A slip and fall is a general legal term defined as a personal injury accident in which an individual literally slips, and then proceeds to trip because of an outside source that was not their fault. Therefore, the cause of the accident is due to a hazardous object, wet area, or faulty flooring. However, slip and falls fall into premises liability cases because the person or people who own the establishment where the accident happens, will be found culpable for it.
These are accidents that are famous for their degree of surprise and lack of expectancy. In other words, they can happen in the blink of an eye causing you to feel dazed and confused. On top of that, the aftermath of these accidents will undoubtedly cause you an immense amount of physical and emotional trauma. Furthermore, you will also suffer inevitable financial burdens such as medical bills and out of pockets costs. Due to these issues, it is more than normal to feel overwhelmed and even hopeless.
However, we are pleased to inform you that there is an effective and concrete manner in order to deal with these issues while also receiving a rightful compensation for your injuries. To achieve this, you will need to seek the assistance of a slip and fall accident lawyer. He or she will guide you through your legal battles and will vehemently fight to protect your rights. Join us throughout this detailed account so that you can learn more about the legal standards of slip and falls, and why it is crucial to hire an attorney when dealing with them.
Legal Standard
- Within premises liability, slip and falls are deemed to be accidents caused by negligence. More specifically though, this is an incident that reflects a lack of responsibility and breach of duty from the owner of a private property, place of business, or public establishment in ensuring the safety of those affected.
Proving Liability
The most important task at hand when being a victim of slip and fall is to prove that your accident was caused by any possible dangerous condition. Further details needed to prove fault are the following:
- The owner legitimately created the hazardous condition,
- The property owner knew that the dangerous condition already existed for an extended period of time, yet still negligently chose to not fix the issue knowing that it would eventually cause harm to others.
Commercial Versus Residential Areas
It is important to understand that slip and fall accidents have different repercussions depending if the injuries occur either in private residential areas in comparison to commercial areas. Let’s delve right into it.
Commercial liability will follow if the owner or any employee of a store or restaurant committed the following acts of negligence:
- Caused a spill or any other slippery or dangerous surface or item to be available and possible to affect any unexpecting customers,
- Knew about an already present dangerous surface and chose not to do anything about it,
- Should have known that the hazardous condition on the surface of the establishment would have posed a threat. In comparison, a more responsible proprietor would have taken the time to inspect the property and would thus have discovered the hazard, proceeding to remove or repair it.
Residential liability will follow if landlords or homeowners commit the following acts of negligence:
- The landlord or homeowner did in fact have the power to prevent the condition that caused the slip and fall,
- Failing to immediately repair the potential hazard, especially if it would have been cheap and easy to do so,
- If a serious injury was an inevitable result of not fixing the hazard,
- An accumulation of poor-decision making to simply avoid or neglect the issue and culminating in the slip and fall of a tenant, neighbor, or pedestrian.
Injury value
Generally, there are a couple of factors that make up how much money your pain and suffering from the accident will grant you. Let’s go ahead and review them:
- The amount of financial trouble caused by your accident – This would include medical bills such as hospital visits, treatment, physical therapy, recovery and mental health therapy.
- Loss of wages and income due to injury – If you are unable to work and provide for yourself or your family for an extended period of time, a proper settlement will compile your losses and add them to your compensation.
- Compensation for disability – Instances when your injuries resulted in permanent disabilities impeding you from doing even the most simplest of tasks. Such things include taking care of yourself, working, and communicating.
- Non-economic damages such as pain and suffering – These include mental trauma and the inability to have peace of mind due to the accident.
Legal Assistance For Your Slip & Fall Case
You need to understand that the above-mentioned information is not only crucial knowledge, but also necessary steps to take in order to attain the compensation that you deserve. However, the most important step of all, is to hire a lawyer so that they may guide you throughout this legal process. Let’s go ahead and review the advantages of hiring an attorney:
- An attorney will actually be able to prove liability – At the beginning of your process, your lawyer will gather all of the necessary evidence, declarations, and witnesses of the accident scene. By doing so, he or she will create a strong and factual argument that not only portrays your injuries, but also highlights the owner’s negligence.
- Add value to your claim – A competent attorney has the expertise and strategy to correctly analyse the charsiterics of both your physical and emotional injuries. As a result, your interests and needs will be taken care of, since they will be highlighted on your claim. Your injuries will thus become the reason for a deserved compensation and a reasonable value will be added onto them.
- Talk to the insurance companies – There is nothing more tedious and painstaking than dealing with the insurance companies, especially if they are representing a place of business. Many times, these representatives will try to use sneaky tactics in hopes of disputing your accusations. Thankfully, your attorney will have a vast experience in dealing with cases identical to yours. They will know how to deal with their undermining strategies to ensure that your rights are protected.
- Will represent you in court if need be – If your case goes to trial, your attorney will know exactly how to present your case to the jury with factual evidence. Oftentimes, if your lawyer threatens litigation before a hearing, the insurance companies will opt to treat you in a more respectful manner in hopes of avoiding going to court because juries and judges tend to rule in favor of the plaintiff. Nonetheless, if you do go to court, the chances of you winning your case will drastically decrease if you’re not accompanied by a legal representative.
We now believe that you are definitely more educated regarding the legal complexities of dealing with slip and fall accidents. Furthermore, we hope that you also understand that the only way to properly deal with this issue is by seeking the services of a slip and fall accident lawyer. Luckily, we are more than delighted to inform you about the services of Scott J. Senft The Lawyer for your slip and fall needs.
Scott and his team are a set of legal experts that will not stop working until you receive even the last cent that you are entitled to. They are truly empathetic to your circumstances, which is one of urgency and necessity. With locations in Dania Beach and Boca Raton, Scott and his squad are ready to represent you. Stop hesitating and call him now!
