Is the owner of the business or other premises legally responsible for injuries sustained in “slip & fall” or “fall down” accidents?
The law in each state has developed certain principles that determine whether an owner is potentially liable when a person falls and is injured. The first question that is usually addressed by the law is the status of the injured person. Was the injured person a business customer, a social guest, a meter-reader, or a trespasser? In many states the obligation or duty of the landowner to the injured person changes to some degree depending upon the particular status of that person at the time of the fall. A good general statement that covers most falls would be that it is the duty of an owner to exercise reasonable care in the maintenance of the premises and to warn a visitor of any dangerous conditions that are known, or should be known to him, if the conditions are not likely to be perceived by the visitor. Courts in Maryland frequently point out that this creates two separate duties: to maintain and to warn. Either one or both could apply in a given situation. Courts also state frequen
