Pompano Beach Trip and Fall Lawyer

A raised sidewalk slab, an unmarked step, a torn carpet edge. The hazard was there yesterday and it will be there tomorrow, which is exactly what separates a trip claim from a slip claim under Florida law. Jacobson Injury Firm represents people injured by permanent hazards on unsafe property across Broward County.

Attorney Adam Jacobson handles every case personally. Contact us today for a free consultation, and see our broader Pompano Beach premises liability practice for related claims.

A Trip Claim Is Not Proven the Same Way as a Slip Claim

A trip claim and a slip claim are proven differently in Florida, and the difference can decide your case.

Florida Statute 768.0755 is the provision that makes fall claims difficult in Florida. It requires an injured person to prove a business had actual or constructive knowledge of the hazard. But read what it actually covers: a fall caused by a transitory foreign substance in a business establishment. Spilled liquid. Dropped produce. Tracked-in rain. Something that arrived recently and would be gone shortly.

A cracked sidewalk is none of those things. Neither is a broken stair tread, a loose handrail, a torn carpet, or a step with no warning. These are permanent conditions built into the property, and by the statute’s own terms they sit outside it. The ordinary common law duty applies instead, which requires a property owner to maintain the premises in reasonably safe condition and to inspect for hazards.

The practical consequence favors the injured person. Rather than proving how long a spill sat on the floor, a trip claim asks whether a reasonable owner inspecting the property would have found and repaired the defect. A raised slab that took months to lift answers that question by existing. Many trip cases are therefore stronger than the people bringing them assume, and stronger than an adjuster will suggest.

There Is a Measurable Standard for Uneven Walking Surfaces

Trip hazards are one of the few premises defects with an objective benchmark, which matters when a property owner argues the lip was trivial. Federal accessibility guidance issued through the United States Access Board treats changes in level up to a quarter inch as acceptable without treatment. Between a quarter inch and half an inch, the change must be beveled. Anything over half an inch requires a ramp.

Those figures are accessibility standards rather than an automatic liability threshold, and Florida courts do not treat exceeding them as negligence in itself. They are still useful. A vertical displacement well past half an inch on a walkway open to the public is measurable, photographable, and difficult to characterize as trivial. The Florida Building Code sets similar objective requirements for stair riser consistency, tread depth, and handrail height, and federal walking surface standards inform what reasonable maintenance looks like. Measuring the defect before it is repaired is often the single most valuable thing an injured person can do.

Sidewalk Falls and the Question of Who Owns the Walkway

A fall on a public sidewalk raises a threshold question that decides the entire claim: who was responsible for that stretch of pavement. Responsibility may sit with the municipality, the county, a state agency for certain rights of way, an adjacent commercial property owner under a local maintenance ordinance, a homeowners association, or a utility that cut the pavement and patched it poorly.

If a government entity is responsible, Florida Statute 768.28 applies. Written pre-suit notice must go to the agency and to the Department of Financial Services, and a waiting period follows before suit can be filed. Missing that step bars the claim no matter how clear the defect was. Sovereign immunity also limits recovery amounts against government defendants absent a legislative claim bill. The City of Pompano Beach maintains municipal sidewalks and Broward County holds responsibility for county facilities, so establishing ownership early is not a technicality. It is the first step.

Why Choose Jacobson Injury Firm for Your Pompano Beach Trip and Fall Claim?

Command of the Rules That Decide These Cases

Trip claims turn on maintenance history and on which legal standard governs, not on the fact of the fall. Florida’s modified comparative fault rule under Florida Statute 768.81 bars recovery entirely once a claimant carries more than half the blame, and property owners rely heavily on the argument that the hazard was open and obvious. Claims arising in Pompano Beach proceed through the Seventeenth Judicial Circuit in Broward County.

Demonstrated Results for Injured Clients

The firm has recovered millions of dollars for injured clients. Our client reviews describe how the firm communicates through these cases.

No Attorney Fees Unless You Recover

Trip and fall claims at the firm run on contingency. Nothing is owed at the outset, we advance case costs, and no recovery means no fee.

Key Components of a Pompano Beach Trip and Fall Claim

Establishing Negligence

Negligence requires duty, breach, causation, and damages. Determining who is at fault frequently reaches past the occupier to a property owner, a management company, a maintenance contractor, or a construction firm whose work left the defect. Commercial leases allocate responsibility between landlord and tenant, and identifying who controlled the walkway matters as much as proving the hazard existed.

