If you’ve been injured in a slip and fall accident on another’s property, then you could be entitled to sue them for compensation under the law with the help of an experienced attorney. Slip and fall litigation can be confusing and a bit overwhelming for first-time plaintiffs, however, so it’s important to consult experienced slip and fall lawyers for guidance on how to proceed.
Contact 1-800-THE-LAW2 for a free legal consultation with a qualified local slip and fall attorney in our network.
That being said, if you’d like to learn a bit more about slip and fall lawsuits before you talk to an attorney, keep reading! We’ll cover some of the basics below.
What needs to be proved in a slip and fall personal injury claim?
To have an actionable claim, you’ll have to establish that:
- You were injured and suffered losses due to
- The defendant’s negligence, recklessness, or intentional misconduct.
Of course, in the context of a slip and fall claim, the defendant’s misconduct would be tied to the existence of a dangerous condition of property that they did not fix. Exposure to this dangerous condition of property (i.e., property hazard) led to your injury, which falls under premises liability.
What are some “common causes” of slip and fall accidents?
Slip and fall accidents can be quite diverse. Fall accidents occur in various settings such as homes, businesses, and public spaces, each presenting unique challenges for litigation. As such, litigation around slip and fall accidents tends to be more complex and nuanced than many people realize. Common causes of slip and falls include, but are not limited to:
- Inadequate or improper lighting
- Failure to design property in accordance with safety regulations
- Maintenance issues leading to safety devices that don’t work
- Poor visibility on the property
- Presence of slipping and tripping hazards, such as potholes, liquid spills, etc.
- Infrequent inspections
- Incomplete inspections
- Inadequate training for employees meant to maintain property in a safe condition
- And more
Phew! That’s a lot. This diversity makes for interesting litigation.
For example, one slip and fall plaintiff might be suing a restaurant for failing to provide adequate lighting on the stairwell outside of the restaurant, which led to their slip and fall injury. Meanwhile, a different slip and fall plaintiff might sue a restaurant for failing to provide a “middle rail” on the same stairwell, in violation of safety regulations for wide stairwells.
Why are personal injury claims usually settled out of court?
It’s true that most personal injury claims — including, of course, a personal injury lawsuit for slip and fall claims — are settled out of court. Industry observers estimate that as much as 95 percent of injury claims are resolved through a negotiated settlement.
Why is it so common?
Well, trial litigation isn’t desirable compared to settlement for most parties. That’s because trial litigation can be:
- Resource-intensive
- Uncertain
- Exhausting
- Public
- And more
For example, if you seriously injure yourself in a slip and fall at a popular restaurant chain, then the restaurant defendant may want to avoid the publicity of trial litigation. The publicity could have negative impacts on their brand and business. As such, they could be pressured into an early and favorable settlement.
As a general matter, all litigation is “uncertain.” That is to say, there is no guarantee that you will receive the payout you desire — sure, you could increase the likelihood that you will receive said payout, but there’s always a chance that things might turn sour. That uncertainty is inherent to litigation. To avoid this uncertainty, many litigating parties prefer to simply negotiate a “fair and reasonable” compromise through settlement.
In a slip and fall accident, how is compensation calculated?
Compensation in a slip and fall accident is no different than compensation in any other personal injury dispute. Especially when serious injuries are involved, the impact on the victim’s life can be profound.
To calculate your compensation, you’d have to tally up all the losses that you sustained after the slip and fall incident — linked to the defendant’s actions. Specifically, you can claim (as compensation) any losses that result from the defendant’s negligence, recklessness, or intentional misconduct. These claimable losses may include:
- Lost wages
- Loss of earning capacity
- Loss of property (i.e., personal items on you were damaged, such as your watch, jewelry, cell phone, laptop, etc.)
