A bad fall gets brushed off as clumsiness, even when it was not. If you slipped on an unmarked wet floor or tripped on a broken stair, the property owner would love for you to believe it was just an accident. Often it was negligence.
A Spokane premises liability lawyer at Parker & McConkie helps people injured on someone else's property across Spokane and Washington hold careless owners accountable. We handle the insurer and the proof, and you pay nothing unless we win. The first consultation is free.
If an unsafe property left you injured, call our Spokane office at (509) 374-3111.
When Is a Property Owner Responsible for My Injury?
A property owner is responsible when they knew, or should have known, about a dangerous condition and failed to fix it or warn you. Owners have a legal duty to keep their property reasonably safe for people who are lawfully there, from customers in a store to guests in an apartment complex. When they ignore that duty and you get hurt, they can be liable.
The level of duty depends partly on why you were there. A business owes its paying customers the highest level of care, while the duty owed to a social guest is somewhat different, and very little is owed to a trespasser. Most injury claims involve customers and guests, where the duty is strong.
| Your status on the property | Duty the owner owes you |
| Invited customer or business visitor | The highest duty: keep the property safe and inspect for hazards |
| Social guest | A duty to warn of known dangers |
| Trespasser | A very limited duty in most cases |
Our Spokane attorneys establish that duty and show how the owner failed it. Hurt on someone else's property?
What Do You Have to Prove in a Slip and Fall Case?
The heart of most premises cases is "notice," meaning that the owner knew or should have known about the hazard in time to fix it. Proving your fall happened is not enough. You have to connect it to the owner's failure to act on a danger they were responsible for.
There are two ways to show notice. Actual notice means the owner knew about the hazard, such as a spill an employee was told about. Constructive notice means the hazard existed long enough that a reasonable owner should have found and fixed it, like a puddle that sat for an hour or a pothole that formed over weeks.
This is where cases are won or lost, and where evidence matters most. We move quickly to secure surveillance video, incident reports, and maintenance records before they disappear.
What Are Common Causes of Premises Liability Claims?
These claims arise whenever a property owner lets a foreseeable hazard go unaddressed. The setting varies, but the failure is the same: a danger the owner could have prevented.
Common causes include:
- Wet or freshly mopped floors with no warning sign
- Ice and snow left on walkways and parking lots
- Broken stairs, loose railings, and torn carpeting
- Poor lighting in stairwells, garages, and entryways
- Falling merchandise in stores and inadequate security
In Spokane, winter drives a large share of these cases. Property owners who fail to clear ice from store entrances, sidewalks, and apartment parking lots create exactly the conditions that cause serious falls. We investigate what the owner did, and failed to do, about the hazard that hurt you.
What If the Owner Says the Fall Was Your Own Fault?
Expect that argument, because it is the insurer's favorite, and do not let it stop you. Property owners routinely claim the victim was not watching, was wearing the wrong shoes, or ignored an obvious danger. Sometimes there is a grain of truth, but it rarely tells the whole story.
Washington uses pure comparative negligence, so even if you were partly at fault, your compensation is only reduced by your share, not eliminated. That rule comes from RCW 4.22.005. An owner who left a hazard unmarked for hours can still be mostly responsible even if you could have been more careful.
We push back on inflated blame with the evidence, meaning the video, the maintenance logs, and the condition itself, rather than accepting the insurer's version.
Where Do Premises Injuries Happen in Spokane?
Premises injuries can happen anywhere a property owner lets a hazard go unaddressed, but certain locations produce these claims again and again. The common thread is an owner who could have prevented the danger and did not.
We handle premises cases arising from:
- Stores and restaurants, where spills, freshly mopped floors, and falling merchandise injure customers
- Apartment complexes, where broken stairs, poor lighting, and icy walkways cause serious falls
- Parking lots and garages, where untreated ice, potholes, and weak lighting create hazards
- Hotels and public buildings, where wet entryways and unsafe stairwells are common
- Private homes, where a homeowner's insurance often covers a guest's injury
Spokane winters make many of these worse, as ice and snow turn ordinary walkways into real dangers when owners fail to clear them. Wherever your injury happened, the question is the same: did the owner know, or should they have known, about the hazard, and did they fail to fix it. We investigate that question and build the claim around the answer.
We help everyday people stand up for What's Right.
Is There a Deadline to File a Slip and Fall Claim in Washington?
You generally have three years from the date of your injury to file a premises liability lawsuit in Washington, under RCW 4.16.080. Miss that deadline and you usually lose the right to recover.
