Claimant’s Damages in a Slip and Fall Injury Case
You might be entitled to file a lawsuit and receive compensation for your losses if you were hurt after slipping and falling on someone else’s property. Unfortunately, disagreements involving slip and falls frequently arise in personal injury cases. Many property owners just don’t do enough to keep their properties safe, which puts guests at a disproportionate risk of damage. First-time plaintiffs may find it challenging to comprehend slip and fall conflicts due to the numerous unique issues that arise in these types of situations. Clarity regarding the disagreement (and its many aspects) is a crucial first step for plaintiffs when investigating the litigation procedure.
Let’s examine some fundamentals.
Basics of Premises Liability
Premises liability lawsuits, or claims related to personal injury brought on by a hazard on someone else’s property, include slip and fall conflicts.
In order to prevail in a slip-and-fall case, you must demonstrate that:
There was a hazardous condition on the property (i.e., a hazard); The property owner (or whoever is in charge of the property) knew or should have known that there was a hazard; The hazard was not corrected, either by fixing the hazard or by putting up signage to warn visitors of the hazard; and You were injured as a result.
Resolving “Timeliness” Issues in Slip-and-Fall Cases
In a slip-and-fall lawsuit, defendants can only be held accountable if they knew about or should have known about the deadly hazard’s existence. However, a defendant cannot only claim ignorance of the existence of risks by skipping routine inspections. They must carry out inspections on a regular basis.
It is difficult to determine whether the defendant “knew or should have known,” but it ultimately depends on how quickly they addressed the danger.
It can be a little challenging to comprehend, so let’s think about a simple example.
Let’s say you suffer injuries in a grocery slip-and-fall incident. In one of the supermarket’s aisles, you tripped over a pool of liquid that had been spilled. The more your attorney looks into the situation, the longer they discover that the puddle had been there before you slipped and fell and hurt yourself.
A judge is likely to rule that the defendant was negligent in these instances since they should have found the hazard during a normal floor check. The hazard would have been identified in time if the defendant had performed the floor inspection hourly (and therefore been able to correct it).
The court will consider the norms characteristic of the defendant’s industry in deciding whether the defendant “waited too long” to assess and remove the hazard. When opposed to, say, a clothes store, the criteria for floor inspections in a bar, for instance, is probably higher (i.e., more frequent floor inspections, possibly once every 30 minutes).
Was the risk of slipping and falling obvious?
When the slip and fall hazard was “obvious” to the plaintiff, you, the plaintiff, cannot typically obtain damages in a slip and fall injury action.
To put it another way, a plaintiff cannot file a claim for damages in circumstances where it was reasonable to assume that they would avoid the danger. Thus, the plaintiff is held completely responsible for the slip and fall harm.
The question of whether a slip and fall danger was visible or not lacks a clear, universal criterion. The problem is instead based on the particulars of the instance. The court will assess the evidence and decide whether the slip and fall hazard would have been clear to a reasonable person in the same situation.
Consider, for illustration, a circumstance in which you slip and fall outside a store and suffer injuries. A mass of leftover materials was blocking one of the store’s entrances. Physically, it is impossible to “ignore” the hazard’s appearance. As a result, the court is likely to view it as clear, and you would not be entitled to damages if you were to trip and hurt yourself because of the junk material.
Make An Appointment With A Reputable Personal Injury Attorney In Our Network For A Free Consultation.
Have you suffered injuries as a result of a slip and fall accident on another person’s property?
If so, you could have a legal right to file a lawsuit to recover damages, but it’s not always easy to win a slip and fall lawsuit. A knowledgeable personal injury attorney can advise you on the best course of action for your case.
Our staffs at 11112222 are prepared to put you in touch with a personal injury attorney in our network who can take on your case. Don’t wait; we are readily available around-the-clock, and consultations with in-network attorneys are confidential and free. Calling in for a free initial consultation today has no drawbacks.