The standard of care only requires reasonable efforts. In other words, an owner is not required to make sure the property is absolutely free of any and all dangers.

With the standard of care in mind, the important question to ask is whether or not the owner of the property was acting according to this standard. If not, the owner would be considered negligent. However, it’s important to note that proving negligence is not enough. To win a lawsuit, you must also show that this negligence was the cause of your injury.

This is important because often we assume that just because we slipped and fell, someone must have done something wrong. However, you must show that an owner or employee either caused the condition and did nothing about it, or should have known about it and the property owner failed to act.

For example, if a roof started leaking only minutes before you slipped in water, this would likely not be a case of negligence. By contrast, if the roof had been leaking for weeks in front of a busy store, this could be a basis for finding negligence. Because determining negligence is very fact-sensitive, a premises liability attorney will fully investigate every case, asking questions such as:

• How long did the condition exist?
• Was there a regular schedule for cleaning and/or repairing the premises?
• Were there any warnings of the dangerous condition?
• Were any safety devices installed/maintained – like handrails on the stairs?
• Was there a legitimate reason for the dangerous condition?

However, keep in mind that an owner is not always deemed negligent even when made aware of a dangerous condition on the premises. As long as warning signs were placed in a way that could have reasonably prevented the injury, this is generally an acceptable solution. For example, if an employee notices a spill, but can’t mop it up immediately, he or she would likely not be negligent if a wet floor sign is placed near the spill and customers have a viable path around the hazard.