Pacific Palisades Slip and Fall Lawyer

Were you injured in a slip and fall accident in Pacific Palisades, CA?

At Cohen Injury Law Group, we offer a free, confidential case review with a Pacific Palisades slip and fall lawyer.

If you fell on a wet floor, a broken sidewalk, or an unlit stairway in Pacific Palisades, you may be recovering from a fractured wrist or hip while the property owner’s insurer suggests you should have watched your step. Not every fall leads to a valid claim, because the owner must have had a fair chance to find and fix the danger.

Our founding attorney’s trial work spans more than three decades. Our Pacific Palisades, CA slip and fall lawyer can establish what the owner knew about the hazard and when. Contact Cohen Injury Law Group to talk through what happened at no cost.

Slip and Fall Lawyer Pacific Palisades, CA

Slip and fall claims belong to a branch of law called premises liability, which holds owners and managers responsible for unsafe conditions they knew about or should have found. A slip and fall lawyer gathers proof that the hazard existed long enough to be noticed, then measures the full cost of the injury. Each claim is built on the facts of one property and one hazard.

A 2021 audit by the Los Angeles City Controller found that the City received more than 1,700 claims and 1,020 lawsuits over sidewalk injuries in five fiscal years. Pacific Palisades is part of the City of Los Angeles, so falls on its public sidewalks go through that same claims process.

Types of Slip and Fall Cases We Handle in Pacific Palisades

Property owners in Pacific Palisades range from homeowners and landlords to grocery stores, restaurants, and the City itself. Each hazard below points to a different responsible party. Our slip and fall attorneys handle claims involving all of them.

• Wet floors. Spilled drinks, tracked-in rain, and freshly mopped tile cause many falls in stores and restaurants. We look at cleaning logs and warning signs to show how long the floor stayed wet.
• Uneven sidewalks. Tree roots and settling concrete lift slabs high enough to catch a shoe. Responsibility for broken sidewalk falls can rest with the City, the adjacent owner, or both.
• Defective stairs and handrails. Loose railings, worn treads, and steps of uneven height cause serious falls in apartment buildings and older homes. Building records and repair requests often show the owner knew.
• Poor lighting. Dark stairwells, parking areas, and walkways hide hazards that would be easy to avoid in daylight. Burned-out fixtures that went unreplaced are a common source of these claims.
• Loose carpeting and rugs. Torn carpet and unsecured mats catch the front of a shoe and pitch a person forward. Hotels, offices, and rental properties all carry this risk.
• Cluttered walkways. Boxes, cords, and merchandise left in aisles create tripping hazards. Store employees are expected to clear them as part of routine inspections.
• Pool and spa areas. Wet decking and slick tile around pools cause falls with hard landings. Owners of homes, hotels, and residential complexes must keep these surfaces reasonably safe.
• Parking lot hazards. Potholes, broken wheel stops, and faded curb paint injure people walking to and from their cars. Commercial landlords usually control these areas.
• Construction accidents. Rebuilding sites leave debris, open trenches, and temporary walkways near sidewalks and driveways. Contractors and property owners can share responsibility when a passerby falls.
• Brain injuries. A fall onto pavement or tile can cause a concussion or a more serious head injury. Symptoms may develop over several days, so medical follow-up matters.

Why Choose Cohen Injury Law Group as My Slip and Fall Lawyer in Pacific Palisades, CA?

Recognition Earned in the Courtroom

Wayne R. Cohen has practiced personal injury law since 1991, and Washingtonian magazine has featured him in its Top Lawyers Hall of Fame. He completed his undergraduate studies with distinction at the University of Michigan before graduating cum laude from law school. The Los Angeles Times is among the publications that have quoted him on the legal profession. His recoveries for injured clients total millions of dollars.

Property owners rarely admit that they knew about a hazard. A jury decides that question from the evidence, and Wayne’s trial preparation starts there. In slip and fall cases, that evidence usually comes from inspection logs, maintenance records, and the testimony of employees who worked that day.

