A fall that wasn't your fault shouldn't cost you everything. California law holds negligent property owners responsible for injuries on their property. We handle the investigation, the insurance company, and the legal claim — so you can focus on healing.
A slip and fall can be one of those injuries people are embarrassed to talk about. You wonder if you were just clumsy. You wonder who is liable. Then you get the hospital bill, and your hip is not healing the way the ER doctor said it would. Then you’re missing work, and the insurance adjuster is calling you with a small check and a release form they want you to sign today.
California premises liability law exists for exactly this situation. Under Civil Code §1714, every property owner — every store, restaurant, apartment complex, parking structure, hotel, office building, entertainment venue, or transit facility — owes a duty of ordinary care to everyone who enters their property. When they fail to fix a known hazard, fail to warn of a dangerous condition, or fail to inspect and maintain their property safely, and someone gets hurt because of it, they are legally liable.
Slip and fall injuries are among the most serious in personal injury law. A fall on a wet floor at The Grove, a cracked sidewalk in DTLA, a dimly lit stairwell in a Koreatown apartment building, a slippery entrance at a Hollywood restaurant, or an uneven surface at Crypto.com Arena can cause hip fractures, spinal injuries, torn ligaments, rotator cuff tears, and traumatic brain injuries that take months — or years — to heal. For older adults, a single fall can statistically be one of the most dangerous events of their lifetime.
Los Angeles has a staggering density of high-traffic commercial properties where these cases are most common: The Grove, Westfield Century City, the Beverly Center, Grand Central Market, the Hollywood tourist corridor, LAX terminals, Metro rail platforms, hotel lobbies from Downtown to the Westside, restaurant rows in Koreatown and Silver Lake, and parking structures serving every major commercial district. Every one of these properties is legally required to keep their spaces safe. When they don’t, we hold them accountable.
Generally, you have two years from the date of your fall to file a claim (CCP §335.1). If a Los Angeles city sidewalk, Metro platform, LADOT facility, or any government property was involved, that window can drop to six months under California’s Government Tort Claims Act. Don’t let those deadlines pass before talking to an attorney.
01
Every property owner must use ordinary care in the use or management of their property. This is not optional, and it cannot be waived by a posted sign, a waiver on a ticket, or a disclaimer on a receipt. It applies to commercial businesses, landlords, government entities, and private property owners alike — everywhere in Los Angeles County.
02
03
For transitory conditions — a fresh spill, recently dropped produce, a just-mopped floor — California requires proof that the property owner knew or should have known about the hazard and had enough time to fix or warn of it. Under Ortega v. Kmart Corp., a plaintiff can establish constructive notice through evidence of how long the condition existed, inspection schedules, employee knowledge, and surveillance footage showing the condition was present before the fall.
For permanent or long-standing conditions — a broken step, torn carpet, cracked pavement, deteriorating Metro platform edge — notice is generally presumed, because the owner has a duty to discover hazards through reasonable inspection.
04
Falls on Los Angeles city sidewalks, Metro rail platforms, LADOT facilities, public parks, government buildings, and other public property are governed by Gov. Code §835 — not Civil Code §1714. These cases require a government tort claim filed within six months of the fall. Missing this deadline permanently bars the claim. LA has one of the highest concentrations of public property in California — sidewalk falls in Los Angeles happen daily, and the six-month rule catches more people than almost any other deadline in personal injury law.
You can recover even if you were partly at fault for the fall — your compensation is reduced by your percentage of fault, not eliminated. Insurers routinely overstate a victim’s fault to reduce what they pay. Having an attorney prevents this.
2
years
from date of the fall
CCP §335.1
6
months
to file a government tort claim
* These are general deadlines. Always confirm your specific circumstances with an experienced attorney.
The location of your fall determines which legal theory applies, what evidence exists, and who can be named as a defendant. We handle cases across every type of property in Los Angeles County.
