As we have discussed many times on the blog, negligence is very fact specific and comes down to: is the person or entity that you are suing at fault in the accident and caused your injuries. Here, the question above also involves: who is the correct entity to sue. So for example, is the area outside the business establishment maintained by that business establishment or by the landlord. In a large mall setting for example, it is likely that the business establishment maintains the actual store, inside the doors of the business; however the area outside the store, in the mall area, would likely be maintained by the mall owner or operator. Again, this is very fact specific and this is part of the lawyer’s job to figure out who is the correct entity to sue.
Secondly, just because you fall on someone else’s property (whether business establishment or mall) doesn’t necessarily mean that the property owner or occupier is legally responsible for your fall. You must prove negligence. For example, if someone is drunk and trips on their own shoelaces inside a business establishment, it would not make sense for the business establishment to be legally responsible for the accident and in fact the law is clear that simply because you fall on someone’s property does not in and of itself make them legally responsible. You must prove negligence!
