If you or a loved one suffered an injury in a slip and fall accident on public or private property, you could recover compensation. However, getting what you may deserve after a fall can be challenging.
A slip and fall lawyer from the Law Offices of Anidjar & Levine can help you fight for justice after a painful slip and fall accident. We can negotiate with insurance companies and file a lawsuit to pursue compensation on your behalf, if necessary.
Do I need a Lawyer for my Slip and Fall Accident?
You have the right to file a personal injury claim on your own and even represent yourself in court. However, standing up against the negligent party and their attorneys as well as insurance companies can be tough, especially if you are simultaneously recovering from injuries.
A slip and fall lawyer from our firm can offer you professional legal advice and guidance as well as build a comprehensive case against a negligent property owner. They can also assist with calculating and proving your damages, which can be crucial when it comes to negotiating for an adequate settlement for your injuries, suffering, and monetary losses.
Establishing Fault in Your Claim
Establishing fault in a slip and fall case can be anything but straightforward. Property owners and their attorneys might try to push fault for the accident on you, claiming that your own inattention or carelessness caused your slip and fall accident. To establish fault, your slip and fall lawyer will analyze your accident comprehensively. They will also determine whether the property owner or other liable entity violated any federal and state laws or regulations.
Protecting Your Rights
Having a dedicated slip and fall attorney stand up for your rights can help protect you from the defendant and their insurance company taking advantage of you. The other side may try to minimize your claim or deny it altogether. A dedicated lawyer from our firm can strongly fight for your best interests.
Moreover, since the slip and fall lawyers from our firm know how to calculate your damages accurately, they also know whether a settlement offer is fair or completely inadequate. This may protect you from potentially leaving money on the table.
What is the Average Settlement for a Slip and Fall Accident?
If you are looking to sue a negligent property owner for a slip and fall accident, you are probably wondering what you could recover and what an average settlement for a slip and fall accident may be. Unfortunately, there is no such thing as an average settlement for a personal injury lawsuit such as a slip and fall. Every claim is different, and variations in recovery can be considerable.
For instance, a victim suffering only sprains and bruises will potentially receive a much smaller settlement than someone who suffered a permanent disability due to a serious fall. An individual that cannot return to work or can no longer live independently due to a catastrophic injury may recover a large settlement to compensate them for all the losses and suffering they experienced and will continue to experience.
Knowing what your settlement could be worth will require careful analysis of your specific slip and fall accident and factors, such as:
- Your past, present, and future medical expenses due to your injuries
- The severity of your injuries
- The extent of your physical and emotional suffering
- Your lost wages and potential future lost wages due to the accident
- Incidental expenses incurred as a result of the accident and injuries
- Whether you are partly at fault for the accident
- Other circumstances of your accident
Knowing what your claim could be worth can be important. A slip and fall lawyer from the Law Offices of Anidjar & Levine can help you calculate your damages and pursue a settlement that covers your losses adequately.
Who can I sue in a Slip and Fall Accident?
Who you can sue in a slip and fall accident depends on where your accident happened and on other factors. Slip and fall accidents can potentially occur in various locations, including but not limited to:
- Apartment complexes
- Retail stores and shopping malls
- Grocery stores
- Hotels and motels
- Amusement parks and playgrounds
- Offices
- Construction sites and other workplaces
- Parking garages and parking lots
Property Owner
Typically, the responsibility for providing a safe and secure property falls on the owner of the premises. In a slip and fall accident, you could sue a negligent owner provided you can prove they acted negligently in causing your accident and injuries.
When an accident happens on municipal property, such as government offices or a publicly owned parking lot, the owner can be a government entity. However, suing local government can be challenging, as timeframes for filing claims against a local government body can be prohibitively short. A slip and fall lawyer from our firm can help you with this type of case.
Tenant or Lessee
In some cases, a negligent tenant or lessee of a property may be responsible for your accident. If you suffered injuries in a commercial location, you could potentially sue a business owner who might be a lessee or renter of the property.
Third Party
If your accident happened at work due to the negligence of a third party, such as a contractor on your job site or a property owner, you might be able to file a personal injury lawsuit against them. A lawsuit can potentially provide you with awards for pain and suffering and other non-economic damages that a workers’ compensation claim may not cover.
Can I sue a Retail Store for my Slip and Fall Accident?
