Slip-and-fall victims can seek help paying their doctor bills and with replacing the income they lose while missing work. Business owners and property owners should be covering their costs when they don’t protect their guests and tenants.
Maison Law holds owners and operators fully accountable when their slippery floors, crumbling sidewalks, and rotting stairwells cause customers to fall and get hurt. To find out how to hold a property or business owner fully responsible for your pain, contact a skilled Fort Bragg Lawyer and schedule a free, no-obligation case consultation.
How Do I Know If I Need a Lawyer for My Slip-And-Fall Case?
If you fall in a public place and get up to find you only have a few minor bumps and bruises, you may not need the help of a lawyer. But if you suffer a serious injury, such as a broken ankle or a Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI), a Fort Bragg slip-and-fall lawyer may be a necessary precaution.
When insurance providers for business owners see that medical costs will be high, they immediately go to work looking for ways to limit the compensation you’ll receive. They might try to blame you for your fall or cast doubt on how badly you are hurt. But your Maison Law representative fully investigates your case and fights back with the evidence.
Your Maison Law attorney can often secure much more for your family than you could by filing a claim yourself.
Who Is Responsible If I Slip and Fall at a Store?
When you walk into Fort Bragg businesses or visit city parks, your safety rests on the shoulders of those who own and operate these places.
Store chain owners, like Safeway, the City of Fort Bragg, and landlords are required to show a “duty of care” to all customers, clients, residents, visitors, and tenants. This duty falls under premises liability laws. They are responsible for the well-being of guests for their entire journey through a store, a park, or around an apartment complex.
Owners are liable for the accidents their employees might cause and even the dangers that other visitors and shoppers might leave behind. These fall risks must be inspected for and removed before someone can slip and get hurt.
If someone is injured, the owners are financially responsible for their recovery. That usually goes for accidents suffered in parking lots, too.
Unfortunately, compensation is available only if victims can prove the at-fault party’s negligence caused an accident. This leaves the door open for corporate lawyers working to look for every way possible to help their employers avoid liability.
It’s a situation where a lawyer with experience in personal injury cases and in taking on large businesses can really protect your interests. You can focus on healing while your attorney keeps the pressure on a commercial liability insurance provider to accept blame and help you in recovery.
Trip-And-Fall Hazards in Public Places
The hazards can take many forms in busy places like local restaurants and even the Walmart in Ukiah. So many slippery liquids can end up on the hard floors to cause unsure footing. Trash and curled-up rugs may lead to tripping injuries.
These are just a few of the dangers that property owners and business operators may be liable for:
Indoor Hazards – The dangers can come from another customer dropping food or spilling drinks on an aisle. Bathrooms are another slippery place when soap and water puddles end up on the floors. Cluttered store aisles might mean boxes or merchandise on the floor that trips someone and sends them flying forward.
Outdoor Hazards – Businesses are usually responsible for safety in nearby parking lots and parking decks. Damaged sidewalks and potholes must be repaired before someone can step on an unstable surface and fall on a fragile kneecap. Debris on a set of stairs at an apartment community might lead to a devastating tumble and injury. Handrails must be firmly attached to prevent falls. Landscaping must not present a tripping hazard.
Business and property owners must inspect for these types of fall hazards regularly. They must take action to clean up or repair them in a reasonable amount of time. They must put out “wet floor” warning signs and caution tape to prevent shoppers and visitors from entering dangerous areas.
Corporations and property management companies aren’t just liable when they mistakenly create a hazard. Liability often arises when they allow dangers to sit there without taking action. Delay in repairs of a stairwell or a faulty escalator can leave owners fully responsible for injuries.
Common Injuries Suffered in a Fort Bragg Slip-and-Fall Accident
The support won in these types of premises liability cases is crucial because victims can suffer injuries that affect their abilities to work, to take care of their families, and to enjoy the activities they love.
The pain and restraints on mobility can last for weeks, months, or even a lifetime.
These are just a few of the types of slip-and-fall injuries that put victims in a hospital bed at Adventist Health Mendocino Coast:
- Broken Wrists, Hands, and Arms – Trip-and-Fall victims sometimes try to slow their falls by instinctively reaching out, but this can put fragile bones at risk. Fingers, wrists, and elbows might suffer fractures. Fingers and shoulders might also be dislocated.
- Hip Injuries – Victims, especially senior adults, can damage one of the bones in the hip joint and experience long-term mobility restrictions and chronic pain. The time victims are confined to their beds often leads to further health issues.
- Knee Cap Fractures – A trip-and-fall could send someone down on cement to place their full weight on the knee joint. Victims might suffer other complications resulting from the time they are bedridden as a knee heals.
- Traumatic Brain Injuries (TBI) – Victims suffer head trauma when hitting the floor or when striking the sharp edge of a shelf on the way down. A TBI might cause memory loss, seizures, and leave someone with a concussion.
- Facial Fractures – Victims may fall directly on their faces, breaking their noses and enduring permanent scarring. Victims might break their jaws or injure an eye socket.
- Dental Injury – Victims who hit the floor with their chins or the side of their faces risk losing teeth and suffering a punctured lip.
Victims must get support for the care they may need in the years to come. That can include home care, medical equipment, and even home renovations to make life easier for patients. It could consist of money for surgeries that could be necessary in the future and additional physical therapy.
Frequently Asked Questions
How long do I have to file an injury claim after a trip-and-fall accident?
The statute of limitations on your injury claim is two years. You should take action as soon as possible, though. Give your lawyer a chance to secure evidence before it disappears.
What types of things are compensated in a slip-and-fall injury accident?
Your Maison Law Attorney would demand compensation to pay all your current medical bills and to cover any future care that’s needed. The paychecks and job benefits lost while you can’t work must be reimbursed. You should also expect assistance with non-economic hardships, like the pain you are left with and the emotional trauma caused by a difficult recovery.
What if I can’t afford to pay a slip-and-fall lawyer at this time?
Any personal injury accident will be physically and financially devastating, but you can still afford the protection of a Maison Law attorney. We don’t get paid unless we win your case for you. Then our fee comes out of the insurance settlement check you receive.
Contact a Fort Bragg CA Slip-and-Fall Lawyer
After a slip-and-fall accident involving a serious injury, be sure to discuss your case with an experienced Fort Bragg slip-and-fall attorney serving all of Mendocino County. You should be able to focus on your recovery without worrying about the hospital bills piling up and the paychecks you’re missing while out of work.
Contact us today for a free case evaluation to find out how we can help you pay for recovery. We want you back on your feet physically, emotionally, and financially.
