A Virginia slip and fall claim is a premises liability claim: a demand for compensation from the owner or operator of a property whose unsafe condition caused someone to slip, trip or fall. It asks whether the owner knew, or should have known, about the hazard and failed to fix it or warn visitors in time.
Blank Kim Injury Law represents people hurt in falls at grocery stores, shopping centers in Tysons and Springfield, restaurants, office buildings, parking garages and apartment communities across Northern Virginia. Attorneys Aaron Blank and Robert Kim work from our Fairfax office on Chain Bridge Road. Robert Kim speaks Korean, and our paralegal team speaks Spanish.
What Virginia property owners owe their customers
A business that invites the public in, such as a store, restaurant, gym or hotel, owes those visitors reasonable care. In Virginia that generally means keeping the premises reasonably safe and warning of hidden dangers the owner knew about or should have known about.
Two questions sit at the center of most cases:
- Notice. Did the owner know about the spill, broken step or loose mat, or had it been there long enough that a reasonable owner would have found it? Inspection logs, cleaning schedules, employee statements and store video usually answer this.
- Warning or repair. Once the owner knew, did it fix the hazard, block it off or warn customers in a way they could see?
Virginia law sets different duties depending on why a person was on the property. A paying customer, a social guest and a trespasser are treated differently, and we check which rules apply to your fall.
The open and obvious defense and contributory negligence
The most common defense in a Virginia fall case is that the hazard was “open and obvious,” meaning any reasonable person would have seen and avoided it. Insurers raise it constantly. The answer is usually in the details:
- Clear liquid on a light, glossy floor is hard to see even when you are looking down.
- Poor lighting in a stairwell or garage can hide an uneven edge.
- Displays, crowds and carts often draw a shopper’s eyes away from the floor, which is how stores design their aisles.
- A wet floor sign placed far from the spill, or knocked over, is not a real warning.
The defense connects to Virginia’s contributory negligence rule. If you are found even slightly at fault for your own fall, you are generally barred from recovering anything. That is why the first photos of the hazard, the shoes you wore, and what you were doing when you fell matter so much. Read more about contributory negligence in Virginia.
Common hazards behind slip and fall injuries
| Hazard | Where we see it | Evidence that matters |
|---|---|---|
| Spills and wet floors | Grocery stores, restaurants, food courts | Store video, sweep logs, the time of the last floor check |
| Snow and ice | Parking lots, sidewalks, building entrances | Weather records, snow removal contracts, when salt was last applied |
| Broken or uneven stairs | Apartment buildings, older offices, townhouse communities | Maintenance requests, prior complaints, building inspection records |
| Poor lighting | Parking garages, stairwells, walkways | Photos at the same time of day, work orders for burned out lights |
| Loose mats and torn carpet | Store entrances, hotels, office lobbies | The condition of the mat, vendor service records |
| Cracked pavement and curbs | Shopping center lots, sidewalks | Measurements of the height difference, property management records |
Falls on public sidewalks and roads raise different issues. See our page on pothole and road defect claims. Falls from escalators and elevators are covered on our elevator and escalator accident page, and injuries at hotels on our hotel injury page.
What to do after a slip and fall in Northern Virginia
- Report the fall to the manager or property owner before you leave, and ask for a copy of the incident report or at least the name of the person who took it.
- Photograph the exact spot, the hazard, the lighting and any warning signs, or the lack of them. If you cannot, ask someone with you to do it.
- Keep the shoes and clothing you wore, unwashed and unrepaired.
- Get the names and phone numbers of witnesses, including employees who saw the hazard.
- See a doctor the same day or as soon as you can. Hip, wrist and head injuries are common in falls, and some worsen over the following days.
- Do not give a recorded statement to the property owner’s insurer before talking with a lawyer.
Store video is often recorded over within days or weeks. A letter from a lawyer asking the owner to preserve it is one of the most useful early steps in a fall case. Start a free case review so we can send one.
Injuries from falls on someone else’s property
Falls look minor to people who have not had one. The injuries we see include:
- Hip fractures, especially in older adults, which can require surgery and a long rehabilitation
- Broken wrists and elbows from trying to break the fall
- Head injuries and concussions from striking a hard floor or step
- Knee and ankle injuries, including torn ligaments
- Back and spinal injuries from falls down stairs
Falls inside a care facility are often a sign of understaffing or poor supervision. If a family member fell in a nursing home or assisted living community, see our page on nursing home abuse and neglect.
Falls on government property have shorter notice deadlines
Virginia generally allows two years from the date of an injury to file a personal injury lawsuit, under Va. Code § 8.01-243(A). Falls on public property are different. A claim against a Virginia county, city or town generally requires written notice within six months, under Va. Code § 15.2-209. A claim against the Commonwealth, such as a fall in a state office building, requires notice within one year under the Virginia Tort Claims Act, Va. Code § 8.01-195.6, and the Act limits what can be recovered.
Local governments also have immunity for many governmental functions, so whether a claim is possible at all depends on what the government was doing. A fall at a county library, a public school or a Metro station each raises its own questions. See our guide to government claim notice in Virginia and our page on Metro accidents in Virginia.
What a slip and fall claim can include
Every fall is different, and no page can tell you what your claim is worth. In general, a claim can seek compensation for medical bills now and in the future, lost income, pain and suffering, and the loss of independence that often follows a serious fracture. Under Virginia’s collateral source rule, payments from your own health insurance generally do not reduce what the responsible owner owes.
The seriousness of the injury, the proof of notice, the strength of the open and obvious defense and the insurance available all affect value. Past results in other cases do not predict the outcome of yours.
How our Virginia premises liability lawyers handle your claim
- Free case review. Tell us what happened by phone or through the form on this page. There is no obligation to hire us.
- Preserving evidence. We ask the owner in writing to keep video, incident reports, inspection logs and maintenance records.
- Proving notice. We look for prior complaints, work orders and employee knowledge that show the owner knew or should have known.
- Dealing with insurers. We handle communication with the property owner’s insurer and answer the open and obvious defense with the evidence.
- Litigation when needed. If there is no fair offer, we can file suit in the right Virginia court, including the Fairfax County courts near our Fairfax office.
You can talk with our team in English, Korean or Spanish.
