Coral Gables Slip and Fall Lawyer

A fall can happen anywhere: on a wet floor in a store, on a loose paver outside a restaurant, on a broken step in an apartment building or in a dark parking garage. When a property owner fails to fix or warn about a hazard, the person who gets hurt should not have to pay for it. As a Coral Gables slip and fall lawyer, Tomas Robirosa helps people injured on someone else's property figure out who is responsible and build the proof Florida law requires, explaining every step in Spanish or English.

Where People Fall in Coral Gables

• Miracle Mile and Giralda Avenue Downtown's shopping and dining streets were redesigned with wider sidewalks and a curbless street edge, and the city has since contracted for paver restoration on Miracle Mile. Loose, cracked or uneven pavers and spills outside restaurants can cause trips and slips.
• Stores and restaurants Spilled drinks, mopped floors without a warning sign, produce on the floor and leaking coolers are classic slip hazards in retail and dining spaces.
• Apartment and condo buildings Broken stairs, missing handrails, poor lighting in hallways and wet lobby floors after a rainstorm can cause serious falls for residents and visitors.
• Parking garages and lots Oil stains, potholes, wheel stops in poorly lit areas and slippery ramps are common causes of falls near downtown businesses.
• Business buildings and lobbies Polished marble or tile entrances can become slick when it rains, especially without mats or warning signs.

The key question is usually not just how you fell, but whether the owner knew or should have known about the danger and did nothing about it.

Florida Slip and Fall Laws That Affect Your Claim

Under Florida Statute 768.0755, if you slipped on a transitory foreign substance, like a spilled liquid or food, in a business establishment, you must prove the business had actual or constructive knowledge of the dangerous condition and should have fixed it. Constructive knowledge can be shown when the condition existed long enough that the business should have discovered it, or when it happened regularly and was foreseeable.

Trips over broken steps, uneven floors or loose pavers are handled under general premises liability rules: a property owner must keep the property reasonably safe and warn about hidden dangers it knows about. If a fall happened on a public sidewalk, the claim may be against a government entity, which has its own notice rules.

Florida's modified comparative negligence rule also applies. The property owner's insurer may argue you were not watching where you were going. Your recovery is reduced by your share of fault, and if you are found more than 50% at fault you generally cannot recover.

What to Do After a Slip and Fall in Coral Gables

1. Get medical care right away. Call 911 if you are seriously hurt. Falls often cause injuries to the wrist, hip, knee, back and head that get worse over the next few days.
2. Report the fall. Tell the manager, landlord or building staff and ask for a written incident report. Get the name of the person you spoke with.
3. Photograph the hazard. Take pictures of the spill, broken paver, step or lighting from several angles, before it is cleaned or repaired. Include your shoes.
4. Get witnesses. Write down names and phone numbers of customers or employees who saw the fall or the condition before it.
5. Ask that video be saved. Stores and buildings often record over camera footage within days. A lawyer can send a letter asking them to keep it.
6. Avoid recorded statements. Do not give a recorded statement or sign anything for the property's insurer before getting advice.

Injuries and Compensation After a Coral Gables Fall

Falls can cause broken wrists and hips, knee and shoulder injuries, herniated discs and head injuries, especially for older adults. Depending on the facts and the available insurance, compensation may include medical bills, future treatment, lost income, pain and suffering, and the loss of enjoyment of daily life.

Read more about these cases on our slip and fall practice page, or go back to our Coral Gables personal injury page to see all the cases we handle in the city.

A Bilingual Slip and Fall Lawyer in Coral Gables

Tomas Robirosa serves Coral Gables and all of Miami-Dade County. He acts quickly to preserve video and incident reports, looks into how long a hazard was there and whether it had happened before, and identifies every property owner, manager and insurance policy involved. He explains each step to you directly, in Spanish or English.

The consultation is free, and we work on a contingency basis: no fee unless we recover. Call (305) 600-0529.

Frequently Asked Questions