In short, yes, you can potentially sue a retail store for your slip and fall accident. Retail stores, just like other premises, must ensure the safety of their customers and visitors and are not immune to the legal consequences of their negligence. However, the onus is on the claimant, the individual who suffered the injuries and damages, to prove the retail store’s negligence.
To have a chance at recovering compensation for your injuries, you and your attorney will aim to prove the following:
- An unsafe or dangerous condition existed at the retail store.
- The property owner knew about the hazard or should have known about it.
- The property owner failed to fix the hazard or did not warn visitors of its existence.
- The negligence of the responsible party caused your accident and injury.
- You have damages as a result.
However, not every fall in a retail store automatically amounts to a personal injury claim. Store patrons are required to be attentive to any potential tripping or slipping hazards. Not paying attention to their surroundings could potentially render a claimant at least partially responsible for their own accident.
In some cases, the fault for an accident can be hotly contested. A slip and fall lawyer from the Law Offices of Anidjar & Levine can defend you from the other side, arguing that you are to blame for your own injuries. Getting legal help as soon as possible after you hurt yourself in a retail store fall can be important for protecting your rights to pursue compensation.
How does a Slip and Fall Case Work?
Slip and fall cases can vary greatly, depending on the willingness of the defendant or their insurance company to settle and on whether a claim is resolved out of court or goes all the way to trial. Many personal injury cases end with a settlement. However, if negotiations fail, or if the negligent party and their insurance company refuse a settlement entirely, your lawyer may recommend taking your lawsuit to trial.
Out-of-Court Settlement
Out-of-court settlements can work to both parties’ advantage as they can lead to a relatively fast conclusion and prevent a potentially long, arduous, and expensive lawsuit.
An accident victim may be tempted to take negotiations with the at-fault party and their insurance company into their own hands, but this can be a challenging endeavor. Insurance providers may try to take advantage of your situation by making you a low settlement offer. An attorney from our firm can inform you of what your claim is worth, negotiate with the insurer, and fight strongly for what you may deserve. If we believe a settlement offer is too low, we will help you reject it and negotiate for a new offer.
Sometimes, even with the best efforts of an attorney, obtaining a fair out-of-court settlement proves impossible. In this case, your slip and fall lawyer will try to seek justice for you in court.
Slip and Fall Lawsuit
If an insurance company appears to be stalling, filing a lawsuit may simply be unavoidable. Claimants who are concerned about the costs of a lawsuit can rest assured knowing that our firm works on a “no win, no fee” basis. In this way, you will not have to pay us attorney’s fees if you lose your case.
The first step in a slip and fall lawsuit is typically filing the formal complaint against the property owner or other liable party. The complaint will state how the accident happened, who is allegedly responsible, and what types of damages they are seeking. The court case can then roughly proceed as follows:
- You will receive an answer from the defendant.
- The discovery phase begins.
- Pre-trial motions are filed, if applicable.
- Settlement conferences or mediation takes place.
- The claim will progress to trial unless the parties agree to a settlement.
Slip and fall cases can differ widely, so it is important to note that this is just a rough outline of what your case could look like. If you are interested in how a slip and fall case could work for your specific claim, you can receive a free case review from the Law Offices of Anidjar & Levine.
How Much Can You Sue for a Slip and Fall?
How much you can sue for a slip and fall will entirely depend on your specific accident, injuries, and other circumstances unique to your claim. However, in general, you could seek compensation for the following economic damages:
- Medical expenses and future medical costs
- Lost wages and future lost wages
- Reduced earning capacity as a result of your injuries
- Medical accessories and devices, such as a wheelchair
- Modifications of your home and car
- Medical transportation costs
- The cost of prescription and over-the-counter medications
- Specialist appointments and treatments
- Physical therapy
- All other expenses connected to the accident
However, your economic damages may only be part of your settlement, especially if you suffered serious injuries in an accident. If you had to endure significant injuries and painful medical treatments, you could potentially receive non-economic damages, such as awards for:
- Pain and suffering
- Reduction of life enjoyment
- Mental anxiety and trauma
- Permanent disability
You may also be able to receive other types of damages not listed here. A slip and fall lawyer from our firm can analyze your case and inform you how much you could potentially sue for.
How much Time Do You Have to Sue After a Slip and Fall?
