Stores, offices, and other businesses
When a fall happens on commercial premises, the property owner, a tenant business, a management company, and a cleaning or snow removal contractor may each have had some responsibility for the spot. Leases and service contracts often divide that responsibility, and the insurers for each party tend to point at the others. Many businesses keep incident reports and camera footage, but footage can be recorded over quickly, so a preservation request is worth sending early. Ask for a copy of any incident report you signed, and note the names of employees who responded.
Homes, apartment buildings, and sidewalks
In a rental building, the landlord's duty to maintain common areas such as stairs, lobbies, and lighting usually comes into play, and repair requests or complaints made before the fall can matter a great deal. Falls inside a friend's or relative's home are often handled through that person's homeowners or renters insurance, which can ease an uncomfortable conversation once everyone understands the claim is with the insurer. In New York City, responsibility for many sidewalks rests with the adjacent property owner rather than the city, though there are exceptions. Where a public entity is involved, a notice of claim usually has to be filed within a short period, well before any lawsuit.
Falls at work and on transit
If you fell while on the job, workers' compensation is usually the starting point, and it generally limits claims against your own employer. A separate claim may still exist against a property owner or contractor who is not your employer, and New York has particular rules for some construction site injuries. Falls on buses, subways, and train platforms often involve public authorities with their own notice requirements. Pinning down exactly where you fell, who controlled that space, and which notice or reporting deadlines may already be running is where our conversation starts. From there we can tell you which records to request and in what order.
