Los Angeles Slip and Fall Lawyer
We build premises liability claims around what the property owner knew and when they knew it, because in Los Angeles the fight is almost never about whether you fell, it is about whether anyone is willing to admit the hazard was there first.
Justice for Los Angeles Injury Victims
Their Wet Floor, Their Responsibility
You slipped in the aisle of a grocery store and the manager's first move was to ask whether you were watching where you were walking. That reflex is not an accident. Shifting the blame to the injured visitor is the cheapest defense available, and it works when nobody documents the condition that caused the fall.
California property owners have a legal duty to keep their premises reasonably safe for the people they invite in. Civil Code §1714 makes anyone responsible for injuries caused by a want of ordinary care in the management of their property, and telling a customer to watch their step does not discharge that duty.
The Four Things an LA Premises Claim Has to Prove
CACI 1000, California's premises liability instruction, sets out the elements. Every slip and fall claim we file is organized around them.
Control
The defendant owned, leased, occupied, or controlled the property where you fell. In Los Angeles this is frequently disputed, because a strip mall hazard can sit between a tenant, a landlord, and a maintenance contractor.
Negligence
They were negligent in the use or maintenance of the property. A spill left unattended, a sidewalk lifted by a tree root, a burned-out stairwell light, a mat with a curled edge.
Harm
You were injured. Fractures, torn ligaments, spinal injuries, and head trauma are the outcomes we see most in falls onto hard surfaces.
Substantial factor
Their negligence was a substantial factor in causing your injury.
The element that decides most cases is notice, and CACI 1011 covers it: a property owner is responsible for a condition they knew about or would have discovered through reasonable inspection. That is why sweep logs, inspection schedules, prior incident reports, and surveillance footage matter more than photographs of the spill itself.
How Long Do I Have to File a Slip and Fall Claim in California?
Two years from the date of the fall under Code of Civil Procedure §335.1. That is the standard deadline for premises liability and it is a hard cutoff, not a guideline.
The shorter deadline is the one that catches people. If you fell on public property, a City of Los Angeles sidewalk, a county building, a Metro station, or a public park, Government Code §911.2 generally requires a claim to be presented to the entity within six months of the injury. Miss it and the right to sue can be extinguished regardless of how clear the liability was.
Broken and uneven sidewalks are a Los Angeles-specific version of this problem. A raised slab in Silver Lake or Echo Park may be the city's responsibility, the adjacent property owner's, or both, and sorting that out is a six-month question, not a two-year one.
Our premises liability practice explains how these claims are structured statewide.
What If I Did Not Take Photos or Report It?
Your case is not over. Immediate documentation makes a claim easier, and its absence is what property insurers count on, but a trip and fall lawyer in LA can reconstruct most of what you missed.
- Surveillance footage from the business, neighboring tenants, or a parking structure camera
- The incident report the store filed internally even if you never received a copy
- Sweep logs, work orders, and maintenance records showing the condition and the response
- Medical records establishing the injury and the date it occurred
- Witness accounts from employees or other customers who saw the hazard
The variable is timing. Footage cycles out, employees turn over, and the hazard gets repaired. The sooner we send a preservation letter, the more of that record still exists when we need it.
Where LA Slip and Fall Claims Come From
Los Angeles produces a consistent mix of unsafe property injury claims, and the setting changes who the defendants are.
- Grocery and big-box stores, where spills, produce misting, and freezer condensation create recurring hazards
- Apartment buildings and complexes, where stairwells, walkways, and lighting fall to landlords and property managers
- Restaurants, bars, and hotels, where kitchen runoff and unmarked level changes are common
- Parking structures and garages, with oil, uneven ramps, and poor lighting
- Public sidewalks, transit stations, and parks, which carry the six-month government claim deadline
Los Angeles injury suits are filed through Los Angeles County Superior Court, and we handle the filings and appearances. If you are comparing firms before you commit, our guide to the best personal injury law firms in Los Angeles sets out what to look for.
Falls in neighboring areas get their own treatment. Restaurant and venue falls along the Sunset Strip are covered in
our West Hollywood slip and fall coverage, and association and public-property falls to the south are covered in our
Orange County slip and fall coverage.
Let Us Talk to the Insurance Company
Property insurers move fast on slip and fall claims because early offers are cheap offers. An adjuster who calls you within days is not being helpful, they are trying to get a recorded statement and a signature before anyone knows what the injury actually is.
We handle every insurance communication from the moment you retain us. No recorded statements, no pressure to sign, no settlement discussion before your medical picture is clear. Hakakian Law Group is headquartered on Santa Monica Boulevard in West Hollywood, and one of our attorneys built his early career defending insurance companies.
Our Los Angeles personal injury team handles the full range of claims across the county.
What do I do after a slip and fall in a grocery store in LA?
Report it to a manager before you leave and ask for the incident report number. Photograph the hazard, the surrounding area, and your footwear, and get the names of any employees or customers who saw it. Then get medical attention the same day, because a gap between the fall and the first treatment is the first thing the insurer will use against you.
How long do I have to file a slip and fall claim in California?
Generally two years from the date of the fall under Code of Civil Procedure §335.1. If the fall happened on public property such as a city sidewalk, a county facility, or a transit station, you usually have only six months to present a claim to that entity under Government Code §911.2.
Is there a slip and fall lawyer near me in Los Angeles?
Our office is on Santa Monica Boulevard in West Hollywood and we represent clients across Los Angeles County, from downtown and the Eastside to the Westside and the Valley. We handle the Los Angeles County Superior Court filings and appearances, so proximity to a courthouse is our problem rather than yours.
Do I have a claim if the hazard was obvious?
Possibly. An open and obvious condition can reduce recovery but it does not automatically bar a claim, and California's comparative fault rules mean your damages are reduced by your share of responsibility rather than eliminated. A property owner can still be liable where the hazard was unavoidable or where there was no reasonable alternative route.
Who pays if I fell in a leased retail space?
It depends on the lease and on who actually controlled the area. The tenant, the landlord, and a janitorial or maintenance contractor can each carry separate policies, and identifying all of them early is often the difference between one available limit and three. Our premises liability practice covers how those relationships get untangled.
Los Angeles Slip and Fall Questions
Content Reviewed By:
Shawn S. Hakakian, Esq., founder of Hakakian Law Group, PC, a Penn Law graduate and former Gibson Dunn attorney, National Trial Lawyers Top 40 Under 40 honoree, Avvo Clients' Choice Award recipient, and member of CAALA and the Consumer Attorneys of California. CA Bar No. 342841.