Transitory spills — produce moisture, spilled liquids, leaking refrigerator cases, recently mopped floors without adequate warning signs — are the leading cause of store falls in California. Under Ortega v. Kmart, constructive notice can be established through sweep logs, inspection schedules, employee testimony, and surveillance footage showing how long the condition existed before your fall. Los Angeles has hundreds of grocery and supermarket locations with high daily foot traffic — from Ralphs and Whole Foods on Sunset to the Korean supermarkets of Koreatown and the ethnic markets of East LA. Every one carries full commercial premises liability.
The Grove, Westfield Century City, Beverly Center, Westfield Culver City, Olvera Street, the Fairfax District, and the major retail corridors of Wilshire, Third Street, and Melrose — fallen merchandise, unsecured displays, uneven transition strips between flooring materials, and inadequate lighting in stockroom-adjacent areas are common hazards. Property management companies and tenant businesses can both be liable depending on which party controlled the condition that caused your fall.
Grease and spilled drinks on hard tile floors, wet entries during LA's rainy season, and uneven outdoor patio surfaces create significant fall risk across Los Angeles's restaurant density. The Hollywood tourist corridor, Koreatown's restaurant rows, Silver Lake and Los Feliz dining districts, DTLA's Grand Central Market, and the Westside's outdoor dining terraces generate frequent premises liability claims.
Oil slicks, uneven pavement, deteriorating speed bumps, inadequate lighting, and poor drainage are common hazards in the parking structures serving every major commercial property in Los Angeles — from Century City to Hollywood, from Marina del Rey to Downtown. The responsible party may be the property owner, a management company, or a private parking operator.
Wet lobby floors during the rainy season, slippery elevator thresholds, and poorly maintained common areas in the high-rise office towers of DTLA, Century City, West LA, and Wilshire Corridor. Both the building owner and the tenant occupying the premises can bear liability.
Metro rail platforms, bus stops, and LADOT-managed facilities are among the most common locations for public entity slip and fall claims in Los Angeles. Platform edge deterioration, wet surfaces near stairs, and uneven platform transitions create significant fall risk. These cases require a government tort claim filed within six months of the fall under Gov. Code §835 — a deadline many victims miss because they assume the standard two-year rule applies.
Cracked, raised, or sunken concrete panels; deteriorating curb cuts; tree root damage; and uneven pavement are pervasive on Los Angeles's aging sidewalks, particularly in older residential and commercial neighborhoods from Boyle Heights to Hollywood to the Westside. Falls on City of Los Angeles sidewalks require a government tort claim within six months — not two years.
Pool deck surfaces, wet locker room floors, slippery lobby tile, and unlit exterior walkways at Los Angeles hotels — from the large convention properties near LAX to the boutique hotels of West Hollywood and Beverly Hills. Falls at Crypto.com Arena, Dodger Stadium, the Hollywood Bowl, SoFi Stadium, and other entertainment venues involve venue operators and their insurers directly. These cases often involve large commercial operators with significant insurance coverage and full-time legal teams.
Falls in apartment buildings where landlord negligence is involved — deteriorating common area flooring, inadequate lighting in stairwells, broken handrails — are some of the most common premises liability claims in Los Angeles, where rental housing density is among the highest in the country. Falls at residential properties are also covered by homeowner's or renter's insurance. Many people don't realize that a fall at a friend's or family member's home triggers an insurance claim, not a lawsuit against the person personally.
We know how insurance companies respond to slip and fall claims in Los Angeles. They question whether the condition was really dangerous. They suggest you weren’t watching where you were going. They offer a fraction of what the case is worth and rely on you not knowing the difference. We don’t let that happen.
You focus on your recovery. We handle everything else.
You speak with George at every stage — not a paralegal, not a case manager. He works directly with every client from the first call through resolution.
Free, no-obligation evaluation usually within hours. We give you our honest assessment of the case, what it is likely worth, and what steps to take — even if you decide not to retain us.
If we don't recover for you, you owe us nothing. Zero out-of-pocket cost to start. Our goals are completely aligned with yours.
California law recognizes both economic and non-economic damages in premises liability cases. We build claims that account for every category — including future costs that insurance companies routinely try to minimize or exclude.