Documenting the Defect Before It Is Repaired

A permanent hazard has one weakness as evidence: once a business is notified, it gets fixed. Photographs taken the same day with a ruler, a coin, or a shoe in frame for scale preserve the dimension that the repair erases. Maintenance records, prior complaints, and earlier incident reports establish how long the condition existed, and that history is often the strongest evidence in the file. A preservation letter sent early prevents those records from disappearing in the ordinary course.

Answering the Open and Obvious Argument

Expect this defense in every trip case. A property owner will argue the hazard was plainly visible and you should have avoided it. Florida treats that as a question of comparative fault rather than an automatic bar, and an owner’s duty to maintain the property is separate from a visitor’s duty to watch their step. Distraction created by the property itself, poor lighting, shadow, and crowd movement all bear on whether the hazard was genuinely obvious in the moment.

No PIP and No Injury Threshold Here

Worth stating clearly, since many people arrive here after reading about car accident claims. Personal injury protection, the 14-day treatment deadline, and the permanent injury threshold apply to motor vehicle claims only. They have no application to a fall on someone’s property. Your treatment runs through health insurance or a letter of protection, and no statutory gate stands between you and pain and suffering damages.

Calculating Damages

Damages cover medical costs, future treatment, lost wages, diminished earning capacity, pain, and loss of life enjoyment. Trip falls tend to produce a distinct injury pattern, because a person falling forward puts hands and knees down first: wrist and forearm fractures, patella injuries, shoulder damage from bracing, and facial trauma. Broken bones, back injuries, soft tissue injuries, and head trauma all belong in the claim. Florida Statute 768.0427 also rewrote how medical damages are proven, requiring disclosure of letters of protection and changing what juries see about amounts billed against amounts paid.

Acting Within Two Years

Florida cut the negligence deadline from four years to two in March 2023 under Florida Statute 95.11. Our statute of limitations resource explains how the clock runs, and government claims carry the far shorter notice requirements described above.

“Excellent service and results. Attorney Jacobson was professional, responsive, and truly cared about my case. They explained everything clearly and delivered great results.”

Isaac M.

Types of Trip and Fall Claims We Handle

Sidewalk and Pavement Defects

Raised slabs lifted by tree roots, spalled concrete, unpatched utility cuts, and potholes in parking lots. South Florida’s ficus and banyan root systems displace pavement steadily, and the resulting lip grows over years while the property owner walks past it daily.

Unmarked Steps and Level Changes

A single step between a restaurant floor and a patio, or a ramp transition with no contrasting edge, catches people who had no reason to expect a change in level. These claims often turn on whether the edge was marked, lit, or visually distinguishable.

Stairway Failures

Inconsistent riser heights, worn nosings, missing or loose handrails, and inadequate lighting. Stairs are governed by specific building code requirements, which makes measurement and code comparison unusually productive in these cases.

Torn Carpet, Loose Mats, and Floor Transitions

Curled mat edges, unsecured rugs, and lifted vinyl seams in entryways and corridors. These are maintenance failures with a documented history in most commercial properties.

Obstructed Walkways

Extension cords, stocking pallets, display fixtures, and hoses left across aisles or paths. Retail environments generate these constantly, and store policies about aisle obstruction are discoverable.

Parking Lot Hazards

Wheel stops placed in walking paths, unmarked kerbs, drainage grates with wide openings, and broken asphalt. Poor lighting compounds all of them after dark.

Construction and Renovation Areas

Active or recently completed work in retail and public spaces creates unmarked level changes, temporary surfaces, and inadequate barricades. Our construction accident practice covers claims arising on worksites themselves.

Where a fall produces life-altering harm, our catastrophic injury practice applies, and where it proves fatal our wrongful death practice does. We also handle slip and fall, premises liability, and pedestrian claims. See all practice areas.

Where Trip and Fall Claims Arise in Pompano Beach

The city’s building stock and tree canopy shape the pattern. Older commercial strips along Federal Highway, Dixie Highway, and Atlantic Boulevard have pavement displaced by decades of root growth and repeated utility work. Retail plazas around Pompano Citi Centre and the big-box corridors on Copans Road and Sample Road generate parking lot and entryway claims. Beachfront properties and the A1A corridor add level changes between decks, walkways, and sand access points, often with salt-degraded concrete and corroded railings. The apartment and condominium stock across the city produces stairwell and common-area claims, and municipal sidewalks throughout bring the government notice requirements into play. Federal fall data shows how routinely these produce fractures rather than bruises, particularly for older adults.

