damages.
The duty a property owner or occupier owes can depend partly on why the injured person was on the property. Washington courts continue to recognize the classifications of invitees, licensees, and trespassers when determining the scope of a land possessor’s duty.
Under Section 343, liability may arise when the land possessor knows or, through reasonable care, would discover a dangerous condition posing an unreasonable risk, should expect that invitees will not discover or protect themselves from the danger, and fails to exercise reasonable care to protect them.
This means a premises liability attorney will look closely at why you were on the property and what the property owner reasonably should have done under the circumstances.
A slip and fall lawsuit is fundamentally a negligence case. Washington courts describe the basic negligence elements as a duty owed to the plaintiff, a breach of that duty, a resulting injury, and proximate causation connecting the breach to the injury.
The first issue is whether the defendant owed you a legal duty under the circumstances. In premises liability cases, the injured person’s status on the property helps determine the duty owed.
Business invitees receive significant protections. Washington case law explains that reasonable care toward an invitee may require inspecting the premises for dangerous conditions and then using appropriate repairs, safeguards, or warnings to protect visitors.
Next, you must show that the responsible party failed to meet the applicable duty. Evidence that a business ignored a known spill, failed to conduct reasonable inspections, left a hazardous walking surface unrepaired, or failed to provide an appropriate warning could become important.
A property owner is not an automatic insurer of every visitor’s safety. The issue is whether the owner’s actions or omissions were unreasonable under the circumstances.
The unsafe condition must also have a sufficient causal connection to the injury. If you slipped on an untreated wet floor and fractured your wrist when you hit the ground, medical records, photographs, incident reports, surveillance footage, and witness statements may help establish what happened and the resulting harm.
Washington follows a pure comparative fault system under RCW 4.22.005. Under that statute, fault attributed to an injured claimant proportionately reduces compensatory damages rather than completely preventing recovery.
Pure comparative fault can become particularly important when a property owner argues that the hazard was visible, the injured person was distracted, or greater care could have prevented the fall. However, an allegedly obvious hazard does not necessarily end every claim; Washington premises liability law recognizes circumstances in which a land possessor may still have duties concerning a known or obvious danger when harm should reasonably be anticipated.
Compensation depends on the injuries, financial losses, evidence, available insurance, and other facts of the individual case. A serious fall can cause fractures, head injuries, back and spinal injuries, knee or shoulder damage, and other conditions that require significant treatment.
Recoverable compensatory damages may include medical expenses, lost income, diminished earning ability when supported by the circumstances, and pain and suffering. Future losses may also matter when an injury requires ongoing treatment or causes lasting limitations.
RCW 4.16.080 generally provides a 3-year limitation period for actions involving injury to a person, which commonly applies to Washington personal injury claims. The provided state statute-of-limitations reference likewise identifies Washington’s typical personal injury limitations period as three years from the accident.
Exceptions can also apply in certain circumstances, including claims involving government entities. Determining the applicable deadline after a slip and fall helps preserve the opportunity to pursue a claim.
Slip and fall cases often turn on details that are not immediately apparent after the accident.
Our Kennewick slip and fall lawyers at Craig Swapp & Associates can investigate these questions and collect evidence relevant to liability and damages. We can help identify potentially responsible parties, obtain records and available video, review medical documentation, communicate with insurers, calculate losses, negotiate for a settlement, and file a slip and fall lawsuit when litigation becomes necessary.
When you need an attorney in Kennewick, call us at 509-567-3629 or contact us using our online form to schedule your free initial consultation.
Written By: Ryan Swapp Legal Review By: Craig Swapp