Are slip and fall cases heard in civil or criminal court?
In Washington, slip and fall cases are heard in civil court. Slip and fall cases are classified as a type of personal injury case, which is a legal matter that involves individual rights and responsibilities. In civil court, the parties in the dispute are two individuals and the judge is there to decide whether or not one of the individuals has suffered a legal injury due to the actions of the other individual. In a slip and fall case, the judge will determine whether the property owner was negligent in providing a safe area for individuals to walk. This means that the individual claiming to have suffered an injury must prove that the owner of the property was aware of a potentially hazardous condition and neglected to take reasonable steps to fix it or warn people about it. If the judge finds that the injured individual has proven their case, then compensation is typically awarded in the form of an out of court settlement or a court-ordered award. This money is meant to cover expenses related to the injury, like medical bills, lost wages, and pain and suffering. Criminal court, on the other hand, is used when the government has charged someone with breaking the law. Criminal cases can result in fines, probation, or time in jail for the defendant, if convicted. Slip and fall cases are usually not heard in criminal court as they don’t involve a violation of a law.
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