Last month, I was traveling out west with my wonderful wife and visiting family in Utah. It was cold. Listening to the song “American Pie”, I agreed fully with those lyrics by Don Mclean, reminding us how frigid February could be. I was indeed shivering. Several times I was extra careful in my steps around the ice and snow, worried about a fall on slippery steps or icy sidewalks.
Falls due to ice and snow don’t happen much here in Mississippi, but I have represented clients over the 33 years of my law practice that have taken a fall due to property that was not properly maintained by a business owner. These types of cases are called premises liability cases. Many people do not understand that just because you slip on ice, water or some other foreign substance on someone else’s premises and are injured, it does not automatically mean that you have a right for that landowner to pay for your medical bills or other damages.
In Mississippi, in order to have a merchant, business or other landowner pay for your injuries suffered on their property, you must prove they were negligent. And if you were injured due to some foreign substance or object in your walking path on a business, you must prove that the owner knew or should have known of the defective substance, or that the owner or their employee put the foreign substance on the floor. Then you must prove that your “slip and fall” or your “trip and fall” caused the injury you sustained.
My firm has been quite successful in taking these types of cases, but that comes from being very careful in making sure we take the right type of cases.
If in the future, you fall and are injured by what you think is someone else’s wrongdoing, then please do not fret, but call me to discuss whether, under the law in the state of Mississippi, you might have a right to have that individual or business pay for the damages you sustained as a result of their incorrect actions.
March is here, but that doesn’t mean that there won’t be some potential icy days ahead and there are certainly wet days ahead. Watch your step and stay safe out there!
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