No slip and fall lawyer in Los Angeles wins a case just because someone fell. California law asks a harder question: did the property owner know, or should it have known, about the hazard in time to fix it? That’s why these cases are won or lost on surveillance video, cleaning logs, employee testimony, and timing. They are also why insurers fight them so hard.
The best premises liability lawyers treat a fall like an investigation. In one Los Angeles case, the defense claimed a McDonald’s customer staged his fall. His lawyers tracked down the employee who had been taking out the trash, and she testified that a leaking garbage bag caused the spill. The jury awarded $18.79 million. The five picks below have won cases like that, against stores, restaurants, landlords, and property owners across Los Angeles.
Slip, Trip, and Fall Law in California
These rules shape most premises liability claims in Los Angeles:
- Reasonable care: Property owners and businesses must keep their premises reasonably safe and warn visitors of hazards they know about or should discover through regular inspections.
- The notice question: You usually must show the owner created the hazard, knew about it, or should have found it. Store sweep logs and video timestamps often decide this.
- Shared fault: If you weren’t watching your step, your recovery can be reduced, but California’s comparative fault rule doesn’t bar it.
- Public sidewalks: Cities can argue a crack or lift was too “trivial” to be dangerous. No fixed height rule applies, though defendants often argue for about an inch.
- Deadlines: Two years for most injury lawsuits, but only six months to file a written claim if a city, county, or public agency owns the property.
- Falls at work: Workers’ compensation usually covers injuries on the job, but a separate lawsuit may be possible against a property owner or contractor who isn’t your employer.
Five Premises Liability Lawyers Who Win Fall Cases
1. Savin Bursk Law: Brian Kim and Maureen Hennessey
The McDonald’s case above is this firm’s. Jonathan Choto slipped at a McDonald’s in Lomita in 2018. The restaurant’s security cameras were off for construction, and the defense accused him of spilling orange juice on purpose. Brian Kim and Maureen Hennessey found the one witness who mattered, the employee carrying the trash. She testified that the bag leaked, no warning cone was set out, and managers had pushed the staged-fall story.
The defense asked the jury to award $58,250. In December 2022, the jury awarded $18.79 million. Savin Bursk was founded in 1983 by a husband-and-wife team in the San Fernando Valley and now handles injury, workers’ compensation, and estate cases.
- Proof of skill: $18.79 million verdict after the defense claimed the fall was staged
- Office: 10663 Yarmouth Avenue, Granada Hills, CA 91344 (also in Encino)
2. Vaziri Law: Siamak Vaziri
Vaziri Law has represented injured clients since 2006 and reports a long list of fall results. They include a $3.1 million trip-and-fall verdict at a shopping mall, which the firm describes as the largest trip-and-fall award in California that year. The firm also reports two $5 million settlements, one for a client who slipped on spilled food at a well-known restaurant and another for a traumatic brain injury caused by defective stairs.
The defective-stairs case settled for the full insurance policy limit. That points to an important early step in fall cases: finding out how much coverage the property owner carries.
- Proof of skill: $3.1 million mall trip-and-fall verdict and two $5 million settlements
- Office: 1901 Avenue of the Stars, 20th Floor, Los Angeles, CA 90067
3. Feher Law: Thomas Feher
Thomas Feher’s South Bay firm reports a $3.6 million slip-and-fall verdict in Los Angeles, along with settlements of $5 million for knee and lower-back injuries, $2.82 million for a foot injury, and $2 million for a trip-and-fall that caused brain and back injuries.
Feher is a graduate of the Gerry Spence Trial Lawyers College, a well-known training program for plaintiffs’ trial lawyers, and has appeared on Super Lawyers lists from 2022 through 2026. A firm based in Torrance can be a practical choice for falls at South Bay shopping centers, beach cities, and apartment complexes.
- Proof of skill: $3.6 million slip-and-fall verdict in Los Angeles
- Office: 357 Van Ness Way, Suite 280, Torrance, CA 90501
4. Ringler Law: Jerome Ringler
Some falls happen with no witnesses at all. Ringler Law reports a $3 million recovery for a client who suffered a brain injury in an unwitnessed slip and fall at a supermarket. Without an eyewitness, a case like that depends on store records, the hazard itself, and medical evidence connecting the fall to the injury.
Jerome Ringler has handled major injury litigation in Southern California, including serving as lead counsel in Metrolink collision cases. For a fall with a serious brain injury and disputed facts, that kind of litigation background helps.
- Proof of skill: $3 million recovery in an unwitnessed supermarket fall
- Office: 530 Wilshire Boulevard, Suite 209, Santa Monica, CA 90401
5. PARRIS Law Firm: Alexander Wheeler
In May 2024, a Los Angeles jury awarded $58.3 million to Pablo Scipione, an electrical technician who slipped while repairing a train car in Palmdale. He had been called in at 2 a.m. for urgent repairs. The firm describes the verdict as the largest slip-and-fall award in U.S. history. Alexander Wheeler was lead trial attorney, with partner Khail Parris.
Scipione was working as an independent contractor at another company’s facility, so his claim wasn’t limited to workers’ compensation. In August 2024, the case settled for $21 million, avoiding a lengthy appeal.
- Proof of skill: $58.3 million workplace fall verdict, later settled for $21 million
- Office: 10940 Wilshire Boulevard, Suite 900, Los Angeles, CA 90024
Los Angeles Sidewalks: A $1.37 Billion Problem
Many falls in Los Angeles don’t happen in stores. They happen on broken sidewalks lifted by decades of tree roots. In 2016, the city settled Willits v. City of Los Angeles, a disability rights lawsuit, by agreeing to spend $1.37 billion over 30 years fixing sidewalks, curbs, and ramps.
Progress has been slow. By mid-2025, fewer than 1,500 full repairs had been completed since the settlement, and more than 3,000 sidewalks were still waiting in the repair queue. Meanwhile, the city continues paying trip-and-fall claims, with more than 20 approved by its claims board in the first half of 2025 alone.
If you fall on a public sidewalk, take these steps:
- Photograph the defect with something showing scale, such as a coin or ruler.
- Note the exact address and nearest cross street.
- File a government claim within six months, because missing that deadline usually ends the case.
Slip and Fall Questions Angelenos Ask
Q1. What do I need to prove in a California slip and fall case?
A: Generally that the property owner caused the hazard, knew about it, or should have found it through reasonable inspections, and that it caused your injury.
Q2. Can I sue the City of Los Angeles for a sidewalk fall?
A: Possibly. You must file a written government claim within six months, and the city may argue the defect was too minor to be dangerous.
Q3. How much is a slip and fall case worth in Los Angeles?
A: It depends on injury severity, medical costs, lost income, and fault. Verdicts range widely, from modest awards to multimillion-dollar results for spinal and brain injuries.
