Falling accidents are the leading cause of unintentional injuries in the United States and the second-leading cause of fatal injuries after automobile accidents. A slip-and-fall accident can leave a person with serious injuries, including traumatic brain injuries (TBIs), broken bones, back and spinal cord injuries, and knee injuries. Even someone who slips or trips but avoids falling can suffer a serious sprain or strain.
Sometimes slip-and-fall accidents are caused by negligence on the part of the property owner or manager. For example, a retailer may fail to address hazardous conditions in their store. A government agency may neglect maintenance needs on public property. A church might have slippery stairs after service. A construction company may fail to follow safety regulations. When a falling accident is caused by someone else’s negligence, the injured party has the legal right to seek compensation for their medical bills and other losses, including pain and suffering.
At Demas Law Group, our Sacramento slip-and-fall accident attorneys have handled all types of personal injury claims stemming from falls on unsafe property. We have helped thousands of injury victims recover the full and fair compensation they need to move forward after a serious accident. Across Northern California, accident victims have turned to our respected personal injury law firm because:
- We have 25 years of experience handling all types of premises liability claims.
- Our law firm has a 99 percent success rate in obtaining verdicts and settlements for injured clients.
- Our legal team treats clients like VIPs, deserving of compassion, and personalized attention.
- We offer a “no win, no fee” guarantee to ensure you are not charged a fee unless we recover compensation for you.
Don’t try to fight negligent property owners and their deep-pocketed insurance companies on your own. Let us handle your personal injury claim so you can focus on your health. Schedule a free consultation with our Sacramento slip-and-fall accident lawyers today. We will review your case at no obligation to you and layout all your options for pursuing the compensation you deserve.
How Our Attorneys Can Help with Your Fall Injury Claim
If you have been seriously hurt in a slip-and-fall accident, you can expect the property owners and/or their representatives to deny responsibility. They may try to shift blame to you, claiming you should have realized conditions on the property were hazardous. Their profit-minded insurance company will surely go along with this claim, particularly if your fall has led to serious injury, and therefore an expensive claim.
You need an experienced Sacramento slip-and-fall attorney to conduct an independent investigation of the incident in which you were injured. At Demas Law Group, our dedicated legal team takes a full-service approach to handle these types of claims. We do all the legal legwork, so you can focus on what’s truly important ─ your medical recovery.
When you contact our law firm in Sacramento, you can count on our attorneys to:
- Immediately launch an investigation into your fall. We will seek out accident reports filed by building security or police, assess conditions at the property, and collect evidence, including photographs. We will also find and interview any witnesses, and obtain footage from any potential video surveillance cameras that may have recorded your fall.
- Work closely with you and your doctors to thoroughly document your injuries. In addition to reviewing your medical records, we’ll consult our own experts to make sure you are getting proper treatment, and we can help connect you with specialists if needed. We will also help you create a journal to show how your injuries affect your daily life.
- Calculate your losses and the compensation you are owed. In cases of disabling injury, we work with medical specialists and life-care planners to estimate of the total costs you will face as you continue to cope with the injury in the future.
- Aggressively negotiate from a position of strength. Our respected personal injury attorneys are known for our skilled and persuasive negotiations. We come to the table with clear demands and confidence in our case.
- Passionately argue your case before a judge and jury, if necessary. We are not intimidated by insurance companies that refuse to settle. Our top-notch litigators prepare every case as if it will go to court, and with a strategy to prevail.
After a serious fall on someone else’s property, do not wait to get the free legal consultation you need. Our experienced Sacramento slip-and-fall accident lawyers will provide an honest assessment of your legal options. We will not charge to start work on developing a personal injury claim for you, and we will say so if we think you don’t need an attorney.
What Do You Have to Prove in a Slip-and-Fall Claim in California?
Slip-and-fall accident cases are pursued under an area of law known as premises liability. Owners of buildings and grounds generally have a legal responsibility for the safety of people who visit their premises. This is particularly true of businesses, which solicit or invite people to visit through advertising and marketing.
For a claim to move forward after someone has fallen and been injured, it must show actual fault or negligence by the property owner or occupier, and that negligence must have been a substantial factor in causing the individual’s injury.
To prove negligence in court, one of the three following conditions must be satisfied:
- The owner of the property (directly or through a leasee, renter, employee, or another acting for the owner) clearly caused the condition that led to the fall.
- The owner of the property was aware of the hazardous condition but did nothing to correct it.
- A reasonable person can conclude that a condition is hazardous. This indicates that the owner should have known the condition could cause an accident.
Even when one or more of these conditions is met, prevailing in a falling accident lawsuit can be difficult. Premises liability law is ambiguous, hinging on phrases like “unreasonable risk,” “reasonable care,” and “adequate warning.”
For example, if a hazard cannot be corrected right away, a property owner may mitigate the hazard (and their liability) by posting an adequate warning of the hazard’s existence. An adequate warning is one that enables a person to avoid the indicated harm.
However, if an unsafe condition on the property is so obvious that a person could reasonably be expected to observe it, then the owner does not need to warn others about the danger.
