Losing your footing can be much more dangerous than many people realize, and it is one of the more common sources of personal injuries. Fortunately, civil law may allow you to demand compensation from a landowner whose negligent maintenance of their property directly led to you slipping or tripping and getting hurt.
These claims can be complicated even when it seems obvious a property owner was responsible for your accident, especially if you try to file suit without support from an experienced personal injury attorney. After a sudden fall resulting in serious injury, contact a Lake Mary slip and fall lawyer for assistance once you have received any necessary medical care.
Every person who allows visitors onto their property has a “duty of care” requiring them to take certain precautions to minimize the risk of any visitor getting hurt in a preventable accident. In the context of slip and falls, this means landowners are supposed to keep an eye out for, warn visitors about, and fix hazards like:
A landowner found at fault for a slipping or tripping accident may be civilly liable to pay for every injury and loss a lawful visitor suffers as a direct result of that accident. A Lake Mary slip and fall attorney could create a list of both economic and non-economic forms of harm for an injured person, including medical bills, lost work income, and pain and suffering.
The existence of a dangerous property condition on someone’s property, like the ones listed above, does not automatically mean the landowner is liable for the effects of any accident involving that condition. Landowners who warn visitors about hazards in advance and take steps to cordon them off will generally be seen as having fulfilled their “duty of care” to those visitors. Landowners are only liable for hazards they did not know about under specific circumstances.
Any degree to which a slip and fall victim caused their accident through their own negligence may be held against them as a percentage of “comparative fault,” which could lead to them being denied some or all the compensation to which they otherwise may have received. A seasoned slip and fall lawyer in Lake Mary could prove a landowner at fault for a specific incident and establish an injured person did not play a role in causing their own damages.
It is understandable to be upset and ready to take legal action quickly after slipping and falling on someone else’s property. Being proactive in situations like this is important to protecting your legal rights. You should also make sure you have the strongest claim possible before formally demanding compensation, and that can be a difficult bar to clear without professional legal support.
Call today to discuss your options with a Lake Mary slip and fall lawyer. Legal counsel could provide much-needed guidance about how to file your claim, who may be at fault, and which damages you could recover.
The Umansky Law Firm Criminal Defense & Injury Attorneys
