A wet floor with no warning sign, a broken stair in an apartment building, a dark stairwell, or a cracked walkway at an Oakland store or transit stop can put a person in the hospital. California law holds property owners responsible for keeping their premises reasonably safe, from downtown retail and Jack London Square to apartment complexes across the city.
Mirador Law handles premises liability claims from our downtown Oakland office. The question is whether the owner knew or should have known about a dangerous condition and failed to fix it or warn about it within a reasonable time, the standard set out in Civil Code section 1714 and jury instruction CACI 1003. We build the case with incident reports, maintenance records, and video. The general deadline is two years under Code of Civil Procedure section 335.1, and if the property is owned by a public entity, a six-month claim deadline under Government Code section 911.2 can apply.
The following hypothetical examples illustrate how these cases can unfold. They are not based on any specific client and are provided for educational purposes only. A shopper slips on a spill in an Oakland store that staff knew about but had not cleaned or marked. Store records and video showing how long the spill sat unaddressed establish that the store had notice and time to act.
See also: East Bay Slip and Fall Lawyer | Oakland Personal Injury Lawyer