“Labor Omnia Vincit” McKay Law
Falls caused by tripping hazards happen without warning—but the injuries can last a lifetime. If a business or landlord in Jenks, OK allows tripping hazards to exist, people suffer preventable injuries. McKay Law fights for trip-and-fall victims throughout OK. Unlike slip-and-falls where you slide on a wet surface—trip-and-falls occur when an obstacle stops your foot from completing a step, often causing victims to land hard on hands, wrists, knees, or face. Typical causes include sidewalk defects, parking lot hazards, store displays blocking paths, construction debris, and unmarked changes in floor elevation. Property owners have a legal duty to maintain safe walking surfaces and warn visitors of any hazards—but winning your case requires the right evidence. Establishing liability requires proving the elements of a Oklahoma premises liability claim. Our Jenks premises liability lawyers move fast to preserve evidence—surveillance footage before it’s erased, photographs of the hazard, incident reports, witness statements, maintenance and inspection records, and prior complaints about the same condition. Many businesses overwrite surveillance footage within 7 to 30 days, so calling an attorney early is critical. These accidents often cause wrist and arm fractures from outstretched hands, head trauma, facial injuries, broken hips, and serious spinal damage—particularly devastating for older adults. Property owners and their insurers will often try to blame the victim—we shut those tactics down with hard evidence. Every client we represent is handled on a contingency basis—zero upfront cost. You may be entitled to recover for emergency room costs, surgeries, ongoing therapy, missed work, and physical and emotional suffering. Call McKay Law now for a complimentary evaluation with a Jenks, OK trip and fall accident lawyer who will stand up to the businesses and insurers protecting them.
Trip-and-falls happen when you catch your foot and pitch forward. Different from slip-and-falls, where the foot loses traction, trip-and-falls happen when the foot is abruptly caught, usually causing the victim to fall forward onto outstretched hands, knees, or face. The injuries can be just as severe as slip-and-falls — particularly wrist fractures, facial injuries, head trauma, and dental damage. McKay Law represents trip-and-fall victims in Jenks and across the state.
The mechanics and injuries differ significantly between trip-and-falls and slip-and-falls:
Trips cause forward injuries — face, hands, knees. Slip-and-falls hit the back and sides.
Oklahoma premises liability uses three classifications, each carrying a different legal duty:
Oklahoma uses a modified comparative negligence system (Okla. Stat. tit. 23, § 13). You can still recover if you are 50% or less at fault, though the award is reduced by your share.
You typically have 2 years from the date of the fall to file (Okla. Stat. tit. 12, § 95). Government cases trigger one-year GTCA notice requirements. Trip-and-fall cases demand fast action because surveillance footage is often overwritten within days or weeks.
We move quickly to lock down store video before it’s overwritten, capture the dangerous condition before it’s repaired, pull maintenance logs and prior incident history, partner with healthcare providers, and prepare every case as if it will go to trial.
A: Trip-and-falls catch your foot and send you forward; slip-and-falls lose traction and send you backward.
A: Nothing. No fee unless we recover.
A: Maybe — it depends. Government entities and private property owners can be liable for unsafe sidewalks — but special rules apply for public sidewalks.
A: We hear this constantly. This defense often fails when the full circumstances come out.
A: Never. Refer them to your attorney.
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: 2 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. The cause is different, the injury pattern is different, and the legal arguments are different. A local lawyer experienced with trip cases treats the case for what it actually is.
The two get conflated constantly, though the underlying physics and resulting injuries differ significantly.
Slips happen when friction fails — the foot goes one way, the body the other. The body typically falls backward.
Trips occur when a forward step is interrupted. The body falls in the direction of travel.
The injuries from each type differ significantly.
Trip injuries tend to include:
Trips have characteristic causes:
Like other premises cases, these claims have specific elements:
The defect must be more than ordinary wear. Courts often look at the size of the hazard. Very minor irregularities may not support a case in some jurisdictions, while anything over an inch typically does.
Knew or should have known drives most cases.
Unlike a fresh spill, trip hazards are typically not transient. A spill might have appeared minutes before. Trip hazards tend to have substantial history. Demonstrating the owner should have known is typically straightforward.
Connection between hazard and fall. Defense counsel may dispute this when the fall wasn’t directly observed.
Actual injuries must be documented.
The most common defense in trip-and-fall cases. Defense argues the danger was apparent. OK courts apply the doctrine with varying strictness, especially when the plaintiff’s attention was reasonably elsewhere.
Insurers argue the plaintiff wasn’t watching where they were walking. While OK’s comparative fault rules can reduce recovery, they rarely eliminate viable claims.
Defense argues that some unevenness is normal. How this argument plays out turns on the measurable extent of the hazard.
“You’ve been here before”. This argument has weaknesses.
The hazard will likely be fixed quickly. Visual documentation with size reference are essential.
Get an incident report on file. If no record is made, the case becomes harder to prove.
Other customers, neighbors, or employees who saw the fall strengthen the case significantly.
History of falls at the location strengthens the case. Counsel can investigate prior incidents.
Adrenaline masks injury. Quick medical attention anchors the claim.
Different defendants emerge based on the property type:
Recoverable losses include emergency room and hospital costs, long-term treatment, past and future income loss, diminished earning capacity, pain and suffering, and impact on relationships where applicable.
Counsel handling these cases work on contingency. Free initial consultations are standard.
The hazard often disappears within days. Without contemporaneous documentation, the case can become very difficult to prove. Surveillance footage has limited retention. The filing deadline with multiple deadlines depending on who’s liable reinforces the need for quick action. Engaging counsel promptly preserves every angle of the case.
An unmarked step 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 office building — have a legal obligation to maintain their walkways, parking lots, entrances, and floors in safe condition, and to alert visitors about hazards they can’t reasonably fix right away. When they ignore that duty, people get hurt. At McKay Law, we examine 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 lock down 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, lost wages, and the daily hardship that follow a fall that should have never happened. Phone us now at (866) 679-9651 or reach out online to set up your free consultation and get a firm that takes these cases seriously in your corner.
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