San Diego-based attorney Mark C. Blane keeps a blog on his website with regularly posted messages on a wide range of issues related to his practice and focus areas: major traumas like brain and spinal cord damage, insurance companies' practices, case settlements, court decisions and legal news, pedestrian and cyclists accidents, premises owners' and occupiers' responsibilities, dog bites, and unsafe products, etc. Request a regular feed on subjects of interest to you or visit us frequently to stay up to date.
Simply choose a practice area from the drop-down menu below to read news and information about accidents, injuries, and cases similar to yours. You will be kept informed on important legal developments in a wide-variety of injury cases and the law.
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Accident Report by Store or Property Owner | What to Know Did you get a copy of your Slip & Fall Accident Report in your Slip/Trip & Fall injury claim? If not, give attorney Mark Blane a call at (619) 813-7955 today! -
Business Owner's Failure to Inspect for Hazards | Slip & Fall in San Diego Cluttered aisles in a California retail store can be a major problem for the owner. I have been to some retail stores and noticed that merchandise tend to get picked up by customers and placed on the floor. One such store is the Ross Dress for Less stores. -
Sweep Logs | Establishing Notice of a Store Owner on a CA Slip & Fall Case The law in California has clearly established the business owner's duty to inspect, maintain and make safe the business premises; especially if any hazard or defect is found on the premises. This is to protect the public, patrons, or customers from any potential slip and fall accidents. -
Three Ingredients to a San Diego Slip and Fall Injury: Shoes, Floor & Person Whenever you are dealing with a California slip and fall injury accident, you always have the same three ingredients: the victim's shoes, the floor, and the person (slip and fall victim). The injured person needs to be able to narrow down the causes or issues of the accident in concise terms. -
Supermarket or Retail Store Duty in a San Diego Slip and Fall Case The supermarket or retail store has a duty to maintain its premises in a such a manner that it does not create an unreasonable risk of harm to the patrons or customers. It must, under California law, exercise ordinary due care under the circumstances of the slip and fall to minimize the commonly occurring slipping hazards (which caused the fall in the first place!). -
The Notice Element in a San Diego Slip and Fall Injury Case | What to Know The Notice evidentiary element is by far the most critical element in a San Diego slip and fall injury case that needs to be established as soon as possible in a case. Without the crucial notice evidence, there is very little hope of success for a slip and fall victim. -
Absence of a Hazard in a California Slip & Fall Injury Case | San Diego Firm On occasion, a California slip and fall accident and injury can occur when there is no obvious hazard; the floor is dry and clean, free of any dangerous debris. Usually, slip and fall victims of this type of injury fall allege the floor was so dangerous due to it being over polished and shiny. -
Control of the Premises in a Slip and Fall Injury Case | San Diego Injury Firm Since duty in a slip and fall negligence case attaches to the management of the property where the slip and fall occurred, an issue will arise as to the control of the premises. A landlord may have control over the common areas of an apartment complex, but not over the interior of individual dwelling units. In the same context, the tenant of an apartment building will not have control over the common areas of the apartment building. Thus, in the analysis of a San Diego slip and fall case, it is necessary to decide whether the at fault party had or should have had control over that portion of the premises where the slip and fall accident happened. That is the question of the entire injury case. -
Duty of Ordinary Care in a Slip and Fall Injury Case | San Diego Injury Law Firm Most jurisdictions require that the landowner use the level of care of an ordinarily prudent adult to prevent an unreasonable risk of harm. Under this legal rule, the custom and practice of industry is often used to establish ordinary care. As an example, abrasive admixtures added to exterior paint on walkway surfaces is ordinarily used in apartment complexes to reduce the risk of injury on wet walkway surfaces. -
Hazards & Debris on Floors & Sweep Logs | San Diego Slip & Fall Accidents FREE books by San Diego Slip and Fall Law Firm: The basis of California slip and fall law stems from proving a property owner breached a duty owed to the injured slip and fall victim. Injured parties used to be faced with frightful burden of proving both breach of duty and notice. Over time, the courts have eased the injured parties' burden in regards to this burden (rightfully so too in my opinion). A 1954 California case called Hale v. Safeway Stores held that frequent inspection of the sales areas in markets was necessary and that 12-15 minutes between inspections would not be unreasonable. -
The Hazard that Causes a Slip and Fall | Causal Link | San Diego Injury Firm Identifying the Hazardous Condition: In most California slip and fall cases, some physical feature or condition is a major contributing factor in the injure party's fall. The hazard may be as simple as water on the floor of a supermarket or as complex as a subtle variation in the riser height of a step in a stairway. In each case, something caused the injured person to fall down. -
Comparative Fault in a California Slip and Fall Case | San Diego Injury Lawyer California is a comparative fault state. This fancy word means that the citizens of California are held legally responsible in court only for their share, or their portion, of an injury to another. More specifically, a property owner may not be 100% at fault for a slip and fall; they can be apportioned a degree of fault, if facts exist to support it; for example instead of 100% fault, they can be say 75% at fault, and the injured party 25% at fault. Thus, if the value of an injury from a slip and fall were $100,000.00 then that value is deducted by 25% or $25,000.00, and the value award to the injured party would be $75,000.00. -
Reasonableness in your California Slip or Trip and Fall Accident Injury Case The legal term "reasonableness" and your California premise liability case can often times be confusing to some injury clients. When you set about to show that a property owner is liable for the injuries you sustained in your California slip and fall accident, you will most likely have to show, at some point, the reasonableness of the property owner's actions that led to the injury in the first place. In order to help you with this situation, here are some questions that you should be able to answer before starting a case with a lawyer in California: -
California Liability with Trespassing Children | San Diego Trip & Fall Lawyer Trespassing Children & the California Law: California Accident Law Firm There is special protection given to trespassing children; according to The Restatement (Second) of Torts, the following four conditions must be met before a possessor (of land) is liable to trespassing children: -
San Diego Area Slip and Fall Law Firm: What To Prove in a Premises Liability Case San Diego Slip/Trip And Fall/Premise Liability Lawyer talks about Premises Liability under California Law: Attorney representation of slip and fall accidents is a specialized field within the area of personal injury. Generally speaking, slip and fall accidents can also be trip and falls and are known collectively under the legal category of premise liability injuries. Premise liability is the legal wording that means certain owners of land or property can be held liable (responsible) for certain injuries to others on said land or property. -
San Diego Premise Liability: How To Prove a Slip, Trip and Fall Injury San Diego Slip/Trip & Fall Attorney Mark C. Blane explains California premise liability law, and how it relates to property owner responsibility in regards to these injury causing accidents. The legal standard of care is briefly reviewed in order to determine legal responsibility for these sometimes difficult cases.