Maryland slip and fall injury cases are difficult to win. That is because the mere fact that you fell and were injured on someone else's property doesn't create a prima facie case for injury responsibility.
Which is to say if that is all the evidence you can present then you lose. You must demonstrate that property owner and/or user, knew or should have known about the hazard which caused your fall and consequent injury. This doesn't require a mind-reader, who intuits what the property owner knew but it does require more than the happening of a fall even if the victim notices a slipperly or viscous fluid on the floor.
For example, many slip and falls seem to occur in grocery stores, which makes sense given the number of items that could hypothetically be spilled and subsequently encountered by patrons.
The classic image of a banana peel on the floor is common. Its presence on the floor isn't enough to prevail but its appearance or condition might change that dynamic. This is because its appearance might be indicative of its having been stepped on before, which may indicate that it had been on the floor long enough that the reasonable and vigilant grocery store operator would have known about the hazard it represented and attempted to clean it up.
A recent case handled by Clark and Steinhorn, LLC concerned a woman who fell in a Howard County, Maryland Giant food store.
She described a large puddle of water adjacent to the deli and the Giant witnesses denied this situation. Fortuitously, her fall took place in the presence of an attorney, who described precisely the same puddle.
Ultimately it was conceded by Giant witnesses that an employee was hosing out the deli case at the time and the defense crumbled yielding a fair settlement.
If you are injured in a Maryland slip and fall be aware that your immediate post-fall observations may be vitally significant.
