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Helping slip, trip, and fall accident injury victims get just compensation
Slip and fall accidents are a type of premises liability accidents. If you are injured on someone else’s property due to a hazardous condition, you may be entitled to compensation. A serious fall could lead to broken bones, herniated discs, neck injuries, or even death. You deserve to be appropriately compensated for your injuries and pain. You deserve to have high-quality legal representation on your side.
Common causes of slip and fall accidents
Slip-and-fall accidents are common causes of injury, especially in winter when the ground begins to freeze. You may also be eligible for workers’ compensation claims if you suffer a slip-and-fall accident. Each of these accidents can cause injuries to your back, head, neck, and other parts of your body.
Wet floors in a grocery store, retail store, or restaurant
You may wonder, can a person recover damages from a store because of injuries sustained due to a spilled liquid? It depends on the situation. If there was a “Caution – Wet Floor” sign, this may preclude you from receiving any money since the store warned you of a hazard. However, if the spill was not attended to and there was no warning, you may be able to sue the store or property owner/manager.
Icy sidewalks, stairs, and parking lots
Property owners must take reasonable care to ensure that all of their property remains free of harm, including the outside. In some cases, the owner is not responsible for an injury sustained by icy or snowy conditions due to natural weather causes. However, if a defect on the property causes an unnatural accumulation of hazardous conditions, you might have a case. Examples include a sloping roof or clogged gutters that cause water to drip down, refreezing and creating icy puddles.
Poor outdoor lighting
If a broken lamp or burned-out bulb leads to poor lighting, and you fall, you may have a claim for a premises liability case. Maintaining hazard-free property means ensuring adequate lighting so guests and customers can safely move around the premises.
Loose or missing handrails
Falling down stairs, either indoors or outdoors, might cause terrifying injuries. From bruising to broken bones to a traumatic brain injury, you never know what the long-term health consequences of a fall are going to be. When that fall happened because an owner failed to fix a faulty railing or never put a safety handrail in place, you may be able to collect compensation.
Obstructions causing trip and fall accidents
Did fallen supplies or products get in your way, causing you to fall over? Did a fallen tree branch or misplaced log lead you to trip on someone’s property? Trips and falls can be just as serious as slip-and-falls – you have the right to pursue legal remedies with the help of an experienced personal injury lawyer in New Jersey.
Can you sue a property owner after a slip-and-fall accident in New Jersey?
Maybe yes, maybe no. If the accident was not your fault and you sustained serious injuries, you might be able to obtain compensation from the negligent property owner.
What you must prove in slip-and-fall accidents in New Jersey
- There was a hazard present, and
- That hazard directly caused you to fall, and
- The fall caused your injuries, and
- The property owner or manager knew or should have known of the hazard
Make sure the property owner is aware of your injuries. Contact a New Jersey personal injury lawyer immediately after the incident to ensure your best interests are protected.
Where do slip-and-fall accidents happen?
A premises liability – slip and fall accident can happen anywhere. You may be entitled to compensation as long as you were legally permitted to be on the premises. In other words, you were not trespassing or committing a crime at the time the accident occurred.
Some common locations for slip-and-falls include:
- Malls
- Shopping centers
- Grocery stores
- Restaurants and nightclubs
- Museums
- Private property, including homes and apartment complexes
- Public areas, such as parks and trails
How much is my slip and fall case worth?
The amount of compensation you may be entitled to after your accident depends on a few factors:
- The severity of your injuries
- Whether you sustained permanent injuries or a disability
- Whether you were partially at fault for the accident
- If there were any other parties involved
If your claim is successful, you might be able to collect damages for:
- Medical expenses, including hospital bills, doctors’ visits, prescription medication, and
- Lost wages, including past, present, and future income
- Property damage if any of your possessions were ruined
- Pain and suffering
- Emotional distress
- Loss of enjoyment of life
No one can tell you exactly how much money you might receive if your case resolves in your favor. We can suggest an estimate and let you know if you should proceed with your case. Let the attorneys at Aiello, Harris, Abate Law Group, PC, evaluate your case for free by calling us today.
Property owners, store proprietors, and managers must keep their guests and customers safe.
When they fail in that duty, injuries occur, and you might be able to file a premises liability claim against the negligent party or parties involved.
Property owners must maintain their property by doing things like:
- Clearing snow and ice from sidewalks and driveways
- Making sure all areas are properly lit
- Cleaning up spills right away
- Putting up warning signs after floors have been mopped or waxed
- Fixing broken railings
- Making sure there is adequate security
New Jersey businesses subject to slip-and-fall claims
Any business might be liable for a slip and fall accident in New Jersey.
There are various concerns when determining liability, such as:
- Who owns the building?
- Does the business own or rent the space?
- Who is in charge of maintaining the property?
- Are there multiple tenants responsible for maintaining the property?
- Who is the landlord and/or superintendent?
- Are there multiple locations of this business?
- Are there corporate headquarters for the business?
How do you file a slip-and-fall claim in New Jersey?
