Experienced Slip and Fall Injury Lawyers
Find out if you have a premises liability case after a slip and fall accident.
A slip and fall accident can cause a surprising amount of damage to the human body. A slip and fall can lead to broken bones, brain injuries, spine injuries, and even death.
If you or a loved one has been hurt in a slip and fall accident, you may be able to pursue a premises liability case. The personal injury team at Haymond Law has the necessary experience and knowledge to help you pursue a slip and fall lawsuit. We can help you determine if you have a potential case, and if you do, we can represent you throughout the legal process.
Your Rights
Unless injuries are severe, it is common for slip and fall victims to hesitate in taking legal action. But the reality is that you have the right to expect a safe environment when you visit the property of a business or other organization. If hazards are present, the property owner should notify you so you can protect yourself.
Most business owners are committed to providing a safe space for the public. But sometimes owners and other responsible parties cut corners, fail to fix problems they know exist, and generally fail in their duty to protect visitors. When this happens and someone is hurt, the responsible party deserves to be held accountable—both to collect damages for the injured and discourage negligent behavior that could potentially harm others in the future.
Common Types of Slip and Fall Accidents
In our time representing slip and fall accident victims, we have seen numerous types of accidents. The most common include:
- Ice and snow
- Potholes
- Uneven surfaces
- Cracks in flooring or on the sidewalk
- Wet floors
- Slippery surfaces
- Spills of liquids or other substances that reduce traction
- Hard to identify changes in floor level (small steps you don’t see)
- Hazardous stairs—in poor repair, too steep, missing/broken handrails
- Objects in walkways
- Unmarked hazards
Common Injuries from Slip and Fall Accidents
Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI)
In the case of falls, if the head hits the ground or another hard surface, the impact is usually significant. It can lead to cognitive impairment, memory loss, mood swings, altered personality, seizures, and more.
Neck and Back Injuries
The force of any fall can cause damage to the soft tissues of your spine, including muscles, ligaments, tendons, and discs. Injuries can take a long time to recover from, and sometimes full recovery is impossible.
Fractures
Older adults are especially prone to fractures from slip and fall accidents, but anyone can break bones when falling on a hard surface. Broken wrists and arms are particularly common.
Knee Injuries
Often the damage caused by a slip and fall is the result of hitting a hard surface and trying to catch yourself. Knee injuries are common in slip and falls because individuals slip and then attempt to stabilize themselves, putting force onto the knees.
Death
A slip and fall can lead to death, particularly in cases where the victim hits his or her head on the ground or another hard surface. Falling from a height, such as from a staircase, increases the likelihood of severe injury or death.
Proving Slip and Fall
As your personal injury team, it is our job to help you prove that negligence led to your injuries. Negligence is required for a successful lawsuit, which is why we only take cases where we believe that we can prove negligence led to your injuries. When we represent a slip and fall client, factors we consider include:
Responsibility to provide a safe space.
For a strong case, there needs to be a party that had an obligation to keep the property safe. Most of the time the party is the owner or a renter of the property. If the owner or renter was legally required to keep the property safe—as a business owner serving the public would be—then he or she can be held responsible for what happened.
Knowledge of a safety issue.
Usually, a successful slip and fall case involves prior knowledge of a safety issue and failure to address the issue. For instance, if a landlord was notified of a loose step on a staircase and failed to fix the step in a reasonable time period, and the step caused your injury, you should be able to pursue a lawsuit.
You were harmed due to the actions of the responsible party.
The negligence of the property owner or renter needs to have led to your injury. An injury, usually a serious one, is another key component of a slip and fall case.
Find out more about Haymond’s 8 real-life slip and fall case results.
Contact Haymond Law
Our firm represents slip and fall clients throughout New England, including Connecticut, Massachusetts, Vermont, New Hampshire, New York, and Florida. We are very familiar with premises liability law in the areas we serve, which means we can quickly determine if your injuries and circumstances are likely to produce a successful lawsuit.
We do not charge you anything unless we win your case. Which means you can talk to a slip and fall lawyer at no charge.