Slip and Fall Injuries: Steps To Take After An Accident

While slip and fall injuries make for some of the most common cases in the justice system today, it remains difficult to deal with them. There are certain specific attributes of the slip and fall cases which are not that easy to resolve and the plaintiff would typically need to ensure that he’s able to prove that the owner of the property where he has sustained the slip and fall injury was already aware of the dangerous condition that had led to the fall. Please remember that the burden of proof might prove too heavy for the claimant. Here are a few simple steps that you should take immediately after you have suffered a slip and fall.

1) Documentation

It’s difficult to document every little detail of an accident, especially, when you yourself are the sufferer. Nonetheless, it’s important. You would require these documents when you see the lawyer or the doctor. Try and remember everything that will help you to build a strong case against the potential offender and note it down.

Was there any warning sign?
Was there anything dangerous?
Do you remember the entire sequence in the run-up to the accident?

2) See a doctor immediately

Make sure that you’re seeing a doctor immediately even if you’re not experiencing an excruciating pain. Tell him all that had happened in order to help him conduct an accurate diagnosis. Make sure that you’re keeping your medical bills intact. The total amount of the medical expenses would partially determine your compensation.

3) Seek Legal Aid

In order to secure fair settlement, you need to find competent attorneys who have the proven success record of handling slip and fall accidents. An experienced lawyer can help you sail through the painstakingly lengthy settlement process with relative ease. Finding the right lawyer remains an onerous task as well. Make sure that you’re conducting considerable research on the lawyers’ background before settling for one of their services.

What is Landlord Liability?

There are times when the plaintiff has suffered a slip and fall accident inside the property of his landlord. You might have a case at hand if you slipped and fallen inside your house or in the garden, courtyard or the driveway or for that matter anywhere inside your landlord’s property. But please remember that there is no liability if there is no negligence. You cannot file a lawsuit against your landlord simply because you have sustained a slip and fall injury inside his premises. You have to prove that there was already a dangerous condition and that your landlord knew about it but did not bother either to attend to the problem or to intimate you regarding the condition. He would also be held responsible for the injury if you had requested him to fix a dangerous error in the property but he had not heeded it and now you have suffered for the same. For instance, there might be a leak in a pipe which has led to the accident. Your landlord would only be held liable if:

He knew about the leak beforehand but did not warn you against it or fix it
He failed to take due measures to fix the leak even after repeated requests from you

Your case won’t really have any merit if your landlord was completely oblivious of the damage

What is Government Liability?

You can even file a slip and fall lawsuit against a government entity if you have met with such an accident inside the government property. But as indicated earlier, you should be able to prove negligence of the government body or the employee for which/whom you think you have suffered. Before you can slap a lawsuit against a municipality, or the federal government you must send a formal notice of injury to the concerned body. The notice should contain the following information:

Your name and address
The date when the injury occurred
A brief description of how it occurred
The description of the injury itself
Record of your medical expenses and loss of income till date
A claim that government body had been negligent
Description of your reasons behind bringing these allegations

Author Bio: Alex G. Tovarian is one of the leading Personal Injury and Employment Law attorneys in California. He has completed his education from the Rostov State University and has considerable experience in legal writing. The Law Offices of Alex G. Tovarian operate in San Francisco, San Jose and Sacramento. You can contact him at (415) 984-9990. To know more please visit his site www.agt-lawyers.com