Who Is Liable for a Slip and Fall in Westlake Village?

Curt Brown, Esq. — Founding Partner

Local Westlake Village Injury Attorney · UCLA Law

Curt Brown is a founding partner at L&F Brown. He grew up in Thousand Oaks, just over the hill from Westlake Village, attended Thousand Oaks High School, graduated from UCLA Law School, and has spent his career handling injury cases on both sides of the LA/Ventura County line.

When you slip, trip, or fall on someone else's property in Westlake Village and suffer injuries, the question of who is legally responsible comes down to California premises liability law. Property owners and occupiers have a legal duty to maintain their properties in a reasonably safe condition for lawful visitors. When they fail that duty and someone is injured as a result, they can be held liable for the resulting damages.

Identifying exactly who is liable, and gathering the evidence to prove it, requires moving quickly and working with an experienced Westlake Village slip and fall attorney.

The Property Owner or Occupier

In most slip and fall cases, liability falls primarily on the party who owns or controls the property where the fall occurred. This may be the actual property owner, a tenant who leases the space, or both, depending on who had responsibility for maintaining the specific area where you fell.

For example, a slip at The Lakes shopping center might involve the property management company that maintains common areas and the individual tenant whose store you were visiting. A fall at the Promenade at Westlake might involve the shopping center itself, an anchor tenant, or both. A fall at Stonehaus wine bar or Westlake Village Inn involves those businesses' insurance and the property they control. Your attorney will identify every party with legal responsibility for the dangerous condition.

What Must Be Proven

Under California Civil Code Section 1714, landowners must use ordinary care to keep their properties in a reasonably safe condition and must warn of dangerous conditions they know about or should have discovered through reasonable inspection. To hold a property owner liable for your slip and fall in Westlake Village, your attorney must prove:

First, that the property owner owed you a duty of care. This is generally met if you were a lawful visitor, such as a customer at a retail store or a guest at a restaurant. Second, that a dangerous condition existed on the property. Third, that the owner knew or should have known about the condition through the exercise of reasonable care. Fourth, that the owner failed to repair the hazard or adequately warn about it. Fifth, that the dangerous condition caused your fall and resulting injuries.

Notice: The Most Critical Element

The hardest element to prove in most slip and fall cases is notice. You must show the property owner knew or should have known about the hazard. There are two types: actual notice, where the owner actually knew about the danger, and constructive notice, where the hazard existed long enough that a reasonable inspection program should have found it.

Evidence of notice includes prior complaints or incident reports, maintenance logs showing the defect was known, surveillance footage showing the hazard existing for an extended time before your fall, and witness testimony from employees or regular visitors who had seen the condition before. An attorney who acts quickly can obtain maintenance records and surveillance footage before they are destroyed.

Third-Party Maintenance Companies

Many commercial properties in Westlake Village contract with third-party janitorial or maintenance companies for cleaning and upkeep. If a cleaning company created or failed to address a wet floor or other hazard, they may share liability with the property owner. A fall in a common area maintained by a contracted cleaning service could involve both the property management company and the cleaning contractor as defendants.

Government Entities

Falls on public sidewalks, in parks near Westlake Lake, or on other government-maintained property involve a different legal framework. Claims against government agencies require filing an administrative claim within six months of the incident. Because Westlake Village straddles the LA/Ventura county line, the responsible agency depends on which side of the line the fall occurred. A fall on a sidewalk maintained by the City of Westlake Village or LA County requires a claim to a different entity than a fall on a path maintained by Ventura County. Your attorney will identify the correct government entity and ensure the claim is filed timely.

Your Comparative Fault

California's pure comparative fault rule means your damages are reduced by your percentage of fault, but you can still recover even if you were partially responsible. The property owner's insurer will try to shift as much fault as possible to you. Your attorney counters this by building strong evidence of the property owner's negligence and the unreasonably dangerous nature of the condition that caused your fall.

If you were hurt in a slip and fall anywhere in Westlake Village, contact L&F Brown immediately. We will act fast to preserve critical evidence and identify every liable party. Visit our Westlake Village personal injury page to schedule a free consultation.