A slip and fall case is like every other personal injury claim. The basis of your claim is that someone else was responsible for your injury, which is also known as negligence, and it is the basis of your case. Not every accident is someone else’s fault. Sometimes, accidents just happen. Just because you were injured does not automatically make it someone else’s legal responsibility. Instead, you must show that someone else’s carelessness was the cause of your accident, A skilled Plantation slip and fall accident lawyer can assist you with that.
How to Prove a Slip and Fall Case
The basis of negligence is that someone did something they should not do or did not do something they should have.
Every negligence test must prove:
- The other party owed you a duty of care.
- They breached the duty of care by acting unreasonably under the circumstances.
- You suffered an injury.
- You would not have suffered injuries had it not been for the actions of the other party.
In a slip and fall case, unreasonable actions are knowing about the dangerous conditions and doing nothing about them in a reasonable amount of time.
Filing A Slip & Fall Accident Claim
When you file a slip and fall case, you probably must overcome the defenses that the other party may use to avoid paying for your injuries, such as:
- Your injuries were from something else and not your fall.
- The property owner did not know about the dangerous condition, nor could it have known.
- Your carelessness caused your own injuries.
- The dangerous condition that caused your fall was open and obvious, and you should have known of it (if the condition is open and obvious, the owner does not have a duty to warn about it).
One thing working in your favor is that every property owner has a duty to reasonably inspect their property which prevents them from using the “ostrich defense,” where they pretend to put their head in the sand and not know of the condition that caused your accident.
Much of whether you receive compensation depends on the character of the defect that caused your fall. Usually, it cannot be a minor condition responsible for your injury. For example, if there were just a drop or two of water on the floor or a minor crack in the pavement, it may not be severe enough for the owner to be judged negligent.
You can hold a property owner liable for a slip and fall injury if:
- The owner created the dangerous condition themselves (for example, by putting the danger there or improperly constructing a sidewalk).
- The owner had actual notice of the dangerous condition because they saw it themselves.
- The owner should have known of the condition because it was there for a certain time, and a reasonable owner would have seen it.
Owners should know about a recurring condition on their property. For example, if water comes up from the floor every so often, the owner could be legally responsible when someone slips because they should have known to fix it or warn the public.
Get Free Advice from an Experienced Fort Lauderdale Personal Injury Lawyer.
Fill Out Our Free Case Evaluation Form or Call 954-953-5861 Today to Get Started.
How to Prove Your Slip and Fall Claim
Proving a slip and fall case is not always easy. Often, there are no witnesses to your fall who can give their own account of what happened, meaning that it is just your word describing what happened to you. Of course, the business will almost always dispute your account because, otherwise, it means that they need to pay for your injuries. What you need for your claim is some documentary proof of what happened or the conditions in the general area before your injury. The strongest form of evidence is someone who saw you fall. They can testify what happened and give support for your arguments that the owner was negligent. After that, you could have someone who was in the area before you fell describe what you may have encountered yourself.
After this, photos are the next best form of evidence. It is not always easy to get pictures yourself after you have fallen and were hurt. After all, if you have a sprain or fracture, it is difficult to move around to get the pictures yourself. Try to have someone else take pictures and send them to you. Other than that, you should hire a lawyer immediately after your accident so they can gather as much proof as they can of the conditions that caused your fall. Even still, this is not easy because the property owner can clean up the condition right after the accident to erase the Other evidence that your attorney could use to help prove your case includes:
- Maintenance logs from the store or property
- Video camera footage of the area before your accident
- Deposition testimony from employees who worked there
- Some slip and fall cases are complicated and could involve things like building codes (these may require an expert witness)
You need to move quickly to preserve the evidence needed to prove your claim. There is nothing to say that the responsible party may not try to erase the evidence before you can get it. They only must keep it once your attorney has sent them a letter directing them to.
Defendants in Your Slip and Fall Case
You are best off suing the person or company that directly caused your injury. In most cases, the liability for your injury only applies to the ownership of the property. However, when a store owner rents the property from the landlord, they are the ones who are legally responsible.
If the owner has turned over complete control to a tenant, it will be the tenant who is responsible for the dangerous condition. If your injury occurs in a common area not under the control of a tenant, the landlord will be responsible for the injury. Finding the right defendant is something that your lawyer will investigate.