Since slip and fall accidents happen in several different places, who you pursue for damages varies. Your first steps should be seeking medical attention and reporting the incident to:
- The store or restaurant’s manager, or
- The government entity in charge of the property; or
- The owner of the property you were on; or
- The store or restaurant’s owner; or
- The tenant occupying the property; or
- The landlord in charge of the premises
Next, contact an accident injury attorney. Make sure you document the accident with the appropriate parties and have copies of your related medical records.
What can I expect to happen after I file my New Jersey slip and fall claim?
Here are the steps to take after your slip and fall injury, and what to expect in a premises liability claim:
- Seek medical attention immediately.
- Retain all hospital bills and medical records.
- Take pictures of the area where you fell and any signage nearby.
- Contact our slip-and-fall lawyers.
First, our attorneys file a complaint on your behalf. This basically tells the property owner that you intend to sue. Hopefully, we can then settle the case quickly and out of court—most cases settle before they reach trial.
Depending on the circumstances, you may need to attend a deposition, answer interrogatory questions, attend mediation or arbitration sessions, or be involved in negotiations. You can expect the entire process to be resolved within a few months, but sometimes complicated cases may take over a year.
Slip-And-Fall accident resources
What businesses may be subject to a slip and fall claim?
Any business, large or small, may be the subject of a slip and fall claim. Common locations for falls are grocery stores, restaurants, shopping centers, hospitals, nursing homes, and any other public or private location
What about poor lighting in parking lots and slip and fall accidents?
If there was inadequate lighting in a parking lot or a lightbulb was burned out and not replaced, it could be considered a hazardous condition under premises liability law. Good lighting ensures customers see steps and cracks in front of them – if bad lighting caused you to miss a danger and injure yourself, you might have a slip and fall claim.
What can I expect to happen after I file my slip and fall claim?
First, your attorney files a complaint with the negligent party, which basically states your intent to sue. Then, the negligent party will file their “answer,” which may claim no responsibility for the accident or might include an affirmative defense (the defendant acknowledged the accident happened, but provides a reason why they are not liable).
Can a person recover damages for injuries sustained when she or he spilled on a spilled liquid in a store and fell?
Maybe yes, maybe no. If the hazard was not marked, e.g. with a “Caution Wet Floor” sign, AND the property owner/manager knew of the hazard or should have known of the hazard, you may be able to collect compensation.
Does an accident report have to be filled out at the time of the fall?
You should complete an accident report as soon as possible. However, if you are too injured to do so at the time of the fall, you can fill one out later.
What defenses you can expect will be raised against you in your NJ slip and fall case?
If you take legal action, you will have some pushback from the property owner’s lawyers and insurance company. To defend their case, they may:
- Deny the existence of a dangerous condition.
- Deny having timely knowledge of the danger’s condition.
- Claim you were negligent and caused the accident.
- Claim you were negligent and should have observed the hazard.
- Assert that your injuries were not caused by the slip and fall accident.
- Assert that you had a preexisting condition or disease that led to your injuries.
Please don’t hesitate to talk about your legal options with our attorney in New Jersey. We can help you build a solid case with enough evidence to prove the property owner’s negligence.
Degrees of responsibility
In a slip-and-fall lawsuit, each party has some degree of responsibility. The injured party has to show that he or she exercised reasonable care when walking on the dangerous surface and the property owner has to show that he or she took reasonable care to keep the property safe. If you have been injured due to a dangerous condition on another’s property, you may have a worthy case.
What is premises liability?
Premises liability is the law governing your rights in a slip-and-fall case.
The most important factors are:
- Whether you were on the property legally and
- Whether the property owner knew about the hazard or should have known about the hazard; and
- If the owner adequately warned you about the hazard and
- The injuries you sustained were a result of the hazard on the property
Sometimes, it is obvious who to go after for compensation. A common liable party is a negligent condo owner, store owner, or parking lot manager. However, sometimes you must file a lawsuit against multiple parties, such as a government body and the private person in charge of keeping sidewalks clean. Our Morris County slip and fall attorneys can determine who may be at fault.
Is a nursing home fall different from a typical slip-and-fall accident in New Jersey?
When an elderly person falls, the results can be devastating. Falls in New Jersey are the second leading cause of death for older people and, in nursing homes, 60% of residents will fall at least once during their stay.
Falls in nursing homes are caused by:
However, a nursing home slip-and-fall case may be fairly straightforward—a hazard at the facility caused an accident, which injured the victim. The victim was not adequately warned of the danger, and thus, money is awarded to the injured party.
- Wet floors
- Broken or absent bed rails
- Lack of handicap accessible facilities
- Poor lighting
- Broken hand railings
- Staff failing to follow safety procedures
- Accidents when transferring patients from beds to wheelchairs
A nursing home slip and fall can be different than other types of accidents because it may involve premises liability law and medical negligence. A doctor, nurse, aide, or healthcare professional may have been negligent in their duty of care.
Another complication may be that an elderly person has preexisting medical conditions that contributed to his or her injuries. This could change the amount of money awarded to the victim.
However, a nursing home slip-and-fall case may be fairly straightforward—a hazard at the facility caused an accident, which injured the victim. The victim was not adequately warned of the danger, and thus, money is awarded to the injured party.
Contact us today
Call us today at (908) 561-5577 or contact us. Your initial consultation will take place over the phone, and you can schedule an appointment at one of our office locations across New Jersey.
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