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Basics of Slip and Fall Accidents

As those who have experience in the legal field will know, personal injury is a wide category that contains a number of different possible circumstances. There are a number of different ways one can be injured or experience harm due to negligence or liability on the part of another person or entity, and we’re lucky to live in a system that allows people to be justly compensated when this happens.

At the offices of William Rawlings & Associates, we have a personal injury lawyer available to you regardless of your specific injury or issue. Whether you’ve been injured in a car accident or through some other cause, we’ll represent you aggressively and help you get the compensation you’re owed – almost always without the hassle of a trial, too.

One type of personal injury that’s more common than you might think? Slip and fall injuries, which cause over 1 million hospital visits every year that often come with significant resulting costs. There might be times where a fall you sustained was simply your own fault and there’s nothing that can be done, but in other situations, your fall and resulting injuries may have been caused by negligence. Let’s look at some steps to take and important information if you think your slip and fall was caused by negligence of an outside party.

Immediate Steps to Take

Some of the most important moments for your potential personal injury case will come directly following the injury itself. Make sure to immediately seek medical attention for any injuries, and to also notify the manager or entity in charge of the property so they can fill out an accident report. Make sure you get records of each of these things.

One important note: Even if you don’t feel major pain at the time of the accident, you should still take the steps we just listed. Some medical symptoms may not show up until later, and even if they don’t, documenting the fact that you sought this attention could be important for your case.

Proving Property Liability

To receive compensation for a slip and fall injury, you have to be able to prove that the property owner failed to create a safe environment. This might mean a restaurant with wet floors, for instance, or a hardware store with blocked aisles or falling products. You have to not only prove that these conditions existed, but that management either knew or should have known about them.

For this reason, a few different evidence types may be used:

  • Incident reports from the scene
  • Statements from witnesses
  • Photo or video evidence available
  • Documentation such as bills, reports, emails or others that help prove management was or should have been aware of possible dangers on the property

Statements and Information

One important note here: Like in many other kinds of personal injury cases, you have to be careful about who you talk to in the immediate aftermath of the accident. You should speak to medical professionals and any law enforcement, of course, but be cautious beyond this. Any statements you make can be used against you, and some insurance companies will preemptively try to contact you to get you to make statements that they’ll then attempt to use to limit their own liability.

Our best advice: Once you’ve spoken to the proper first responders, immediately contact the offices of William Rawlings & Associates for a personal injury attorney. To learn more about slip and fall accidents or any of our other personal injury services, contact our offices today.

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