In an accident in New York involving either a trip and fall or a slip and fall there are a few ways that we can demonstrate and prove liability against the wrongdoing party or parties and that’s through notice or through demonstrating that they caused or created the dangerous condition.
There are two types of notice: actual notice and constructive notice. With actual notice, if we can demonstrate that the responsible party knew about the defect and failed to remedy it, we can prevail against them and demonstrate that they were liable. With constructive notice in New York, the law says that if the defendant should have known or had enough time to remedy the defect, they can be held responsible.
So, in the example of the spilled milk, if the accident happened just a few seconds after the milk got spilled, the law says it’s not fair to impose on the market responsibility. But if the milk spilled, say 20 or 30 minutes before or longer than that, the law says that they’re on constructive notice that they should have known about the spill and had an opportunity to clean it and should have cleaned it, and therefore they’re responsible for the injuries and the accident that happens to the person who then slips and falls in the milk.