Preserving Video and Incident Reports

Store surveillance video is often recorded over within days, and incident reports stay in the owner’s files unless someone asks for them. Requesting and preserving those records is work that Nicholas E. Cohen, our managing attorney, approaches with a background in legal technology. As a personal injury lawyer in Pacific Palisades, CA, our firm sends preservation letters to property owners early in every fall case. Our fee is a percentage of the recovery on a contingency basis, and you owe no attorney fees unless we recover compensation for you. Keep the shoes and clothing you wore when you fell, because they can show what was on the floor.

What Is Important to Understand About a Slip and Fall Case?

What Are Important Aspects of a Slip and Fall Case?

Notice is the central issue. A property owner is generally responsible when it created the hazard, knew about it, or would have discovered it through a reasonable inspection. Civil Code section 1714 extends the duty of ordinary care to the management of property, not only to a person’s own conduct.

Insurers often argue that the hazard was easy to see or that the person who fell was not paying attention. Those arguments go to negligence, and they are answered with photographs, inspection records, and witness accounts. When the fall happened on a public sidewalk, the claim may be against the City, and stricter filing rules apply. Falls at rental properties raise a separate question about whether the landlord or the tenant controlled the area where the hazard was. A slip and fall attorney answers it by reviewing the lease and any repair requests.

The injuries are often more serious than people expect. Falls commonly cause broken wrists, hip fractures, and head injuries. More than one in four older adults falls each year, according to the CDC, and recovery for an older person can take months.

What Is the Slip and Fall Case Timeline?

California’s two-year deadline under section 335.1 applies to most slip and fall lawsuits. A fall on City property is different, since claims against government agencies generally must be filed within six months. Most cases follow this sequence.

1. We gather photographs, witness names, and any incident report, and we send preservation letters for surveillance video.
2. We identify who owned, leased, or maintained the property, including the City where a sidewalk is involved.
3. Medical care continues while we collect records, and we wait to value the claim until your recovery has a clear course.
4. We submit a demand to the owner’s liability insurer or a claim to the public entity.
5. If the claim does not resolve, we file suit in the local courts and prepare the case for trial.

Damages, Liability, and Compensation for Slip and Fall Cases

Section 3333 allows recovery of the amount that will compensate for all of the harm a negligent owner caused. If you share some responsibility for the fall, partial fault reduces the award by your percentage rather than eliminating it. A slip and fall attorney in Pacific Palisades typically documents these losses.

• Bills for the emergency room, imaging, surgery, and rehabilitation of fractures and soft tissue injuries form the core of the medical claim.
• Time missed from work, and any lasting change in what you can earn, counts as lost income.
• Home assistance, mobility equipment, and transportation to appointments are recoverable when the injury requires them.
• Pain, sleep problems, and the loss of independence are part of the non-economic damages in a fall claim.
• A physician’s projection of later surgery or therapy supports a claim for future care.

What Should You Bring to Your Slip and Fall Consultation?

The items below help us evaluate a fall claim quickly. A slip and fall lawyer at our firm can request anything you do not have.

• Photos of the spot where you fell show the hazard before it is cleaned or repaired.
• The shoes you were wearing should stay in the condition they were in on the day of the fall.
• A copy of the incident report, or the name of the employee who took it, identifies the owner’s record of the event.
• Witness names and phone numbers allow us to confirm the condition of the floor or walkway.
• Emergency room paperwork and follow-up notes establish the injuries the fall caused.

Discarding the shoes or skipping follow-up care are common claim mistakes that insurers notice. At the consultation, we will tell you whether the facts suggest the owner had notice of the hazard.

Reach Out to Cohen Injury Law Group to Schedule a Consultation

Your consultation with a slip and fall lawyer in Pacific Palisades, CA is free and confidential. We are paid only if your claim produces a recovery. Contact us to request a meeting at a time that works around your recovery, and we will explain what the next steps would look like.