Slip and fall accidents may appear minor, but they can have serious consequences. Victims may suffer fractures to the hands and legs, concussion, soft tissue injuries, spine injury or even traumatic brain injuries. In any circumstance when you suffered such an accident, you should seek medical assistance. However, once you are finally at home recovering, you will have expensive hospital bills to pay or even lose the ability to work and earn an income. If the accident happened at a place controlled by a manager or property owner, you should contact an Orlando Slip and Fall Lawyer at VG Law.
In Florida, trips and falls are the number one reason for hospitalization and the main cause for death for elderly persons. Various factors, including age, physical fitness and pre-existing conditions make the difference between a common injury and a tragic outcome. In all instances, your next priority after calling 9-1-1 should be to ask your family to contact an personal injury attorney on your behalf.
Of course, not all slip and falls incidents are eligible for settlement negotiations with the other party's insurer or trial. It has to have taken place on a private or public property, where a business owner, commercial property manager o homeowner is liable to maintain it safe for invitees and licensees (more information on this aspect later).
Thus, you are eligible to sue such an owner according to personal injury law in Florida if your accident occurred in:
In our experience as Orlando personal injury lawyers, the most common slip and fall accidents leading to bodily injury are caused by:
When filing personal injury lawsuits, it is the victim's burden to prove that any of these conditions were known or should have been known by the owner and they failed their duty of care responsibilities in removing those dangerous conditions or properly signaling them (for instance, placing a "Wet Floor" sign next to a puddle of water).
Injury law firms will start their initial consultation by asking whether you were an invitee or a licensee to the property when the accident occurred. An invitee is someone present at the premises at the owner's invitation, for example a client in a store or hotel guests. A licensee is a visitor, present at the property for their own purposes, for instance a contractor or a lessee.
If the accident victim is present at the location without the owner's permission and in breach of the law, they are trespassing. According to premises liability law, property managers and owners only have the duty to refrain from actively causing injuries to trespassers. However, there is one exception to this principle, the so-called "attractive nuisance doctrine".
According to this principle, property owners are liable for damages and physical injuries caused to children, even if they are trespassing on the public or private property. In order to seek financial compensation in this case, the plaintiff must prove that:
An experienced accident attorney at VG Law will offer you the best explanation for your particular case, and present you all the options you have to obtain optimal compensation for your expenses, losses, pain and suffering.
Filing and winning a slip and fall lawsuit is not simple at all. There are two key challenges you face. One is to prove that the owner of the private or business establishment breached their duty of care towards you, that is, failed to maintain a safe condition for you to use the premises.
This means that the injured person has the burden to demonstrate the property owner negligence, according to Florida Statutes Title XLV Chapter 768.Moreover, the Statutes stipulate that:
At the same time, premises liability accidents are judged in light of the "comparative fault" principle, enshrined in Florida Statutes Title XLV 768.81. According to this principle, you are still eligible to recover damages for this type of accident even if you are partly at fault. However, the maximum compensation you are entitled to is proportionally reduced by your percentage of fault for the accident.
The results of a dangerous slip and fall accident range from minor injuries to very serious injuries. Victims may suffer from:
Depending on the severity of the bodily injuries, you may have to spend weeks or months in hospital. During this time, you will not be able to work and earn your regular income, and may even lose your capacity to perform your job. A jury will usually include in their award compensations for:
As you have understood so far, the burden of proving that the property owner did not demonstrate reasonable care is on your shoulders. On your own, you will receive little to no assistance from the property owner to demonstrate poor maintenance or the unsafe condition that led to your accident. At the same time, you will be embroiled in insurance disputes that may take so much time that, when you decide to take legal action, you may find out that the statute of limitations ( the term is 4 years in Florida) has expired.
A skilled civil trial lawyer is able to:
To assist personal injury clients, the Orlando slip & fall law firm will reach out to all the relevant parties, including the employees or tenants of the location where the hazardous conditions caused your accident, witnesses and technologies. Trial attorneys will prepare your case with every piece of relevant evidence, including:
At VG Law, you will find a team of Orlando personal injury attorneys who will support your claim for compensation with strong arguments based on facts and on extensive knowledge of the law. We know when to ask the right questions to receive answers that make light in personal injury accidents.
Our civil trial experience allows us to win the maximum amount of dollars for injury, pain and loss you suffered due to commercial business owners' fault. So far we have assisted thousands of people file successful personal injury claims. We are not intimidated by the tactics an insurance company will use against you in order to make you drop your claim.
An experienced attorney at VG Law will answer to your online form or phone call: 833-HELP-365!
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