Trip and Fall | Duty of Care
California law requires anyone who owns, maintains, controls and or occupies property to keep their premises in a reasonably safe condition. In order to meet this duty of care, property owners (etc.) must:
- Use reasonable care to discover any unsafe conditions existing on their premises;
- Repair or replace any unsafe conditions existing on their property; and or
- Give adequate warning of anything that could reasonably be expected to harm (injure of kill) others.
Trip and Fall | Extent of Duty
A property owner’s (etc.) duty to maintain their premises in a reasonably safe condition extends to all areas their customers (or visitors) are invited to use including:
- Areas with their building premises;
- Areas outside their building used by the general public; and
- parking lots including adjacent, unpaved overflow parking lot
- Areas of entry to, and exit from their premises.
- front lawn
Trip and Fall | Store Owner Liability
The extent of an owner’s liability will depend on the foreseability that an unsafe condition will cause an injury. In the case of a store owner (operator), they have a duty to keep their floors safe for the use of their customers recognizing that they draw the attention of their customers to items and signs above the ground.
Example Scenario 1: Belinda was shopping at Wal-Plus. She was turning the corner looking at an overhead directional sign when she tripped on a metal bracket that had been placed there by an employee who was restocking the shelf. The store owner would be liable for Belinda’s trip and fall injuries.
Trip and Fall | Non-Delegable Duty
An owner’s duty to keep their premises in a reasonably safe condition is non-delegable. They cannot avoid liability from harm by hiring an independent contractor to perform those tasks
Trip and Fall | Inspections
An owner (etc.) fulfills its duty to exercise reasonable care in keeping their premises safe by making reasonable inspections of areas open to customers. The care required when making their inspections is commensurate with the risks to their customers.

Ordaz Law, APC | Trip and Fall
Juan J. Ordaz Jr. provides candid, hardworking and personal legal representation to individuals seeking a trip and fall, personal injury lawyer in San Diego County. We help victims suffering from a variety of injuries, who have sustained their injuries through different types of trip and fall injury producing incidents. We believe that it is a necessity to represent people who have sustained traumatic and debilitating injuries.
Call (619) 550-3617 today so that we may schedule your free and discreet consultation with a premier San Diego trip and fall, personal injury lawyer.
We are for Justice no Matter Who it’s for or Against.
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Premises Liability | Personal Injury
Blog: Personal Injury