Retail Store Liability

Premises Liability Attorneys Advising Residents of Queens

When a retail store welcomes the public onto its premises, it has a legal duty to keep the property reasonably safe. If you have tripped and fallen due to a known hazard or condition, the storeowner may be liable for your injuries. People in Queens or the surrounding communities can consult the premises liability lawyers at The Cassisi Law Firm after being hurt in a slip and fall at a business. We have over 30 years of experience representing accident victims in personal injury claims. We provide dedicated legal guidance and representation, helping you understand your rights and seek compensation for your harm.

Pursuing Damages from a Negligent Retail Store

A personal injury claim is typically proven by showing the existence of four factors: duty, breach, causation, and damages. First, the plaintiff must show that the defendant owed him or her a duty of care. Next, the plaintiff must show that the defendant breached this duty by failing to use a level of care that would have been reasonable in the circumstances. The breach also must have directly resulted in the accident, and the damages that arose from it must be reasonably quantifiable.

In addition, the plaintiff in a premises liability lawsuit must demonstrate that he or she was lawfully on the property. The owner or store proprietor must have known or should have known of an unsafe condition on the premises. Also, the plaintiff must show that the storeowner failed to properly repair the condition or provide an adequate warning.

Legal responsibility often rests on whether the store knew or should have known of the hazard, and failed to promptly fix the problem. Business owners must ensure that their customers are safe from foreseeable harms that come from dangerous conditions. An example might be a spilled drink on a linoleum floor. If the store knows or should know of the presence of liquid on its floor, the staff should take reasonable steps to ensure that customers are shielded from the potential risk of slipping on the wet surface and suffering injuries.

Premises liability claims are based on a standard of reasonableness. Both the store owner and the patron are expected to behave as a reasonable person would behave under similar circumstances. If the store is aware of an excessively cluttered aisle, or insufficient lighting in a certain area, it has a duty to fix the problem. It is also important for the patron to behave in a reasonable manner. If a victim was aware of a dangerous condition in a store and injured himself by simply disregarding it, he may not be able to recover compensation for his injuries. However, even if a victim was partly responsible for the accident, the rule of comparative negligence may allow him or her to recover a reduced amount of damages.

Compensation for losses in a slip and fall lawsuit usually includes economic and non-economic damages. Economic damages refer to objective costs such as medical bills, missed wages from work, and the costs of future treatment. Pain and suffering damages are an example of non-economic, subjective damages.

Consult a Dedicated Queens Lawyer for Your Slip and Fall Case

At The Cassisi Law Firm, our injury attorneys are committed to helping Queens residents and others pursue compensation for slip and fall accidents. We provide a free consultation and can be reached by calling the office at or using our online form. The Cassisi Law Firm also assists accident victims from the Bronx and Brooklyn, as well as Suffolk and Nassau Counties.