Nova Scotia Trip and Fall Lawyers

Nova Scotia’s Occupiers’ Liability Act, SNS 1996, c 27 sets the duty. An occupier must take the care that is reasonable in the circumstances to see that a person on the premises is reasonably safe. A Nova Scotia trip and fall lawyer turns that sentence into a claim with the evidence that exists in the first days. There are two clocks to watch. A fall on a municipal sidewalk has a notice period far shorter than two years.

A Fall Claim Has a Two-Year Limit and a Much Shorter Municipal Notice Period

The general one is two years from discovery under the Limitation of Actions Act, SNS 2014, c 35. The municipal one is the trap. The Municipal Government Act requires written notice to the municipality of a claim for injury from a street or sidewalk within a short period after the fall, and Halifax Regional Municipality relies on it. If you fell on a public sidewalk in Halifax, Dartmouth, Sydney or Truro, the notice letter goes out the week you call.

The Act Reaches the Owner, the Tenant, the Manager and the Snow Contractor

The Act covers the owner, the tenant in possession, the property manager and, through their contract, the snow-clearing company. Most Nova Scotia fall claims are ice. A parking lot plowed but not salted. A walkway cleared down to a sheet of ice. An entrance where meltwater refroze overnight. The occupier’s maintenance log, the contractor’s service records and Environment Canada’s weather data for the day make the case, together with photographs of the surface taken within hours. Inside a store it is the unmarked wet floor and the mat that curled. Stores overwrite surveillance within weeks, so we send a preservation letter at once.

What a Nova Scotia Trip and Fall Lawyer Recovers

A wrist, hip or ankle fracture, a shoulder tear, a concussion or a low-back injury. Damages cover pain and suffering, lost income, future care, housekeeping loss and out-of-pocket costs. The minor injury cap does not apply outside auto claims. MSI recovers its cost of care inside the action. Contributory negligence, the argument that you should have seen the ice or worn other boots, comes up in every case. Where the occupier proves it, the court reduces the award by a percentage.

Small Claims to $25,000 and the Supreme Court Above It

A claim of $25,000 or less can go to the Small Claims Court of Nova Scotia. A fracture that needed surgery goes to the Supreme Court of Nova Scotia, where either side can ask for a civil jury. Discovery of the occupier’s maintenance practices is where the case is usually decided.

The Halifax office handles fall claims across Nova Scotia. Michael Byrne runs many of them.

I Fell on an HRM Sidewalk. What Is the Standard?

Reasonableness in the circumstances of winter maintenance. That is a lower bar than a private store’s. It is still met or not on the evidence of what the municipality did that day, and the notice rule has to be satisfied first.

Can I Claim Against a Friend Whose Steps I Fell On?

You claim on their homeowner’s policy under the Act. The insurer pays. The friendship survives.

The Store Says There Was a Wet-Floor Sign. I Did Not See One.

A sign is evidence, not a defence. Where it stood, whether you could see it from your approach, and whether the store should have fixed the hazard instead of signing it are all argued.

How Long Will the Claim Take?

Twelve to twenty-four months for a fracture that heals. Longer where surgery or a permanent impairment has to be assessed before settlement.

Read suing for a slip and fall on ice, which covers the evidence a winter fall needs anywhere in the region. Find the firm’s results at the results page, and see other claim types under injury law areas.

No Fee Unless the Claim Resolves

The first call is free and a lawyer takes it. There is no fee unless the claim resolves. The Halifax office opens the file. Contact the firm, or read what the firm can do.