“Labor Omnia Vincit” McKay Law
Trip and fall incidents can happen in a split second—but the consequences can be permanent. When a property owner in Edmond, OK allows tripping hazards to exist, people suffer preventable injuries. McKay Law fights for trip-and-fall victims throughout OK. While slip-and-fall accidents involve loss of traction—these falls happen when something unexpectedly snags your foot, throwing you forward with no time to brace. Common tripping hazards include uneven sidewalks and pavement, cracked concrete, raised floor mats, exposed cords or cables, torn carpet, loose tiles, missing or broken stair treads, debris in walkways, parking lot potholes, raised thresholds, and poorly marked level changes. Property owners have a legal duty to inspect for tripping dangers, fix them, and warn of any they can’t immediately address—but proving they breached that duty takes solid legal work. Establishing liability requires proving notice of the danger, the owner’s failure to act, and a direct link to your harm. Our Edmond trip-and-fall attorneys move fast to preserve evidence—the physical evidence, video, witnesses, and the property owner’s maintenance history. Important evidence disappears fast, so don’t wait. These accidents often cause broken wrists from bracing the fall, fractured arms, facial injuries, broken noses, dental damage, knee injuries, hip fractures, shoulder injuries, traumatic brain injuries, and herniated discs—particularly devastating for older adults. Property owners and their insurers will often try to blame the victim—we know how to counter these defenses. Every trip-and-fall case is handled on a no-win, no-fee basis—you pay nothing unless we win. You may be entitled to recover for hospital costs, rehabilitation, lost income, future medical needs, and the lasting impact on your life. Reach out to McKay Law right away for a no-cost case review with a Edmond, OK trip-and-fall lawyer who will stand up to the businesses and insurers protecting them.
Trip-and-falls happen when you catch your foot and pitch forward. While slip-and-falls involve sliding, trip-and-falls involve the foot being suddenly halted, generally resulting in forward impact. The injuries can be just as severe as slip-and-falls — especially broken wrists, facial fractures, head injuries, and dental damage. McKay Law advocates for trip-and-fall victims in Edmond and in surrounding communities.
The two types of falls work differently and produce different injuries:
Trip-and-fall injuries are usually to the front of the body. Slip-and-falls typically produce backward-impact injuries — back, hips, head.
Oklahoma recognizes three types of people on property, with property owners owing different duties to each:
Fault can be shared under Oklahoma law (Okla. Stat. tit. 23, § 13). You can recover if you bear no more than 50% of the fault, though the award is reduced by your share.
You typically have two years from the date of the fall to file (Okla. Stat. tit. 12, § 95). Public property cases require notice within one year. Time matters in these cases because video evidence vanishes fast.
We act fast to demand preservation of all camera footage, document the hazard with photos, measurements, and expert analysis, investigate the property’s records, work with treating doctors, and build each file for the courtroom.
A: Trips stop your foot and pitch you forward; slips slide your foot and drop you back.
A: Nothing. No fee unless we recover.
A: Possibly, yes. We’d need to investigate who owns the sidewalk and assess the hazard.
A: Standard argument. Oklahoma’s “open and obvious” doctrine has limits, and we routinely defeat these arguments.
A: Don’t. Talk to a lawyer first.
A: Depends on injury severity, treatment, lost income, and permanent impact. Severity drives value.
A: Government claims follow special procedures. Oklahoma’s Governmental Tort Claims Act requires notice within one year and caps damages.
A: Two years from the date of the fall (Okla. Stat. tit. 12, § 95). GTCA cases require notice within 12 months.
People confuse trips and slips, but they aren’t the same legal claim. These cases call for a different playbook. An attorney familiar with these specific claims knows how to build them on their own terms.
The two get conflated constantly, but the mechanics are different and the cases play out differently.
In a slip, the foot loses traction and slides forward. The body pitches rearward.
In a trip, the foot catches on something. The body pitches forward.
These different falls cause different harm.
Common trip-fall injuries are:
The triggers are distinctive:
Like other premises cases, these claims have specific elements:
The condition must be unreasonably dangerous. Many jurisdictions have established thresholds. Tiny defects may not support a case in some jurisdictions, while more substantial defects support claims clearly.
Actual or constructive notice is essential.
Unlike a fresh spill, trip hazards are typically not transient. Slip hazards can be momentary. Trip hazards — uplifted sidewalks, cracked floors, raised thresholds — usually develop over weeks, months, or years. This makes constructive notice easier to prove.
Connection between hazard and fall. Defense counsel may dispute this when the plaintiff didn’t see what they tripped on.
Actual injuries must be documented.
The go-to insurance argument. Insurers say the hazard was obvious. The doctrine has limits in many circumstances, especially when the plaintiff’s attention was reasonably elsewhere.
Defense counsel asserts comparative negligence. Comparative negligence may cut damages, they usually don’t bar recovery entirely.
Defense counsel claims minor variations don’t support liability. How this argument plays out turns on the size of the displacement.
Defense argues the plaintiff had previously navigated the area. Prior familiarity doesn’t necessarily defeat a claim.
The hazard will likely be fixed quickly. Pictures with a coin or ruler for scale provide the best proof.
Get an incident report on file. Without contemporaneous documentation, the case becomes harder to prove.
Other customers, neighbors, or employees who saw the fall provide independent corroboration.
Other fall reports prove the hazard was known. Counsel can investigate prior incidents.
Even when injuries seem minor at the scene. Quick medical attention creates the medical record insurers need to see.
Trip-and-fall liability depends on where the fall occurred:
Recoverable losses include emergency room and hospital costs, physical therapy and rehabilitation, lost wages, diminished earning capacity, loss of enjoyment of life, and impact on relationships where applicable.
Counsel handling these cases earn fees only on recovery. Free initial consultations are standard.
Property owners typically repair the defect once a fall is reported. Without immediate evidence, the case may not survive. Surveillance footage disappears within weeks. The filing deadline with shorter timelines for some defendants reinforces the need for quick action. Engaging counsel promptly protects the evidence and the claim.
A torn piece of carpet doesn’t look like much — until your toe catches it and the ground rushes up to meet you. Trip-and-fall injuries happen in an instant, but the damage often lasts for years: broken wrists from bracing on impact, fractured hips, dislocated shoulders, concussions, knocked-out teeth, and facial injuries that need reconstructive surgery. Property owners — whether they run a apartment complex — have a legal obligation to keep their walkways, parking lots, entrances, and floors in safe condition, and to caution visitors about hazards they can’t reasonably fix right away. When they neglect that duty, people get hurt. At McKay Law, we dig into how the hazard came to exist, how long it had been there, whether anyone reported it, and what the property owner did — or neglected to do — about it.
The insurance company’s first move in a trip-and-fall claim is almost always the same: blame you. They’ll argue you weren’t watching where you were going, that the hazard was open and obvious, that your footwear was wrong, or that you were distracted by your phone. We’ve heard it all, and we know how to dismantle it. When you join the McKay Law family, we move fast to capture surveillance footage, incident reports, inspection logs, prior complaints, and witness statements before they can be deleted. We pursue compensation for emergency room visits, surgeries, dental and reconstructive procedures, physical therapy, mobility aids, prescription costs, future medical care, missed paychecks, and the pain, frustration, and disruption that follow a fall that should have never happened. Reach us now at (866) 679-9651 or reach out online to set up your free consultation and put a firm that takes these cases seriously behind you.
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