Slip and fall cases bring their own set of challenges. Liability is often not as clear cut as in the case of motor vehicle accidents or dog bites. There are added time limits and, if your fall happens on municipal property, s. 44 of the Municipal Act affords special liability protections to defendant municipalities in Ontario slip and fall claims.
When does it make sense to bring a lawsuit?
Before we take on a slip/trip and fall case, we want to make sure that our client is not signing up for a lawsuit with no prospect of success, or a lawsuit where the cost of litigation will exceed the damages. Typically, someone’s injuries must be serious and permanent before a lawsuit makes good economic sense in a personal injury claim.
It is rare (but not impossible) to see catastrophic injuries in slip and fall cases. The forces at play aren’t as significant as car accidents – where the relative velocity of a collision can exceed 200 km/h for head-on highway collisions for example.
Not every case needs to be worth $1,000,000, however.
There are plenty of circumstances where a slip and fall claimant sustains a frank orthopedic injury (broken bone, torn muscle or ligament) that permanently alters their life, even if not catastrophic. If liability can be proven these cases are typically worth pursuing under Ontario occupiers’ liability law.
I’ve provided two case summaries below of past cases we’ve resolved at Bergeron | Clifford in Renfrew County and Easter Ontario.
Case Summary 1: Getting Evidence Early Leads to a Positive Result
A woman in her 50s tripped on a hazard at a public building in Renfrew County, fracturing her hip and requiring surgery.
She contacted us early, and retained us to bring a claim on her behalf. The defendant denied responsibility for the accident.
Being local, we were able to go to the accident site quickly after she retained us. We documented the scene, taking photos and measurements before that evidence was lost forever – a critical step in building a strong slip and fall lawsuit.
Our initial site visit provided crucial liability evidence. With it, we were able to convince the defendant’s insurance company that their insured was at-fault.
The client recovered well and did not require ongoing therapy.
We were able to settle her claim out-of-court for an amount that fairly reflected her pain and suffering, out-of-pocket expenses and lost work opportunities because of her injury following this Renfrew County trip and fall accident.
Case Summary 2: Persistence Pays Off in a Snow and Ice Slip and Fall Case
A woman in her 70s slipped and fell on snow in the parking lot of a local business in Renfrew County, Ontario. She tore her rotator cuff in the fall.
Unfortunately, the snow had melted by the time she retained us.
Even though we weren’t able to document the scene, the Defendants did a poor job of keeping records. Our staff of well-trained law clerks and legal assistants identified the key liability records that should be in the Defendants’ possession and requested them early and often (e.g., surveillance footage, maintenance records, maintenance contracts, etc.) as part of the litigation process.
When the (limited) records finally came, it became clear that the Defendants had no documents to show they had properly plowed their parking lot in compliance with winter maintenance obligations. It was our client’s word against no one’s word. Our staff were able to expose that early on and we were able to settle this client’s claim before discoveries in her slip and fall lawsuit.