After a slip and fall accident, you should seek timely legal advice since your time for filing a lawsuit could be limited and will also depend on who you intend to sue.
Observe the Statutes of Limitations in Your State
Filing deadlines for your slip and fall lawsuit will entirely depend on the personal injury statutes in the state where you live. In Florida, Florida Statutes §95.11(3)(a) sets the general statute of limitations for personal injury lawsuits at four years. This time limit starts to run down from the day that your injury occurs.
Suing a Government Entity
If you come to harm on public property, you might want to hurry and get legal advice imminently. Lawsuits against government entities may include special regulations and a shorter time limit for filing your case.
For example, Florida Statutes §768.28 gives you just three years to file a personal injury lawsuit against Florida and its agencies. A slip and fall lawyer from the Law Offices of Anidjar & Levine can help you with this type of lawsuit.
Generally speaking, while you may not want to file a lawsuit right away, you should inform yourself about the timelines that apply in your specific case. Missing the deadline for filing a lawsuit can potentially leave you unable to recover any compensation whatsoever.
How Can a Lawyer Help with my Slip and Fall Case?
A lawyer from our firm can potentially see your claim or lawsuit through from beginning to end and work tirelessly on recovering compensation for you while you are free to recover from your ordeal. There are potentially many other benefits to hiring a slip and fall lawyer, including:
Accurately Valuing Your Damages
Knowing the value of your claim is crucial for pursuing a settlement that covers all of your expenses now and in the future. A lawyer from our firm will look at your injuries, expenses, and other damages and can arrive at an accurate valuation.
Building a Comprehensive Case
Your attorney will get busy with collecting evidence for your claim or lawsuit as well as your damages. This can help them build a case against the at-fault party and fight for a fair settlement on your behalf.
Taking Your Case to Court
If an insurance company refuses a suitable settlement, your attorney will not hesitate to take your claim further, file a court case, and represent your case at trial.
Providing Peace of Mind
One of the main advantages of hiring a lawyer to help with your claim is that you can relax. Personal injury claims can be stressful and challenging. Your attorney will take charge of your claim or lawsuit, be your advocate, and make sure to protect your legal rights at all times. Meanwhile, you can concentrate on getting your life back together and healing from your injuries.
How do I Win my Slip and Fall Case?
To win a slip and fall case, you will have to prove, with compelling and comprehensive evidence, that a negligent property owner or representative is responsible for causing your accident and injuries.
This may sound straightforward, but remember that there are two parties in a claim. While you will be trying to prove the negligence of the at-fault party, they may be trying to prove they are not liable for your injuries.
If you want to win your case, you will have to prove that either:
- The property owner or other responsible party should have recognized and fixed a hazard, such as a bulging carpet or broken floorboard, but did not do so; and
- This failure to prevent the hazard led to your accident and injuries.
You will also likely have to prove you did not cause your own accident and that you acted with reasonable care. The Law Offices of Anidjar & Levine can help you with these tasks when we handle your slip and fall case.
Am I Entitled to Compensation for my Slip and Fall Injury?
Slip and fall injuries can happen for a multitude of reasons, and not all of those who fall on another party’s property are entitled to compensation. If an accident happened because an individual was intoxicated at the time or failed to use reasonable care while moving around a property, they might not be able to recover compensation for their injury and losses.
While you may be entitled to compensation for a slip and fall injury, you will not automatically receive a settlement. Recovering compensation via an insurance claim or lawsuit can take considerable effort and time. However, what you do immediately after an accident and in the following days can help protect your legal rights.
Steps that Can Help with Recovering Compensation
The most important step after an accident is to seek medical advice and obtain medical reports listing your injuries as soon as possible. It can also be particularly helpful for your case if you start to gather as much evidence as possible at the accident scene and in the days after your accident.
Your next steps may include:
- Getting the contact details of eyewitnesses
- Filing an accident report
- Taking pictures of the accident scene and injuries
- Collecting receipts of medical expenses and out-of-pocket costs
- Contacting a slip and fall lawyer from our firm
The Law Offices of Anidjar & Levine Can Help You
The Law Offices of Anidjar & Levine can help you fight for compensation if you are suffering the consequences of someone else’s negligence. We can take care of the legal details while you concentrate on your recovery.
Call us now at 1-800-747-3733 for a free case review with a member of our team.
