Legal Question in Personal Injury in California

You will have to sue them, because Wal-Mart is very difficult about settling these kinds of cases, and from what I hear, you may have some trouble proving your case. Definitely sue them in small claims because it's faster, cheaper, and Wal-Mart won't be allowed to use a lawyer against you.

At trial, you will have to prove "NOTICE." This means, you have to prove that Wal-Mart knew or should have known about the spill, but failed to clean it up or put out a warning cone. In other words, you have to prove that they were "on notice" of the slip hazard.

This can be very hard to prove. If your witnesses only saw you fall, that doesn't prove NOTICE. It only proves that you fell. It says nothing about when the spill was created, and nothing about whether or not Wal-Mart knew about it.

After you file and serve your small claims case, you should also serve Wal-Mart with a SUBPOENA for the following evidence: 1) the INCIDENT REPORT; 2) any PHOTOS they took of the area; and 3) the SURVEILLANCE VIDEO, not just of your fall, but for ONE HOUR BEFORE the fall as well. The court clerk can give you a form subpoena to use, or you can download it here: http://www.courts.ca.gov/documents/sc107.pdf.

If they bring the evidence to court, the judge will review it and tell you if you win or not. If they don't bring it, then argue to the judge that they are hiding evidence, and he should use that against them to decide that they are guilty.

Good luck, and if you want to call me, feel free: (877) LION FOR LAW (546-6367)

Before you get to talk about your damages and bills, you must first prove legal liability. People fall all the time in stores, without it being the fault of the store. You have to prove a dangerous condition was known to them, and they failed to properly remedy and prevent injury. The general rule is that such stores must do an 'inspection' every 30-60 minutes to see if there are any spills or other dangerous conditions. If they followed that rule, they are not liable for your fall, unless you can prove employees were notified of the spill and danger, and they failed to take action. If you have such proof, then you have a claim that should be brought in Superior court through an attorney who knows how to handle it.