April 15, 2025

By: Karen Piso Nadeau, Esquire

When you are injured when you trip and fall in Massachusetts, you are not thinking about pursuing a personal injury case. Your focus is likely your physical injuries. Many of our clients have shared their feelings of embarrassment and wanting to leave the accident scene where they fell as soon as possible. Some clients are worried about loved ones that depend on them or not wanting to make a fuss or draw attention to their fall or injuries. What I have learned representing victims for over 3 decades now in these cases is that these natural human instincts often go against your best interest and deciding to pursue a trip and fall case later, when you have time to reflect in a more comfortable environment.

The insurance company insuring the property owner or store or establishment where you tripped and fell will use the fact that you focused on your pain, your injuries, your embarrassment, your family or friends at the time to deny your claim and offer you nothing for the harm caused to you. The insurance company steps in for the property owner, restaurant, department store, plaza, grocery store, parking lot or other place where people are invited to shop and spend money. This blog will help you to understand the law relating to a trip and fall accident in Massachusetts and what you as the injured party must prove before you can be compensated by an insurance company for the harm caused to you.

1. You need to prove the identity of the person or business responsible for the place where you tripped and fell.

It is not always easy to identify the at fault party who has the legal duty to keep the area where you tripped and fell safe. Usually our clients have an address, a name of a store or restaurant, and maybe some photographs. We use this information to research and investigate the legal entity that has an obligation to keep the accident scene safe. Sometimes it is a corporation, a management company, or other business entity. Having the correct party who is responsible for the location where you fell is crucial to pursuing a trip and fall case. Once they are identified, they can be given legal notice of a claim arising from your trip and fall. This then triggers their insurance company responding on their behalf.

2. You need to identify the reason why you tripped and fell. What caused you to fall? What is the description, the photographs, the video evidence, the measurements?

At my law firm, we receive many calls from potential clients about trip and fall accidents where they can’t identify what caused them to fall. Many people do not know that to recover for a trip and fall accident, you need to identify where you fell and what caused you to fall. For example, in one case I handled, our client tripped and fell over a garden hose outside the place where she was shopping. In another case, our client tripped and fell over a broken concrete curb in a dark parking lot where she parked. Another client slipped and fell in a puddle of food that spilled from a server’s tray onto the floor of a restaurant. One more example, our client tripped and fell over a box left unattended in a grocery aisle.

Ideally, having photographs or video of the defect or unsafe condition makes for a strong case. But this is not always practical when seriously injured in an accident. Sometimes this can be obtained on a date after your accident.

3. The cause of your trip and fall needs to be unsafe, dangerous and an unreasonable condition.

Whatever caused you to trip and fall needs to rise to the level of negligence. You need to show it was a tripping hazard. You need to prove that the person or business responsible for the place where you fell either knew or should have known about the hazardous condition. You need to prove negligence or wrongdoing. In the law, we say it is a deviation from the acceptable standard of care.

Sometimes this requires measurements or an expert such as an architect or other safety expert to give an opinion on why it was unacceptable and not safe. For example, there may be building code violations. The height of a stair may be unacceptable or the height of a curb. The entrance may not be free from obstructions.

This requirement- of proving the condition that caused you to trip and fall is unsafe and a breach of the duty of care owed to you – is usually where the insurance company attempts to avoid paying out a claim. They will argue that the condition was not unsafe or hazardous.

4. The defect or dangerous condition must be the reason why you were injured.

An injured party must show that it was the unsafe condition that caused them to trip and fall. In other words, the unsafe condition is the reason why you tripped and fell. Sometimes there is a hazard. But it may not be the reason that someone tripped and fell. Often, we retrace our client’s travel and path taken and show how the dangerous condition caused them to trip. We often describe in detail the manner in which our client fell. We describe where they were going, how they were moving and the description of how they tripped and fell. Sometimes there are witnesses who observed this who are helpful to the case.

5. You must prove you were injured and suffered physical injuries requiring medical treatment as a result of the trip and fall.

We receive a lot of calls from potential clients who tripped and fell but did not seek any medical attention. Some potential clients have no real injuries at all. You must prove you were injured as a result of your trip and fall and needed medical attention as a result of your injuries. Some clients need an ambulance to the hospital from the accident scene. This helps to clearly document where you were when you fell and your need for medical attention. We represented a client where the insurance company claimed that we could not prove that our client was at this retail store when he fell and was injured. They were denying his claim. Having an ambulance report that showed our client was taken from this retail store by ambulance quickly shut down the insurance company’s attempt to deny his claim by saying we could not prove he was there.

Having medical attention close in time to the accident is often crucial to pursue a trip and fall claim. The medical documentation is heavily relied upon by the insurance company when evaluating your trip and fall claim. If you have no documented injuries and no medical care, then you do not have a case worthy of pursuit.

Often, we see severe injuries from trip and fall accidents where a client does not expect to trip, lose balance and fall to the ground. We see broken bones, head injuries with concussions, facial injuries, and many of our clients need extensive medical care and surgeries to address the harm they suffered due someone’s neglect and disregard for safety.

6. The Blame Game

This blog would not be complete without a few words on the motives and goals of insurance companies that insure the negligent parties that caused you harm. They are not your friend. They may pretend to care and feel sorry for you on the phone. Be Aware! Their only motive is to make you let your guard down so they can gather information to not pay you and deny your claim. Never let them tape record you without talking to a lawyer first. It will be used against you. I can promise you that.

The goal of an insurance company is to make money and find reasons to deny your claim and pay you nothing. They will get you when you are vulnerable and use whatever you say against you later.

One of the primary ways the insurance company tries to avoid paying you is by blaming you for the accident. At my law firm, we have seen it all. They will say our client was on a cell phone, was looking down, was not paying attention, had bad shoes on- examples: flip flops, high heels, worn out shoes etc. Many of our clients do not realize that the law allows the insurance company to argue comparative negligence. Comparative negligence allows an insurance company to contribute a percentage of fault against the injured party for the accident. The total amount of compensation owed is then reduced by the percentage an injured party is found at fault. If an injured party is 50% or more at fault in Massachusetts, the law says they recover nothing. So be ready for the blame game.

Once you get the medical attention you need after suffering injuries in a trip and fall accident, you should contact an experienced personal injury lawyer with a long history of ties to Massachusetts like my law firm and a proven track record of successful results and satisfied clients. I was born and raised here in Massachusetts, went to school here, and never left. I have represented injured clients for over 3 decades. I know the ins and outs. I also have extensive prior experience on the other side of the case where I represented the insurance company, and I have gained invaluable knowledge and experience to help victims injured in accidents seeking justice and compensation for the harm caused to them.

At Nadeau Harkavy LLC, we have over 60 years combined experience representing injured people and their families when they have been involved in a motor vehicle accident, trip and fall or other type of accident. We have recovered millions of dollars in compensation for our clients over the years to help them get on with their lives after suffering the consequences of a serious accident.  We make sure everything is done to protect your interests while you and your family concentrate on getting better. We handle all types of car accident cases including wrongful death, spinal injury, and brain injury. We represent drivers, passengers, pedestrians, bicyclists, as well as other types of car accident cases such as scooter, motorcycle, and skateboard cases. We also handle other types of injury cases such as trip and fall, slip and fall, allergic reaction, dog bite, construction site, and catastrophic injury accidents. If you or a loved one has been harmed through no fault of your own, call us today for a free consultation about your legal rights at 617-674-7640.