General Los Angeles Settlement Context: Settlement value in slip and fall cases varies significantly with injury severity and medical documentation. Minor soft-tissue injuries with ongoing treatment typically resolve in the $15,000–$50,000 range. Fractures requiring surgery — hip, shoulder, or knee — can settle from $100,000 to $400,000. Spinal surgeries and serious head trauma range from $250,000 to $1,000,000+. Cases involving catastrophic injury or wrongful death reach seven figures. These are general ranges — every case depends on the specific injury, medical documentation, liability evidence, and available insurance coverage.
Slip and fall cases in Los Angeles are won or lost based on evidence collected in the first week. Here is what matters and why it cannot wait:
| Court House Lawyers | Typical PI Firm | |
|---|---|---|
|
Case Review |
Same day, often within hours |
2–3 business days |
|
Attorney Access |
You speak directly with George on your case |
Routed through a case manager or paralegal |
|
Evidence Preservation |
Same-day preservation letters for surveillance footage, sweep logs, and incident reports |
Often delayed — critical footage is overwritten within days |
|
Government Claims |
We file the 6-month government tort claim without exception when a public entity — city sidewalk, Metro platform, LADOT facility — is involved |
Many firms miss this short deadline entirely |
|
Liability Investigation |
We identify every party: property owner, tenant, management company, maintenance contractor |
Many firms name only the most obvious defendant |
|
Ortega v. Kmart |
We build constructive notice through sweep logs, inspection schedules, employee testimony, and surveillance timelines |
Many firms don’t develop the notice argument beyond a basic demand letter |
|
Insurance Strategy |
We treat the property insurer as the opposing party from day one. Because they are. |
Many firms accept early lowball offers to close files |
|
Trial Readiness |
Every case prepared for trial; insurers know it |
Settlement-only firms get lower offers |
|
Fees |
No win, no fees. Period. |
Can say the same, but watch for hidden costs at settlement |
George Mkrtchyan
Managing Attorney
George Mkrtchyan is the Managing Attorney of Court House Lawyers, a Glendale-based personal injury firm representing clients across Los Angeles County. Over the past decade, George has handled premises liability cases involving negligent property owners, retailers, landlords, and property management companies across Glendale, Los Angeles, and the surrounding communities — including cases where insurers initially denied the condition existed, disputed whether it caused the injury, or offered settlements that bore no relationship to the actual value of the claim.
He is known for thorough case preparation, a willingness to take cases to trial when insurers underpay, and a client-first communication standard that means every client speaks directly with him — not a paralegal, not a case manager.
“Insurance companies bank on fear and fatigue. They count on you accepting a fast, low offer because you’re tired and hurting. Our job is to make sure you don’t have to fight that fight alone.“
— George Mkrtchyan, Managing Attorney
Every slip and fall case is different. These results from our practice show what focused, thorough representation delivers.
Personal Injury · Car Accident
Client was initially assigned 85% fault in a left-turn collision. After George and case manager Grant Abadzhyan took over, the fault assignment was reversed to zero and the client recovered full compensation.
Personal Injury · Car Accident
Three people were injured in the same accident, each with separate representation. George Mkrtchyan and Grant Abadzhyan secured the largest individual recovery of the three — the result of thorough early documentation and a faster demand strategy.
Personal Injury · Rideshare
Client injured in an Uber accident initially received nothing from the insurer. Court House Lawyers secured a $35,000 settlement within 30 days of filing a lawsuit.
Personal Injury · UIM Arbitration
Out-of-state underinsured motorist policy. The insurer refused to pay fairly. Court House Lawyers demanded arbitration and secured the full policy limits for the client.
Personal Injury · Government Entity
A wheelchair-bound client was thrown forward when a Metro conductor slammed on the brakes. Metro denied the claim outright. Court House Lawyers filed, obtained the conductor’s own footage — including a statement caught on Metro’s camera — and settled for $35,000.
Personal Injury · Car Accident
Client was offered $500 after a school bus accident. Court House Lawyers filed suit and recovered $50,000 — 100x the original offer.
