Slip and fall accidents can cause serious and sometimes fatal injuries. Property owners can be held liable for losses when falls happen as a result of their failure to maintain safe premises. However, you may need legal help to get the compensation you deserve.
If you’ve been injured in an accident, it can be difficult to know what steps are right for your recovery. Miller & Steele has experience and a long track record of success in helping our clients recover damages after suffering serious injuries or death because of another person’s negligence.
Our lawyers will listen carefully to how the incident has impacted your life so we can work together with you and identify the proper next steps towards justice. Give us a call at (760) 439-2210 to speak with a Carlsbad slip and fall lawyer to learn more.
Why Choose Miller & Steele Law Firm?
If you’ve been injured in an accident, it can be difficult to know what steps are right for your recovery. We have experience and success helping our clients receive the compensation they deserve after suffering from serious injuries or death because of another person’s negligence! Our lawyers will listen carefully about how this has impacted life so we work together with you on finding out exactly where things stand now as well as any potential next moves towards getting justice.
Common Factors in Slip and Fall Accidents
Slip and fall or trip and fall accidents can happen just about anywhere. These types of accidents are often the result of:
- Negligently maintained floors including trash or produce on the floor of grocery stores
- Damaged, cracked, or uneven walkways
- Leaks or wet floors
- Broken stairs
- Negligently maintained or guarded pools
- Unsafe conditions at markets, office buildings, and retail stores
- Dangerous construction sites
If you slip and fall, it is important to seek medical attention as soon as possible for any injuries you suffer. You should also take pictures of the scene of the accident, report the incident to the business owner if it occurred at a business, and get the contact information of any witnesses. This will be important evidence if you decide to file a personal injury claim.
The Importance Of An Attorney After A Slip & Fall Accident
It is the responsibility of a person who owns, leases, occupies, or controls property to maintain the property in a reasonably safe condition. If a business owner, property owner, landlord, or other occupant does not maintain their property in a reasonably safe manner, and as a result the property becomes unsafe to a visitor who is then injured as a result of that condition, the victim may be entitled to compensation.
A slip or trip and fall accident has to be looked at carefully to determine whether a claim exists. Sometimes there is a lack of signage in hazardous situations like when an area is under construction or the floors are wet.
Other times the hazard is due to poor upkeep or maintenance of the property. When you suffer an injury from a slip or trip or from another dangerous condition on the property, that is no fault of your own, contact the legal team at Miller & Steele. We’ll help you understand what your rights. Contact us today to set up a free consultation.
Slip and fall and trip and fall accidents can happen just about anywhere. These types of accidents are often the result of:
- Negligently maintained floors including trash or produce on the floor of grocery stores
- Damaged, cracked, or uneven walkways
- Leaks/wet floors
- Broken stairs
- Negligently maintained or guarded pools
- Unsafe conditions at markets, office buildings, and retail stores
- Dangerous construction sites
What You Need To Know About Slip & Falls
Slip and fall accidents can be quite serious, oftentimes resulting in painful injuries that may require extensive medical treatment. If you’ve been involved in such an accident, you may be wondering if you should hire an attorney. Here are a few things to keep in mind if you’re considering pursuing legal action:
- You may be entitled to compensation for your medical bills, lost wages, and pain and suffering.
- An experienced slip and fall attorney will know how to gather evidence and build a strong case on your behalf.
- The statute of limitations for slip and fall cases varies from state to state, so it’s important to act quickly if you decide to pursue legal action.
If you or someone you know has been injured in a slip and fall accident, don’t hesitate to contact the experienced Carlsbad personal injury attorneys at Miller & Steele Law Firm for a free consultation.
Financial Compensation Recoverable in Slip and Fall Cases
Slips and falls can cause considerable harm. Accident victims may suffer permanent disabilities that prevent them from ever working again. They could suffer serious injuries that require ongoing medical care and cause significant pain and suffering.
California personal injury victims can seek compensation for the following types of damages they suffer as a result of the accident:
Special Damages
Special damages are economic damages. They represent the direct losses that accident victims suffer as a result of the accident. Examples of special damages slip and fall victims can recover include:
- Medical expenses – California allows accident victims to recover the reasonable cost of reasonably necessary medical care they received due to the accident. This can include compensation for ambulance rides, emergency treatment, diagnostic tests, surgeries, and follow-up doctor visits.
- Future medical expenses – California accident victims can also recover compensation for medical expenses that are reasonably necessary and reasonably certain to be needed in the future.
- Loss of earnings – Accident victims can pursue recovery for the wages they lost while they were recovering from their injuries or seeking medical care. They can pursue compensation for their lost wages, commissions, tips, bonuses, and other earnings and employment benefits they lost.
- Loss of future earnings – If an accident victim’s long-term earning potential was hindered by the accident, they can pursue a claim for loss of future earnings.
General Damages
General damages are non-economic damages, but they still represent real consequences accident victims suffer as a result of their injuries. These damages include:
- Pain and suffering
- Mental anguish
- Emotional distress
- Loss of quality of life
An experienced personal injury lawyer can review your claim and pursue compensation for all the damages you sustained. They know what type of evidence is necessary to establish your right to compensation and work diligently to acquire it.
Who is Responsible for Slip and Fall Accidents?
It is the responsibility of a person who owns, leases, occupies, or controls property to maintain the property in a reasonably safe condition.
According to a case called Rowland v. Christian (1968) 69 Cal.2d 108, “The proper test to be applied to the liability of the possessor of land… is whether in the management of his property he has acted as a reasonable man in view of the probability of injury to others.”
If a business owner, property owner, landlord, or other occupant does not maintain their property in a reasonably safe manner, and as a result, the property becomes unsafe to a visitor who is injured due to its poor condition, the victim may be entitled to compensation.
Licensees vs. Invitees vs. Trespassers
The visitor’s status on the property is one factor that must be considered when determining if the premises were maintained in a reasonably safe way. Simply put, some guests are entitled to greater protection than others.
As Rowland v. Christian explained, “Generally speaking a trespasser is a person who enters or remains upon land of another without a privilege to do so; a licensee is a person like a social guest who is not an invitee and who is privileged to enter or remain upon land by virtue of the possessor’s consent, and an invitee is a… business visitor who is invited or permitted to enter or remain on the land for a purpose directly or indirectly connected with business dealings between them.”
Invitees are entitled to the highest duty of care, while licensees are entitled to an intermediate duty of care. Landowners have the lowest obligation to trespassers, although there are certain situations — such as when they create an ‘attractive nuisance’ or a desirable object that is dangerous — when they bear more responsibility for ensuring the safety of others.
An experienced attorney can help you understand your status and the care that was owed to you so you can determine if you have a slip-and-fall case.
Let Miller & Steele Handle Your Slip and Fall Claim
A slip or trip and fall accident has to be looked at carefully to determine whether a claim exists. Sometimes there is a lack of signage in hazardous situations such as when an area is under construction or the floors are wet. Other times the hazard is due to poor upkeep or maintenance of the property.
Whatever the cause, if you suffer an injury from a slip or trip or from another dangerous condition on the property and you believe the owner or occupier was to blame, contact the legal team at Miller & Steele. Call or contact us today at (760) 439-2210 to set up a free consultation and learn more about how we can help you.