The bigger risk in these cases is losing the evidence long before the deadline. Store surveillance video is often erased within days or weeks, and hazards get cleaned up or repaired right after a fall. The sooner we send preservation notices, the more of your proof survives.
How Much Is a Spokane Slip and Fall Claim Worth?
Your claim is worth the full cost of the injury, and falls in particular can cause far more serious harm than people expect. Value depends on the severity of your injuries and how they affect your life and work.
Compensation generally includes medical care from the emergency room through rehabilitation, lost wages while you cannot work, reduced earning ability for lasting injuries, and payment for pain, disability, and the disruption to your daily life.
Serious falls often cause hip and wrist fractures, back and spinal injuries, and a traumatic brain injury, meaning lasting harm to brain function known as a TBI, especially among older adults. We build claims that account for the full course of recovery, not just the first bill.
Falls are deceptively serious, especially for older adults, where a broken hip or a head injury can lead to a permanent loss of independence. We treat these injuries with the weight they deserve, documenting the full course of treatment and the lasting effects, so the claim reflects real life rather than an insurer's assumption that a fall is minor.
Why Injured People Choose Parker & McConkie
We treat a fall like the serious event it can be, and we do the early evidence work that makes or breaks these cases. We have secured meaningful results for injured clients across the states we serve. Past outcomes are never a guarantee, but they reflect a firm that prepares each case seriously and is willing to take it to a jury.
We handle premises cases throughout Spokane County. We move fast to preserve video and records, work with your doctors to document the injury, and counter the "it was your own fault" defense with facts.
There is no cost to get started. Our fee comes only out of a recovery, and your first consultation is free.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I need a lawyer for a slip and fall in Spokane?
For any fall causing real injury, yes. Premises cases turn on proving notice and preserving evidence that disappears fast, and insurers lean hard on blaming the victim. A Spokane premises liability lawyer secures the video and records early, establishes the owner's duty, and handles the insurer so you are not fighting the "just clumsy" narrative alone.
How much does a Spokane premises liability lawyer cost?
Nothing upfront. We handle slip and fall and other premises cases on contingency, so our fee is a percentage of the recovery and applies only if we win, with no fee if we do not. The consultation is free and we advance the costs, so experienced help is available without money out of pocket.
What if I was partly at fault for my fall?
You can still recover. Washington's pure comparative negligence rule reduces your compensation by your share of fault but does not bar it, even if you were partly careless. Owners exaggerate a victim's fault to avoid paying. We counter that with evidence showing the hazard was theirs to fix and they did not.
How do I prove the property owner knew about the hazard?
Through evidence like surveillance video, employee statements, incident and maintenance records, and how long the condition existed. If a hazard sat long enough that a careful owner should have caught it, that can establish notice even without direct proof they knew. Because this evidence vanishes quickly, acting early is essential, and we know where to look.
How do I know if I have a real premises liability case or just an accident?
The dividing line is whether the property owner was careless, and that is not always obvious at the moment you fall. A genuine claim exists when the owner knew or should have known about a hazard and failed to fix it or warn you, such as a spill left for an hour or ice that sat on a walkway overnight.
A pure accident, with no owner fault, may not support a claim. The problem is that you usually cannot tell which one you have without evidence, like video and maintenance records, that only an investigation uncovers. That is exactly why a free review is worth it, and why acting before that evidence disappears matters so much.
I fell in a store but did not report it right away. Did I ruin my claim?
Not necessarily, but report it now and see a doctor. A prompt incident report and medical visit strengthen a claim, yet a short delay is often explainable, especially when pain sets in later. What matters most is preserving evidence quickly, since store video may still exist. Contact a lawyer before that footage is erased.
There was a "wet floor" sign nearby. Can I still recover?
Possibly. A warning sign does not automatically clear the owner, especially if it was poorly placed, hard to see, or the hazard went beyond what the sign warned about. The question is whether the owner took reasonable steps to keep you safe. We evaluate whether the warning was actually adequate for the danger.
I slipped on ice in an apartment parking lot. Is the landlord responsible?
They may be. Property owners and managers in Spokane have a duty to address foreseeable winter hazards like ice in common areas such as parking lots, walkways, and entries. Whether the landlord is liable depends on what they knew and how long the ice was there. Icy-fall cases are very common here, and we handle them regularly.
Talk to a Spokane Premises Liability Attorney
A fall on unsafe property is not just bad luck when an owner ignored a danger they were supposed to fix. Our Spokane attorneys prove what the owner knew, preserve the evidence before it is gone, and pursue the full cost of your injury.
Speak with our Spokane office at (509) 374-3111, or call toll-free at (833) 782-6387. We represent people injured on unsafe property across Washington, and your first conversation is free.