One entity that may not be a defendant in your slip and fall case is your employer. If your injuries happened in a workplace fall, you would most likely have to file a workers’ compensation claim. At Feingold & Posner Accident Injury Lawyers, we are experienced workers’ compensation attorneys, and we can help with that. First, we would review the facts of your case to see if there is a third party that could potentially be responsible because you could recover more in a personal injury lawsuit than you would in a workers’ compensation claim.
Personal injury attorneys Craig Posner and Eric Feingold are both excellent attorneys, but more importantly, they are excellent people. I have seen first hand their hard work and dedication to clients. I would not hesitate to recommend their services to others.
Matthew T.
What Insurance Companies Do in Your Claim
Insurance companies play a large role in slip and fall cases. Every property owner will have an insurance policy, and the company may be afraid of potential liability. They may even start the process by calling you to get your statement. We cannot say it strongly enough: Do not do anything without talking to a lawyer. The insurance company is going to pepper you with questions, and if they can get you on the record saying one thing that could indicate that you were careless, it could mean the end of your claim.
In addition, the insurance company will also play a role when it comes time to talk settlement. Naturally, they are looking to pay as little as they can to get you to sign away your legal rights in a settlement. They may tell you that your claim is worth very little, and you are lucky to receive what they are offering.
At Feingold & Posner Accident Injury Lawyers, we will not let you fall for that hustle. We know what your claim is worth because we help slip and fall accident victims all the time. We will make sure that the insurer does not con you into settling your case for far less than its value.
How an Insurance Company Looks at Your Slip and Fall Claim
The insurance company will first sit back and take a “prove it” attitude towards your claim. They know that you have the burden of proof and that these claims are not always easy to prove. They will want to see what evidence that you have. Their persona may change when they realize that you have enough to show that you deserve compensation. Then, they may go into overdrive to protect their shareholders at your expense.
You can count on an insurance company questioning everything in your claim within the confines of not acting in bad faith. If they have any argument to make about either the evidence or your damages, count on them raising it.
In the end, the insurance company knows that slip and fall cases are not necessarily easy in court. They are trying to get you to walk away, accepting less. Even if you have a valid claim, they will try to push you around. That is why you hire an attorney to fight for you. Without one, you may be an easy target for the far more sophisticated insurance company.
Damages in Your Slip and Fall Case
One of the first questions that potential clients ask us is how much the average slip and fall case is worth. Two people can suffer the same injury, and their case could be worth completely different amounts. When you are dealing with unique injuries, there is no such thing as average.
The common principle is that you must receive money to put you in the same position as if the accident never happened. You can receive reimbursement for any money that you lost. You can also be paid back for everything that you have endured and will continue to for the rest of your life. For example, if you develop a permanent neck or back condition because of your fall, you can be paid for the pain you will experience decades from now.
Elements of the damages that you can seek in a slip and fall claim include:
- Lost wages
- Pain and suffering
- Medical bills
- Emotional distress
- Loss of enjoyment of life
- Wrongful death (if someone died in your accident)
Your medical bills can be substantial after your slip and fall injury. Neck and back injuries can be especially costly to treat. You may need complicated surgery, and the costs can run into the tens of thousands of dollars, not to mention all of the time that you will miss from work while you recover.
Slip and fall injuries are usually the type that may also require rehabilitation and physical therapy to regain as much function as possible. You may need therapy for an extended time. Since your claim must cover future medical bills, you must take into account the care that you will need years down the line.
When settling your slip and fall claim, you must also think of the future. For example, the injury may prevent you from returning to work for some time, and you might never perform the same type of labor that you did before. It is tempting to take a quick check to get some money, but you will not get a second bite at the apple to settle your claim.
Call Our Plantation Slip and Fall Attorneys Today
There can be a lot at stake in your slip and fall claim, so you should not wait to consult a Plantation slip and fall accident lawyer from Feingold & Posner Accident Injury Lawyers.
We can help you. Let our Plantation personal injury lawyers see if you have a good claim, and if so, allow us to show you how we plan to pursue it for you—despite the objections, obfuscations, and even outright lies of the insurance companies that fight hard to avoid paying legitimate claims.
We fight even harder.
Call us today to find out how we can help. You can get a free claim consultation right now at 954-953-5861 or via our CONTACT page.