Injured on Someone Else’s Property
Most premises cases are won or lost on notice: what the owner knew, and when.
What this means for you
Property owners owe a duty of care to people lawfully on their premises. Whether that duty was breached turns on what the owner knew, and when.
Your status on the property matters
Oklahoma law traditionally sorts visitors into categories. An invitee, such as a customer in a store, is owed the highest duty, including a duty to inspect for hazards and to warn of or correct dangers the owner knows or should know about. A licensee, such as a social guest, is owed a duty to be warned of known dangers. A trespasser is owed little, with exceptions including the attractive nuisance doctrine involving children. Which category applies frames the entire case.
Notice is the central issue
Most premises cases are won or lost on notice. Did the owner create the hazard, did they know about it, or had it existed long enough that they should have discovered it through reasonable inspection. A spill that occurred sixty seconds earlier is a different case from a spill that had been on the floor for an hour with no inspection log. This is why incident reports, inspection records, maintenance logs, and prior complaints about the same condition are the evidence that matters.
Surveillance video is the case, and it is temporary
Most commercial properties record continuously and overwrite on a cycle of days to weeks. Video showing the hazard, how long it was present, and how the fall actually happened is often decisive, and it is routinely gone before a claim is made. A preservation demand needs to go out quickly.
Common claims
Slip and fall on wet or unmaintained floors, trip hazards from broken sidewalks and parking lots, inadequate lighting, falling merchandise, unsafe stairs and handrails, swimming pool incidents, and injuries resulting from inadequate security.
Comparative fault
Expect the property owner to argue you were not watching where you were going. Oklahoma reduces recovery by your share of fault and bars it entirely if you are more than fifty percent responsible, so open and obvious hazards and footwear become live issues.
What to do
Report the incident and ask for a written report, photograph the hazard before it is cleaned up, get witness names, and seek medical attention. Then call (918) 839-6353.
Surveillance video is often the case, and it is temporary
Most commercial properties record continuously and overwrite on a cycle measured in days or weeks. Video showing the hazard, how long it had been there, whether anyone inspected the area, and how the fall actually happened is frequently decisive. It is also routinely gone before a claim is ever made, and once it is overwritten it is not recoverable.
A preservation demand needs to go out quickly, which is the practical reason not to wait several months to talk to a lawyer about a fall. The same applies to incident reports and inspection logs, which are generated close to the event and become much harder to obtain later.
Common claims
Slip and fall on wet, waxed, or unmaintained floors. Trip hazards from broken sidewalks, uneven thresholds, and poorly maintained parking lots. Inadequate lighting in stairwells and lots. Falling merchandise in retail settings. Unsafe stairs and missing or non-compliant handrails. Swimming pool incidents. Injuries resulting from inadequate security where a property owner knew of a pattern of prior incidents.
Expect a comparative fault argument
The property owner will argue you were not watching where you were going. Oklahoma reduces recovery by your share of fault and bars it entirely above fifty percent, so open and obvious conditions, distraction, and footwear all become live issues. That argument is answerable, but it is answered with evidence gathered early rather than with indignation later.
What to do after a fall
Report it to the business and ask that a written incident report be made. Photograph the hazard before it is cleaned up or repaired, along with the surrounding area and the lighting. Get the names of any witnesses and any employee who responded. Seek medical attention the same day if you can. Then call (918) 839-6353.
Related
Related reading: how comparative fault works in Oklahoma, and bringing a claim against a business owner.
He has sat at both tables
Wes Cherry worked as an assistant district attorney for the State of Oklahoma before entering private practice. That matters here for one reason: he knows how the State decides what to charge, how it values a case, and where those cases tend to come apart.
Your rights matter at every stage, and the work is making sure they are treated that way from the first appearance forward. In practice that looks like this.
How else Foundation Law can help
Facing this in Eastern Oklahoma?
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