School Slip and Fall Accidents: Breaking it Down

For both children and adults, slip-and-fall accidents at SoCal schools is the danger no one wants to talk about. Overall, these incidents have shot up 40 percent since 2020. Falls are the leading cause of school-related injury for elementary school students. Fall risk is also very high for workers over age 45. Most falls occur in crowded hallways, on wet floors, in bathrooms, or on playgrounds. In other words, most falls are preventable injuries.

A Carlsbad personal injury lawyer is a strong advocate for victims that society overlooks, perhaps due to their young or old age. Only the best advocate can take on large school districts, overcome unique procedural obstacles, and obtain the compensation these victims need and deserve. This compensation usually includes money for economic losses, such as medical bills, and noneconomic losses, such as pain and suffering.

Fall Injuries

Many times, the damages in slip-and-fall claims are significant, usually because slip-and-fall injuries are often permanent, at least to an extent.

A broken bone is a good example. If Julie slips, falls, and breaks her shoulder when she falls at school, she may never fully regain the entire range of motion in that joint. Her permanent disability also means permanent pain and suffering.

A Carlsbad personal injury lawyer mustn’t rush to settle claims like Julie’s. If a claim settles too early, the settlement amount may not fully reflect the victim’s future losses. If that happens, the victim is financially responsible for medical bills and other out-of-pocket losses and must suffer in silence.

The Basics

Public and private schools, like all other landowners in California, have a duty of care to keep people safe. The extent of this responsibility varies, according to factors like:

• Defendant’s control over the property,
• Likelihood of serious injury,
• Ease (or difficulty) of preventing the hazard, and
• Owner’s knowledge of the injury-causing hazard.

A Carlsbad personal injury lawyer must also prove, by a preponderance of the evidence, that the property hazard substantially caused the victim’s injury.

A preponderance of the evidence is more likely than not. That’s one of the lowest standards of proof in the law. Therefore, a little evidence, such as witness statements and medical bills, goes a long way.

The line between a substantial cause and a contributing cause is often a fine one. Let’s go back to Julie’s fall and assume she had a bad shoulder due to a previous sports injury. Her lawyer must prove the fall aggravated the prior sports injury and not the other way around. Medical testimony, often by a medical expert, is usually the key evidence on this point.

Special Rules

Mandatory arbitration clauses and special notice periods are the primary extra rules in a school-related slip-and-fall case. Incidentally, the duty of care extends beyond the school building, to athletic venues, bus stops, and field trip locales.

Many private schools include mandatory arbitration clauses in a TOS agreement. These clauses are often unenforceable “take it or leave it” contracts of adhesion. Caregivers must accept the TOS as written, even if they pay tuition.

The notice of claim requirement often applies to public schools. Lawyers must file notices with school districts before they file legal action. The notice gives the school district a chance to investigate the claim and settle it quietly before the matter becomes public record in court.

An attorney must be aware of the extra obstacles in school-related fall injury cases and have a plan to go over, through, or around these obstacles.

Connect With a Dedicated San Diego County Lawyer

Injury victims are entitled to substantial compensation. For a confidential consultation with an experienced personal injury lawyer in Carlsbad, contact the Pursley Law Firm. The sooner you reach out to us, the sooner we start working for you.

Source:

pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10696909/