Determining Whether You Should Retain a Slip and Fall Injury Lawyer
Not every case involving personal injury requires the professional skills of an attorney. If you suffered injuries during a small accident and you have evidence that the other driver caused your injuries, you will likely have no problem filing the insurance claim by yourself. However, you should never do anything you feel uncomfortable doing when it comes to your slip and fall injury case. In fact, slip and fall injury cases are quite different from car accident cases.
Contact the Saperstein Law Group today if you are seeking legal representation regarding a slip and fall injury case. We have decades of experience representing clients in slip and fall cases. Our slip and fall injury lawyers have recovered financial compensation for clients throughout the Chicago area.
Two primary elements make slip and fall injury cases different from car accident cases. Firstly, liability in slip and fall injury accidents is often contested. The owner of the property on which you suffered injury will not admit liability for any slip and fall accident unless it is clear which party is at fault. Secondly, the defendants in slip and fall injury cases often assert that the injured party is only pretending to be seriously injured.
By retaining a slip and fall injury lawyer, you will make the defendant and its insurer notice you and your case. The defendant and the insurance company may not pay attention to a claim brought by a client who does not have legal representation. The majority of slip and fall injury cases concern which party is liable and the amount of damages. A slip and fall injury lawyer can focus on these issues and strengthen your case.
Establishing Liability in Slip and Fall Injury Cases
A landlord or business owner may have been negligent by failing to remove an unreasonably dangerous condition that caused a victim’s injuries. You and your slip and fall injury lawyer need to work together to establish the defendant’s liability.
The primary element of any slip and fall injury case concerns whether or not an unreasonably dangerous or hazardous condition existed on the property. A property owner must act as a reasonably prudent person and remove or make safe any unreasonably dangerous condition. Property owners have a duty to keep the premises free from unreasonably dangerous conditions.
Hazardous Conditions
An unreasonably hazardous condition is defined by the risk the condition poses to any person on the property. The unreasonably hazardous condition is one that a reasonably prudent person would not have noticed or expected to encounter on the property. These hazardous conditions are not hazards that can be avoided by a reasonable person.
One example of an unreasonably hazardous condition is a wet surface on the floor of a grocery store or department store. The managers in a store should clean up any spills as soon as possible, and the spills constitute unreasonably hazardous conditions. Customers expect to walk into a grocery store or department store and not encounter slippery substances on the floor.
A second example would be a movie theater that contains faulty stairs. Walking on stairs in a movie theater should be a safe activity. Patrons do not expect these stairs to collapse while they are making their way to their seats. However, the manager or owner may have failed to repair a broken stair. The faulty stairs constitute an unreasonably hazardous condition.
Reasonably Prudent Property Owners
Unreasonably hazardous conditions are only one part of a slip-and-fall case. A second component concerns the property owner’s behavior. All owners and occupiers of land have specific duties regarding how they are to maintain their property. Landlords and property owners must act reasonably and address all hazardous conditions on a property. These duties exist to prevent patrons from suffering injuries.
Property owners who do not keep their premises safe from unreasonably hazardous conditions may be negligent. The dangerous conditions on the property may cause guests to suffer serious bodily injury or death. These injured guests often face extensive medical treatment, lost earnings, and psychological suffering.
A slip and fall injury lawyer will work with you to learn about the facts related to your injury. The questions your slip and fall injury asks you will help them assess your cause and determine which parties are liable for your injuries.
- Do you think a caution sign or barricade could have been used to make the unreasonably hazardous condition safer?
- Did a stationary object cause your injury? If so, can you suggest other places on the premises where it may have been stored to reduce the risk of serious bodily injury?
- What methods or tools could have been used to make a hazardous area less likely to cause serious bodily injury?
- Was the area a sight where repairs or other activities were being performed? If so, can you describe these repairs or activities?
- What guidelines were used to assess the premises for hazardous conditions? Do you know if the landlord or property owner had notice of these procedures?
- How long did the hazardous condition exist? Was the landlord or property owner aware of the dangerous condition?
Did Any Owner or Occupier of Land Transgress the Law?
In particular cases, if you suffer serious bodily injury due to a landlord or owner violating municipal codes or building codes, a slip and fall injury lawyer can use this fact to prove the landlord or owner was negligent.
Oftentimes, municipal codes, building codes, and other bodies of law determine when and where specific safety devices need to be added to real property. For example, you might have suffered a fall due to a flight of stairs missing necessary railings or protective guards. These facts will help you establish the defendant’s liability.
Contact Saperstein Law Group in Chicago Today
If you suffered a serious bodily injury during a slip-and-fall accident, contact the Saperstein Law Group today. The slip and fall injury lawyers at Saperstein Law Group have decades of experience representing clients with personal injuries. We have recovered financial compensation for clients who suffered personal injuries. We serve clients throughout the Chicago area. Call the Saperstein Law Group today to schedule a free consultation.