What to Do After a Trip and Fall

• Report it to a manager or the property owner before leaving and ask for a written incident report. An unreported fall becomes a fall the property can say never happened.
• Photograph the defect immediately with something in frame for scale, a coin, a phone, or your shoe. Capture the approach angle as well, showing what a person walking normally would have seen.
• Measure the height difference if you safely can, and note the lighting and time of day.
• Identify who maintains the area. If it is a public sidewalk, tell your lawyer the same week, because government notice deadlines are far shorter than the two-year limit.
• Get witness names and numbers, and note every camera you can see.
• Seek medical attention promptly and follow the treatment plan without gaps, since gaps become causation arguments later in the case timeline. Decline a recorded statement to the property’s insurer until you have spoken with a lawyer, and see our guide to insurance companies for why.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is a trip and fall claim different from a slip and fall claim?

Legally, yes, and the difference can matter. Florida’s constructive knowledge statute applies to falls caused by a transitory foreign substance in a business establishment, meaning spills and similar temporary hazards. A permanent defect such as a cracked sidewalk or broken step is not a transitory substance, so the ordinary common law duty to maintain safe premises generally governs instead. That standard is often easier to meet.

How big does a sidewalk defect have to be?

There is no statutory height that automatically creates liability. Federal accessibility guidance treats level changes over a quarter inch as requiring treatment and anything over half an inch as requiring a ramp, which gives a useful benchmark when an owner argues the lip was trivial. Courts look at the whole picture, including lighting, visibility, and the defect’s history.

What if I tripped on a public sidewalk?

You may still have a claim, but the rules are stricter and the clock is much shorter. Florida requires written pre-suit notice to the government agency and to the Department of Financial Services, plus a waiting period, and sovereign immunity caps recovery. Determining whether the city, the county, or an adjacent property owner was responsible is the first step, and it needs to happen quickly.

The property owner says the hazard was obvious. Does that end my claim?

No. Florida treats it as a comparative fault question rather than an automatic bar. Your recovery is reduced by your percentage of responsibility, and more than 50 percent bars it entirely. An owner’s duty to maintain the property exists independently of a visitor’s duty to watch their step, and factors like lighting, shadow, and distraction all bear on whether the hazard was genuinely obvious.

Does PIP cover a trip and fall?

No. Personal injury protection, the 14-day treatment deadline, and the permanent injury threshold apply to motor vehicle claims only. A trip and fall runs through health insurance or a letter of protection, and no statutory threshold stands between you and pain and suffering damages.

How long do I have to file a trip and fall claim?

Two years from the date of injury for most negligence claims, shortened from four years in March 2023. Claims against a government entity require pre-suit notice well before that, so a sidewalk fall needs attention immediately rather than eventually.

What if the property repaired the hazard after my fall?

That is common and it is why same-day photographs matter so much. Evidence of subsequent repair is generally not admissible to prove negligence, but maintenance records, prior complaints, and earlier incident reports remain available and often establish how long the condition existed.

Who is responsible if I fell at a rented commercial space?

It depends on the lease. Landlords and tenants divide responsibility for different areas, and common areas, parking lots, and exterior walkways are frequently handled differently from the interior. Both may share liability, and identifying who controlled the area is part of the early investigation.

How much is my trip and fall case worth?

Value depends on the severity and permanence of your injuries, medical costs, lost income, the strength of the maintenance evidence, and your share of fault. Wrist and shoulder injuries from bracing a forward fall frequently require surgery, which changes valuation considerably.

How much does a trip and fall lawyer cost?

Our firm works on a contingency fee, so nothing is owed at the outset and the fee comes as a percentage of any recovery. We advance case costs. If there is no recovery, no attorney fee is owed, and the consultation is free.

Speak With a Pompano Beach Trip and Fall Lawyer

The defect that caused your fall will be repaired, and once it is, its dimension exists only in whatever photographs were taken first. Reaching out early preserves the proof and, where a government entity maintains the walkway, protects a notice deadline that runs far shorter than most people expect. Consultations are free and you pay nothing unless we recover for you. Call (561) 567-7163 or send us a message. The firm also serves Delray Beach, Boynton Beach, and West Palm Beach, with the full list on our areas we serve page and further reading in our personal injury resources and blog.