There is no question that suffering an injury due to a slip-and-fall or trip-and-fall accident can turn your life upside down. These types of accidents have the potential to result in painful injuries that may prevent you from moving, let alone working and pursuing the activities you enjoy. If you have been injured in a slip-and-fall or trip-and-fall accident, particularly due to the negligence (carelessness) of someone else, you may be wondering if you have a personal injury case.
When it comes to any personal injury case, the burden of proof rests on the plaintiff (the injured party). This means that you will have to prove that someone else’s negligence (carelessness) caused your injury and your monetary losses. An experienced New York personal injury lawyer can determine whether you have a slip-and-fall or trip-and-fall case and help you understand what your case is worth.
Here are some of the important questions to ask if you have been injured in a slip-and-fall or trip-and-fall accident:
Was there a dangerous condition on the property?
This is one of the crucial elements of your case. Examples of dangerous conditions on a property may include:
• Slippery or slick floors
• Poor or faulty lighting
• Broken or defective stairs
• Damaged carpeting
• Cracked walkways
• Dangerous balconies or stairwells
• Icy walkways
• Uneven pathways
• Debris/trash on stairways or walkways
In such cases, it is important to note that a hazardous condition on a property is not limited to something that is damaged, faulty or in a state of disrepair. Dangerous conditions also include the absence of proper safety measures. Property owners and/or managers are required to provide warnings to tenants, visitors or guests when there is a hazardous condition. For example, when there is a spill in a supermarket aisle, the manager should place orange cones or warning signs to alert shoppers that there is a dangerous condition.
Was the property owner or manager negligent or careless?
In order to be successful with your personal injury claim, you will have to show that your injuries and losses were caused by the property owner’s and/or manager’s carelessness. This essentially means proving he or she was aware of, or should have been aware of, the dangerous condition. For example, if an apartment owner knew that the lighting in an area was poor and an accident occurs as a result of the inadequate lighting, that amounts to negligence (carelessness).
Property owners and managers have a number of responsibilities when it comes to the safety of their premises. They are required to frequently and thoroughly inspect their property to make sure it is safe. They should make a reasonable effort to repair any hazardous conditions in a timely manner. They also have the responsibility to warn tenants, visitors and guests about any hazardous conditions that exist and have not been repaired.
Did you suffer an injury on the property?
In order to file a premises liability lawsuit, your slip-and-fall or trip-and-fall injury should have occurred on the property. You must be able to show evidence that your injury was caused by the fall. This is why it is critical that you take a number of steps immediately after your accident. File a report with the property owner or manager right away and get a copy for yourself. This report will document details such as the date, time, location and the cause of your fall.
Take photographs and shoot video of the location where you fell and the dangerous condition that caused the incident. Obtain contact information for anyone who saw you fall. Contact an experienced New York personal injury lawyer who can help determine the value of your claim and protect your rights throughout the process.
Contacting an Experienced Lawyer
If you were involved in a slip-and-fall or a trip-and-fall accident as a result of someone else’s negligence (carelessness), please remember that you have rights. Some of the damages that victims of such accidents can claim include, but are not limited to, medical expenses, loss of wages and benefits, cost of hospitalization, surgery, physical therapy, past and future pain and suffering, permanent injury, etc.
The experienced New York personal injury attorneys with the Law Offices of Kenneth A. Wilhelm can help you better understand your legal rights and options and also fight hard to recover just compensation for you. For over 50 years, our skilled attorneys have established a proven track record of helping injured victims.
Our law firm recovered $1,700,000 for a woman who slipped and fell and received no hospital or medical treatment for one month after the accident. Our law firm also recently recovered $5,600,000 for a bicyclist who was hit by a van, and $2,550,000 for another victim of a truck accident, and $3,000,000 for a pedestrian who was hit by a car, and the full $1,000,000 insurance policy for a pedestrian who was hit by a truck, and $4,625,000 for a driver who was in a car and was hit by a van, and $2,500,000 for a man who fell through an improperly secured hole. We also recovered $3,000,000 for a man who stepped into an open elevator shaft. Also, one of our clients obtained a verdict for $43,940,000 and another of our clients got a verdict for $23,500,000, both in medical malpractice cases.
Please contact us TOLL FREE 24 hours a day, 7 days a week at 1-800-WORK-4-YOU (1-800-967-5496). WE CAN EVEN COME TO YOU. There is no attorneys’ fee unless we recover money for you. We can also help with personal injury and/or medical malpractice cases in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, or Florida. If you have been seriously injured in any of the 50 U.S. states, please call us and we will try to help you with your case.
Other TOLL FREE phone numbers for us are:
1-800-RADIO-LAW, 1-888-WYPADEK, OR 1-800-LAS-LEYES
Please visit us at: www.WORK4YOULAW.com