Many people spend a great deal of time shopping, whether it may be as a hobby or for certain needs. When doing so, they expect that retail stores are safe and they will not be injured in an accident. However, while they are not usually seen as dangerous, accidents can occur in these settings. This may be due to the negligence of the store owner or its employees. These situations can often cause severe injuries to a shopper, including broken bones, spinal cord injuries, brain injuries, and more. When facing these situations, victims often want to bring a personal injury lawsuit against the store they were injured in.
Premises Liability
An invited customer of a business is known as a “business visitor.” Store owners have a duty of care to those who come onto their grounds to shop. This requires them to maintain the property conditions so that business visitors cannot become injured due to any hazards. To ensure this, they must conduct routine inspections so that they are aware of any potential dangers that need to be fixed. Different hazards that are found in retail stores that cause accidents can include spilled liquids, uneven walkways, poor lighting, unsafe parking lots, construction hazards, and more.

Proving Negligence
When a person is injured in a retail store accident due to the negligence of a store owner, it is important to know they can defend themselves with a personal injury lawsuit. This exists to hold the negligent party liable for the accident they caused. In order to do this, they are required to prove negligence by satisfying the burden of proof. This can be done by answering two main questions: did the owner know about the hazardous condition or should they have known about it and failed to fix it?
This question can be answered by demonstrating how the negligence occurred, including how the store manager knew about the hazard and did not take reasonable action to fix it. A store owner may have known about the issue if there was actual notice or constructive notice. Actual notice can consist of any type of record that proves the store owner acknowledged the existence of the hazard. Constructive notice is if the owner failed to inspect their property for visible dangers. An experienced attorney can assist an injured party in gathering evidence to prove negligence and how that directly caused the incident and injuries to occur.
Contact our Firm
If you or a loved one has been in a personal injury accident in Pennsylvania, it’s important that you contact an experienced Philadelphia personal injury attorney to help you with your case. Contact Spear Greenfield to get the right attorney in your corner.
Call or text (215) 985-2424 or complete a Free Case Evaluation form