Falls in St. Petersburg happen where life happens: the grocery aisle, the restaurant patio slick with rain, the parking lot with a pothole nobody painted, the big-box store where the sweep log says everything was fine. The business holds nearly all of the proof, and the days right after the fall decide how much of it survives. I represent people hurt in falls across St. Petersburg, in plain English and on contingency.
The St. Petersburg settings these cases come from
The grocery and big-box corridors around Tyrone and Central Avenue, the downtown and pier-district restaurants where crowds and spills keep pace with each other, the condo towers and their common areas, and the beach businesses where wet floors are a daily fact that still has to be managed reasonably.
What to do in the first days
If you did not report the fall before leaving, report it now in writing. Photograph the spot, your shoes, and your injuries, and write down every detail with dates while it is fresh. Get medical care that records exactly how you fell, slipped versus tripped, which foot, which direction, because the defense will read every version you ever give. Then get the preservation letter sent, because the video is the most honest witness these cases ever have and it is recording over itself right now.
The honest truth about these cases
Florida law is tough on fall cases, and the businesses know it. The ones that win pair a documented hazard with the business’s own records showing it knew or should have known, and many have to be filed as lawsuits to pry those records loose. A St. Petersburg case is litigated in the Sixth Judicial Circuit, generally within two years of the fall.
See also the Pinellas County slip and fall page.
The book
Hurt on Someone Else’s Property
The evidence race, the notice fight, the owner’s records, and the honest truth that many of these cases have to be filed as lawsuits, in one plain-English book on the days and weeks after a fall. Free to Tampa Bay residents, with the digital edition to read the moment you ask.
Common Questions
I did not report my fall to the store. Do I still have a case?
Possibly. Report it in writing now, and gather what you can: photographs, witness names, your medical records. Unreported falls are harder, and they are not automatically lost.
The floor was wet from rain. Does that end it?
Not necessarily. Businesses know it rains in Florida and are expected to inspect and address tracked-in water. The question is what the business did, and how long the hazard sat.
What does a slip and fall lawyer cost?
Contingency: no fee unless there is a recovery, and the consultation is free. The evidence race is the real cost of waiting.
Related reading: slip and fall, retail and grocery store falls, and about Rory Safir.