Past results are specific to the facts of each case and do not guarantee future outcomes. Every premises liability matter is evaluated on its own merits.
Tell us where you fell, what the condition was, what injuries you have suffered, and what treatment you have received. We will give you our honest assessment of whether you have a claim and what it may be worth — even if you decide not to hire us.
George handles your case. Not a junior associate. Not a case manager. The attorney you speak with on day one is the attorney who takes the case to resolution.
The most valuable evidence in a Los Angeles slip and fall case disappears in the first week. Cameras at The Grove, hotel lobbies, parking structures, Metro stations, and retail corridors overwrite on short cycles. We send preservation letters the same day you retain us.
We investigate the property owner, the tenant operator, the property management company, and any maintenance contractor involved in the condition. In a city as large and commercially complex as Los Angeles, multiple parties often share control of the hazardous condition — and every responsible party is named.
We treat the property liability insurer as the opposing party from day one. Because they are. Initial offers are documented, challenged, and pushed back against with full medical records, evidence of notice, and a clear willingness to file suit.
If a Los Angeles city sidewalk, Metro platform, park, LADOT facility, or any public entity property was involved, we file the required government tort claim within the 6-month window. Missing this deadline is permanent and unrecoverable — and it happens more often than any other missed deadline in slip and fall law.
If you do not have a doctor or cannot afford specialist care, we connect you with experienced providers in Los Angeles and the surrounding area who treat injury victims on a lien basis — no upfront cost.
Property liability insurers in Los Angeles settle higher when they know the case is prepared for trial. Most cases never get there — but at significantly better numbers because of the preparation.
No upfront costs of any kind. No hourly billing. If we don't recover for you, you owe us nothing.
We talk through what happened: the location, the hazard, your injuries, and what treatment you have received. You walk away knowing our honest assessment and what the case is likely worth.
We send same-day preservation requests for surveillance footage, sweep logs, maintenance records, and incident reports. We identify every party — owner, tenant, management company, contractor — who had control over the condition that caused your fall. In Los Angeles, that often means multiple entities with separate insurance policies.
We build the evidence of notice: how long the condition existed, whether it had been reported before, what the property's own inspection schedule required, and whether any prior incidents involving the same hazard are on record. This is where most slip and fall cases in Los Angeles are actually won or lost — not at trial, but in the notice evidence built during investigation.
We document your injuries, medical costs, lost wages, and pain and suffering comprehensively. We present a complete demand to the property liability insurer. If they start low, we push back with documentation, comparable case results, the evidence of notice, and a clear willingness to file in Los Angeles County Superior Court.
If the insurer refuses to pay what your case is worth, we file. Every case is prepared from day one as if it will go to trial — and that preparation is exactly why most cases in Los Angeles settle for significantly more before they ever get there.
* These are general deadlines. Always confirm your specific circumstances with an experienced attorney.
You need to establish that the owner knew or should have known about the hazardous condition and failed to fix it or warn you. For transitory conditions — a fresh spill, recently dropped produce — this means showing how long the condition existed and whether the property’s inspection schedule should have caught it. Under Ortega v. Kmart Corp., sweep logs, surveillance footage, and employee testimony are the primary tools for establishing constructive notice. For permanent conditions — cracked pavement, a broken step, a deteriorating Metro platform edge — notice is generally presumed because the owner is required to inspect and maintain their property.
A warning sign does not automatically eliminate liability. If the sign was inadequate — too small, blocked, placed after you had already entered the area, or present alongside a hazard that should have been fixed rather than just warned about — liability can still be established. The question is whether the owner took reasonable steps to make the property safe, not just whether they placed a cone somewhere in the vicinity.
Yes. California’s pure comparative fault system allows you to recover even if you were partially responsible for your fall. Your compensation is reduced by your percentage of fault — not eliminated. Insurers routinely argue that victims were distracted, wearing inappropriate shoes, or not paying attention, in order to inflate their assigned fault and reduce what the insurer pays. An attorney challenges those characterizations with the actual evidence.