Common Causes of Slip-and-Fall Accidents
With more than two decades of experience handling these types of cases, our attorneys have dealt with a wide variety of accidents that led to serious falls. Some of the common causes of slips and trips include:
- Floors have been left wet and slippery after spills, by tracked-in rain, mud, etc., or by waxing and polishing.
- Floors and walkways (i.e., aisles, hallways, sidewalks, breezeways, etc.) are cluttered with debris.
- Carpets, area rugs, mats, floorboards, paving stones, tiles, etc., are loose and slide or shift when stepped on.
- Tears in carpets, area rugs, mats, floorboards, tiles, etc., trip people.
- Broken or loose doorsills, stairs, stair treads or handrails give-way with the weight of someone using them.
- Potholes in parking lots or lawns are unguarded or unmarked and trip people.
- Tools, equipment, supplies, or other hazards are obscured by overgrown grass, weeds, landscaping features, etc., and people trip.
- Poor lighting in walkways, stairwells, parking garages, etc., leaves hazards hidden.
- Elevators and escalators malfunction, such as starting or stopping abruptly or stopping misaligned with floors or landings, and people trip or slip and fall.
No matter what caused you to fall on someone else’s property, you should speak with one of our knowledgeable attorneys about your legal rights today. We can assess your case at no charge and with no obligation to you.
Who Can Be Held Responsible for Injuries on Dangerous Property?
Anyone responsible for a hazardous condition that causes a falling accident may be held liable, including:
- Property owners who failed to maintain their premises in a safe manner
- Managers who ignored hazardous conditions or due to negligence were unaware of hazardous conditions
- Federal, state, and local agencies responsible for maintaining government buildings, schools, sidewalks, and other public property
A slip-and-fall accident claim is not a joke. It is an effort to obtain justice for a person who has been seriously injured because someone else failed in their legal duty to maintain property under their control.
The costs to someone injured in a slip-and-fall accident are likely to include fees for doctor visits, hospitalization, rehabilitation, medical equipment lease or purchase, prescription drugs, etc. It is not unusual for injuries suffered in a fall accident to require the victim to move into a nursing home.
We urge you to get an honest assessment of your options for pursuing a personal injury or wrongful death claim. Talk to one of our skilled California premises liability attorneys today. Schedule a free, no-obligation consultation.
Compensation for a Slip-and-Fall Accident Claim
Clients often ask how much money they can obtain in a slip-and-fall accident claim. We advise them that, in cases of serious injury, no one can give an accurate estimate right away about the value of a claim. We need time to get a true picture of what your injuries will cost you, both now and in the future.
To determine what a claim is worth, our attorneys consider several factors, which include:
- Medical bills. We account for all medical costs, including surgery, hospitalization, physical therapy, medication, etc. This may include the cost of hired or public transportation to medical appointments.
- Future medical bills. This includes any anticipated treatment or procedures that may be delayed for medical reasons. We will also seek compensation for the costs of assistive devices, such as wheelchairs. If your injury requires long-term residential care, such as in a nursing home, you deserve to be compensated for those costs, as well.
- Lost wages. This includes all money unearned because your injury kept you from doing your job, including work missed for doctor’s appointments, physical therapy, etc.
- Diminished earning capacity or future lost wages. This is the estimated amount of income lost if your injury prevents or limits future work, or forces you to take a lower-paying job.
- Pain and suffering. Pain and suffering compensation pays for how your injury has traumatized you in general. This includes physical pain, stress, emotional turmoil, disruption of lifestyle, and loss of enjoyment of life.
It is a mistake to accept a settlement offer from a property owner or the insurance company unless you have a full accounting of your accident-connected losses up to now and into the future. An initial offer for serious injuries is certain to be a lowball amount based on the minimum the insurance company has been able to settle similar claims for in the past.
Protect Your Rights After a Slip-and-Fall Accident
You should always get immediate medical attention if you’ve suffered an injury in a fall, even if you have no immediate symptoms. You should also take the following steps to protect your legal rights to compensation:
- Call the police and report the incident to the property owner/manager.
- Gather evidence and take notes. This may include obtaining the contact information of witnesses, taking pictures, and writing down details about the incident.
- Save any clothing or shoes that may be used as evidence in your claim ─ for example, shoes with slippery residue on the bottom.
- Do not give detailed statements to anyone before you consult with an attorney.
Although premises liability cases are complex, our attorneys fight relentlessly for our clients. We conduct thorough investigations and compile solid evidence. Where injuries are due to negligence, we fight to keep insurance companies from denying or minimizing what our clients deserve to be paid.
Schedule a free, no-obligation consultation with an experienced California slip-and-fall accident attorney today. We will not charge for our services unless and until we recover compensation for you.
Call (916) 764-3059 or contact us online now.
This literature may be considered attorney advertising or an offer of professional services, according to rule 1-400 Rules of Professional Conduct by the State Bar of California. The information does not constitute a guarantee, warranty or prediction regarding the outcome of your potential legal matter.
