Important Issues in Slip and Fall Cases

If you suffered an injury due to a slip and fall accident you may want to know what to expect when filing a claim, or even if what happened to you actually qualifies as a slip and fall case. You may want to know what issues are important when pursuing a slip and fall case and how much you can expect to recover in damages. Read on to find out the most salient issues regarding slip and fall cases and clarify some of your doubts.

What do you need to do to win a slip and fall case?

You basically need to prove that someone else is legally responsible for your injuries. This is usually the property owner or the manager in cases where the accident happened in a retail establishment.

What is the key liability question in a slip and fall case?

Very often it comes down to proving who the potentially liable parties are and whether those parties were actually negligent. This means that they either caused your accident or failed to prevent it from happening in the first place.

What must someone who is injured prove?

Generally, you have to prove one of the following two points:

1. Either that a property owner or their employees or managers, should have been aware of a dangerous condition in the premises and remove it or repaired it but failed to do so. This can refer to covering a pothole, fixing an uneven floor, dried a wet floor, just to name a few examples. The key point here is whether it is reasonable to expect that the defendant had the opportunity to remedy the situation before someone got injured.
2. Or that the property owner or their employee or manager was actually responsible for causing the dangerous condition which in turn lead to your slip and fall accident. They might have left a hazardous obstacle in a walking path or failed to mark a dangerous area so that people walking by would be aware of it. And that it was reasonably foreseeable that someone would get hurt due to this condition.

How can a slip and fall attorney prove negligence and liability?

In order for someone to be held negligent, it is important to prove that they should have acted reasonably under the circumstances and failed to do so. This means they should have acted the way any reasonably prudent person would have acted. Your lawyer should consider whether the hazardous condition was present for long enough so that someone at the property could have taken actions to eliminate or fix it.

Also, whether they routinely check the property for potential hazards, what the justification of the existence of the potential hazard is, and whether these conditions could have been made less dangerous by taking preventive measures such as placing appropriate signs around the area in question.

What if the defendant argues that I caused the accident?

The property owner or their insurance carrier may hold that you are responsible for the accident. That you were engaging in some activity that prevented you from noticing the hazard (such as using your phone while walking).

There are many important issues regarding slip and fall cases. That is why it is crucial that you consult with a law firm that can help you with your case.