Significantly. Falls on City of Los Angeles sidewalks, Metro platforms, LADOT facilities, or any government-managed property trigger the Government Claims Act, which requires you to file a formal claim within six months of the fall. After the government entity denies or ignores the claim, you then have a limited window to file a lawsuit. Missing the six-month government claim deadline permanently bars the claim — there is no exception. If your fall was on public property anywhere in Los Angeles, call us immediately.
Seek medical attention as soon as symptoms appear and tell the treating provider exactly when the fall occurred and what happened. Some injuries — particularly spinal disc injuries, hip fractures in older adults, and soft tissue damage — do not present with full severity immediately after a fall. A gap between the fall and the appearance of symptoms does not defeat your claim, but the medical timeline needs to be documented carefully. Call us as soon as possible — evidence preservation cannot wait until the pain becomes severe.
It depends entirely on the severity of the injury, the quality of the medical documentation, the strength of the liability evidence, and the available insurance coverage. Minor soft-tissue injuries with ongoing treatment typically resolve in the $15,000–$50,000 range. Fractures requiring surgery — hip, knee, shoulder — can settle from $100,000 to $400,000. Spinal surgeries and serious head trauma range from $250,000 into seven figures. Wrongful death cases reach higher. These are general ranges — the only honest answer for what your specific case is worth requires reviewing your actual medical records and the liability facts.
Cases that settle without litigation typically resolve within six to twelve months. Cases that require filing a lawsuit take longer — commonly twelve to twenty-four months through discovery, mediation, and resolution. The timeline depends significantly on the severity of the injury, how quickly medical treatment concludes, and whether the insurer engages in good-faith negotiation. We tell every client what to expect at each stage so there are no surprises.
Nothing upfront and nothing unless we win. Our fee comes from the recovery at the end of the case. If we do not recover for you, you owe nothing.
Tell the store manager, property owner, building staff, security officer, or Metro station employee before you leave. Ask for a written incident report and get a copy. If they refuse to give you one, document the refusal — the name of the person you spoke to, the time, and what they said.
Take photos of the condition that caused your fall — the wet floor, the crack, the torn mat, the broken step, the missing handrail — from multiple angles before it is repaired or cleaned. In a Los Angeles retail environment or entertainment venue, staff may move quickly to address the hazard once you have fallen. Do this before you leave the property if you are physically able.
Go to an emergency room or urgent care the same day even if pain is not immediately severe. Adrenaline and shock mask injury severity in the hours after a fall. A same-day medical assessment documents the injury, establishes the timeline, and is the most important single piece of evidence in a premises liability case. Follow every follow-up recommendation your doctor makes.
Keep the shoes you were wearing at the time of the fall. Do not discard them. Defense attorneys in Los Angeles slip and fall cases use footwear analysis — tread condition, heel height, sole wear — to argue that the victim's shoes contributed to the fall. Your attorney needs to preserve this evidence.
Names and phone numbers of anyone who saw the fall or who saw the condition before you fell. In a busy Los Angeles retail environment or tourist corridor, bystanders are often present — and their accounts can establish how long the hazard existed and whether it was visible before the fall.
An adjuster will call you, sometimes within hours. They will seem cooperative and helpful. Do not give a recorded statement. Do not discuss fault or how you are feeling. Tell them you have retained an attorney and they will be in contact.
Do not sign any release, settlement, or authorization that the property manager, owner, or their insurer presents without your attorney reviewing it first. Early releases in Los Angeles slip and fall cases routinely close claims for far less than they are worth.
Call (818) 293-8293 Free, same-day review. We can tell you exactly where you stand and what needs to be preserved before another day passes.
10
YEARS OF EXPERIENCE AND SUCCESS
Trusted Los Angeles slip and fall attorney holding negligent property owners, retailers, landlords, and public entities accountable for unsafe conditions across Los Angeles County.
Property owners have a legal duty to keep their spaces safe. When they don’t, you should not be the one paying for it. From our Glendale office, we represent slip and fall victims across Los Angeles County and throughout California — including Hollywood, DTLA, the Westside, the San Fernando Valley, Silver Lake, Koreatown, East LA, Long Beach, and statewide.
