Walmart and Store Injury Lawyers in Colorado Springs

Customers in a store are invitees under Colorado’s Premises Liability Act, the category owed the most care. A store is responsible for dangers it knew about or should have known about and unreasonably failed to address. The law is the same for a small shop and a national chain. What differs with Walmart and other large retailers is who you deal with afterward and who holds the evidence.

This firm is not affiliated with Walmart or any retailer named on this page.

How large retailers handle injury claims

After a fall, a manager will usually take an incident report, photograph the area, and ask for your account. You’re entitled to ask for a copy of the report; the store may refuse. Many large retailers handle claims through their own claims department or a claims administrator rather than an outside insurance company, and an adjuster may call within days. What you say in that call, particularly about what you were looking at or whether you saw the hazard, will be used to argue you were at fault.

The evidence the store controls

Large stores have cameras covering most aisles, entrances, and the parking lot, and they keep records of floor inspections, cleaning, and spill reports. That evidence answers the questions these cases turn on: how long the hazard was on the floor, whether employees walked past it, and whether the store followed its own inspection routine. Video in particular may be overwritten on a routine schedule unless the store is told to keep it. A written preservation demand, sent as soon as possible, is the single most important step in a store injury case.

Common store injuries

• Slips on spilled liquids, produce, leaking coolers, or freshly mopped floors.
• Merchandise falling from high shelves or collapsing displays.
• Trips over pallets, stocking carts, and items left in aisles.
• Injuries from motorized carts or carts pushed by employees.
• Falls on ice, potholes, and curbs in store parking lots.
• Automatic doors that close on customers.

Parking lots

A store may or may not control its own parking lot. In shopping centers the landlord or a property manager often does, and snow removal is usually done by a contractor. Finding out who controlled the spot where you fell determines who the claim is against.

What to do after a store injury

Report it before you leave and ask that the report note the hazard. Photograph the hazard, your shoes, and the surrounding area, including any warning signs or the lack of them. Get the names of employees and other customers who saw it. Get medical care promptly, and keep your receipt, which proves you were there and when.

How we handle store injury claims

We send a preservation demand for the video, incident report, and inspection records right away. We deal with the retailer’s claims handlers so you don’t have to, and we build the case around what the store’s own records show about the hazard and how long it was there.