“Slip and fall” is the term that is used in personal injury cases where a person trips or slips and has sustained injuries on another person’s property. These injury types often occur due to uneven surfaces, slippery floors, or hazardous conditions and usually happen in restaurants, and supermarkets.
If your accident was caused by the owner of the property’s negligence or caused by staff members that were negligent at a shop or restaurant, you might be eligible to file a claim for a slip and fall injury and obtain compensation to assist you with paying for your doctor and medical bills, pain and suffering, and lost income.
In some cases, slip and fall accidents can result in bodily injuries that are costly, but you may be entitled to claim compensation for your damages, which will depend on how your “slip and fall” accident occurred. Here at Kenneth S. Nugent, P.C. our lawyers are here to assist you in working out the type of compensation you might be entitled to in association with your accident.
Before we tell you more about the potential compensation you may be awarded for a slip and fall injury, it is important to know about premises liability. The slip and fall injury liabilities are centered around “premises liability”.
You want to avoid losing out on compensation because you failed to mitigate the injuries you have sustained. For this reason, ensure that you get the correct medical treatment for your bodily injuries that were related to your accident. After it has been established that premises liability falls at least partially on a second party, like the owner of the property, you are then able to start building your claim for a slip and fall accident.
You can contact our law firm for a free assessment where one of our lawyers is here to alleviate the frustration and stress of building up your case for a slip and fall accident.
The initial step to building a case will be to gather evidence. The most important evidence for all types of slip and fall lawsuits is to prove that either the staff, manager, or owner of the property were aware that injuries could arise and they failed to adequately address this issue. Documentation in the form of witness testimony, inspection reports, and past incident reports are often extremely helpful when it comes to your case.
Other types of efficacious evidence will include photos that were taken at the incident scene, photos of visible injuries, medical documents, and personal testimony.
From here, your lawyer can assist you in determining what location category your incident will fall under. Your attorney will then be able to research the regulations and laws that will standardize the required expectations on the owner of that property for the location.
There are a number of different regulations and laws that will rely on where your incident occurred. In general, the slip and fall accidents fall under 3 different categories when it comes to location:
1. Residential
These are bodily injuries that occur on someone’s residential or private property. These are bodily injuries that are typically covered by a homeowner’s insurance policy. Examples may include a friend or a family’s house.
2. Business
These are the bodily injuries that occur on business properties. These bodily injuries are typically covered by the insurance of the business. An example of this location could include an amusement park or a food-court inside a mall.
3. Public
The bodily injuries that occur in government-maintained or public properties. This bodily injury type depends more specifically to a precise location where your injury occurred. Examples include a public park, or at an intersection of a crosswalk.
A simple slip and fall accident has the potential to change your day, week, or in some cases possibly your life. These are injuries that can occur to anyone and can be surprising when it comes to how quickly it can happen. They also have the potential to be very painful, and could even produce a significant amount of money when it comes to lost wages and medical bills.
Slip and falls happen to be the more common variety when it comes to accidental injuries, in addition to the car accidents that our personal injury attorneys litigate. Yet a slip and fall is just the cause, and not classified as an injury type. Here is a list of the more common injuries that occur from slip and fall accidents:
1. Soft Tissue Injuries
Soft tissue injuries are not visible from the outside, which makes them a bit harder to prove when it comes to a lawsuit. You may not even know that you have sustained this type of injury until a few days, or in some cases even a few weeks after your fall. The soft tissue injuries can range from wrist and ankle sprains to more serious tears in ligaments and tendons.
If left untreated, these types of injuries can result in chronic pain, or make you more susceptible to more injuries. Even when you feel like you are alright after you have fallen, you should always visit a doctor, since a soft tissue injury does not often result in immediate symptoms.
2. Head Injuries
Even when a head injury seems minor it is still classified as one of the medical emergencies. If you have fallen and you have hit or bumped your head, particularly when your head starts to swell, you are bleeding or you have briefly lost consciousness, you should see a doctor or visit an ER room immediately. The concussions that are minor typically subside without any issues, but TBI (traumatic brain injuries) is a much more serious condition that may permanently change your abilities to function normally. A head injury is not something that can be diagnosed according to the symptoms, to begin with. It is important to see a doctor immediately and this will also increase your chances of a lawsuit that is successful since medical visits will provide documentation of the injury.
3. Abrasions And Cuts
Slip and fall accidents often result in abrasions and cuts that can appear to be quite severe. Yet these injuries are in most cases a lot less extensive when compared to the other types of slip and fall injuries. In the majority of cases, you will only need superficial treatment, and maybe a few stitches. But if your fall was hard enough, abrasions and cuts may be accompanied by injuries that are more severe, such as broken bones and concussions.
4. Spinal Cord Injuries
A spinal cord injury can occur if your spinal cord has been compressed or severed. These are injuries that are regarded as life-threatening, and you will require immediate medical attention, along with ongoing treatment. These are also the most expensive injuries when it comes to treatments.
5. Broken Bones
Breaking a bone is scary and painful and these injuries range from the minor fractures onto severe and complicated breaks, which may demand a number of surgeries. The tissue that surrounds a broken bone can also sustain damages, which will require long-term therapy in order to prevent neuromuscular dysfunction and chronic pain.
Due to the fact that a broken bone can result in excessive bleeding and that swelling will also occur in the initial 12 hours, this can make your break more complex to treat. This is why immediate medical intervention becomes necessary in order to recover.
Even though it is common that you can experience slip and fall injuries due to negligence on your part, there are just as many slip and fall claims that are caused by the negligence of a business. Some of the more common causes of slip and fall incidents include:
• Debris on a floor such as a liquid or fruit that has spilled at your local grocery store.
• A floor that is wet without warning, which may occur after a linoleum floor has just been waxed.
• A hole, indentation, or an uneven surface in concrete floors.
• An unsafe working or construction zone, where the proper precautions have not been taken by the managers.
When you have sustained serious injuries due to the negligence of a property owner, contact one of our lawyers today. You may be entitled to compensation when it comes to the losses that you have sustained due to your injuries. Just a single call will put you into direct contact with one of our experts who are here to guide you on the best course of action when it comes to your particular incident.
Allow one of our accident lawyers in Valdosta to assist you with a case review for free in order to determine your claim and your injuries. You can contact Kenneth S. Nugent, P.C through our online Chat Live option, or give us a call on our toll-free number at 1-888-579-1790.