- Medical expenses (i.e., medical bills for whatever comprehensive medical treatment you received after the accident)
- Pain and suffering
- Loss of enjoyment of life
- Loss of companionship
- And more
It’s worth noting that every case is different from a damages perspective because the losses that every plaintiff suffers are unique to their circumstances. For example, an unemployed plaintiff cannot have wage loss damages, while a different plaintiff (who goes through the exact same slip and fall accident) might be employed and have to take time off from work to recover from their injuries, thus leading to significant wage loss damages.
How long after a fall can you make a claim?
Every state has a unique “statute of limitations” deadline period that applies to your slip and fall injury claim. In some states, such as California, this deadline period is two years and starts counting down from the date of injury — in other states, the deadline period may last as long as three or four years.
Regardless of the state jurisdiction, if you wait too long to make a claim (i.e. if you wait until after the deadline period has passed), then courts will automatically dismiss your claim on the basis that you have abandoned your right to compensation under the law.
Given the severe consequences of a delay, it’s absolutely critical that you pursue your injury claims in a timely manner. To do so, we encourage you to get in touch with an experienced fall accident lawyer as soon as possible (these attorneys have a legal duty to handle your claims in a timely manner). You’ll be able to rest easy knowing that your attorneys will file the claims and manage your procedural requirements in a timely manner so that you can focus on recovery.
Unique challenges in a slip and fall lawsuit
There are many challenges you’re likely to encounter as you navigate a slip and fall case, but here’s two that are unique to these sorts of disputes:
Open and obvious hazards must be avoided.
One defense that you may encounter is that you — as the injured plaintiff — engaged in an “open and obvious” hazard. If you knew about the hazard but decided not to avoid it, then you cannot sue for compensation since you “assumed the risk” of engaging in the hazard.
Defendants aren’t responsible for every dangerous hazard. Frequent inspections may protect them from liability.
Another defense that you may encounter has to do with inspection frequency. See, the defendant property owner does have to inspect their property regularly to ensure that any dangerous hazards are dealt with in a timely manner, so as not to expose premises entrants to a heightened risk of injury. But this inspection requirement is contextual. The defendant cannot be held responsible for a liquid spill that occurs five minutes after their scheduled floor inspection.
How much will it cost me to hire slip and fall lawyers to represent me?
Many people incorrectly believe that hiring a personal injury attorney (which includes the subcategory of slip and fall attorneys) is expensive, and that experienced legal representation is only available to those with a lot of money to spare. Many people incorrectly believe that hiring a personal injury attorney from a specialized fall law firm is expensive. In reality, however, most slip and fall attorneys work on a contingency fee basis — it doesn’t cost anything upfront or out-of-pocket to hire them!
Contingency fee arrangements work like this: the personal injury attorney agrees to represent you at no upfront cost, but in exchange, you agree to give them a percentage cut of whatever compensation they’re able to secure. This percentage cut can range anywhere from 25 percent to 40 percent or more, depending on what you’re able to negotiate.
If you don’t “win” compensation, you don’t pay anything. In other words, there’s really no downside to hiring an attorney on contingency, since you won’t have any out-of-pocket costs even if you lose.
Contingency fee arrangements not only lower the barrier-to-entry for injured plaintiffs, but they also align incentives. Your slip and fall lawyer will be incentivized to efficiently and effectively maximize your compensation — that’s because the more you get paid, the more they get paid, too.
Contact 1-800-THE-LAW2 for a Free Legal Consultation
If you’ve been injured in a slip and fall accident that wasn’t your fault, then you could be entitled to sue for significant compensation under personal injury law. That being said, navigating the legal process isn’t necessarily simple or straightforward — after a slip and fall accident, you may find yourself feeling overwhelmed by the complexity of litigation. We encourage you to get in touch with an experienced slip and fall lawyer for guidance.
We can help connect you.
Contact 1-800-THE-LAW2 for a free legal consultation with qualified local slip and fall lawyers in our network. During the initial consultation, you’ll have the opportunity to discuss your case in detail and learn more about the strategic options that are available to you. If you decide against moving forward with the dispute, that’s okay too — there’s no obligation to continue with our network attorney. So pick up the phone and call in today to get started with a free case evaluation.
We look forward to assisting you.
