If you are lucky, a slip-and-fall or trip-and-fall accident may cause you some minor embarrassment and leave you with a few bumps and bruises. Other times these accidents may lead to serious injuries such as hip fractures, broken bones, spinal cord injuries, shoulder injuries, traumatic brain injuries, and nerve damage. In some cases, people may initially think that their injuries are not serious only to later experience a delayed onset of injury symptoms. Fall injuries are the leading cause of emergency room visits in the U.S.
If you or a loved one have sustained injuries in a slip and fall accident in the grocery store, on uneven sidewalks, or on someone else’s property, contact the Lexington slip and fall attorneys at Gary C. Johnson, P.S.C., to discuss your potential premises liability claim.
Property owners, managers, and landlords have a duty to maintain their property and discover and remediate dangerous conditions so that guests and visitors are not injured on their property. From poor lighting to slippery walking surfaces, when they breach that duty of care to guests and visitors, they may be responsible for any resulting injuries. We know that people are often reluctant to make claims against property owners, especially when the owners are friends and neighbors, but in the vast majority of Kentucky slip and fall cases, insurance companies are responsible for paying injury bills. Property owners are often not personally impacted by these premises liability claims.
Data available from the National Floor Safety Institute indicates that slip and fall incidents account for more than 1 million visits to the emergency room each year across this country. This equates to approximately 12% of all falls across the country that result in hospitalizations. There are various types of slip and fall accidents that occur, as these incidents can have various causes. Some of the most common causes of slip and fall incidents in Lexington include:
This is certainly not in a complete list of all the common causes of slip and fall incidents that occur in our area. If you have sustained a slip and fall injury and you think another party is responsible for the incident, we encourage you to reach out to an attorney as soon as possible.
Unfortunately, slip and fall incidents often lead to injuries that cause setbacks for a victim. Our team regularly handles a wide range of types of injury claims for clients, including the following:
These are some of the traumatic injuries that can occur as a result of a slip and fall incident. However, we must also take into account that there may be some emotional and psychological trauma caused by the incident, the recovery process, and the loss of quality of life caused by any disability.
There may be various types of compensation available for a slip and fall accident victim if their claim is successful. Our team works diligently to help Lexington personal injury victims recover both economic and non-economic damages.
Economic damages following a slip and fall incident revolve around calculable expenses that the victim is likely to experience. Legal and economic teams can gather the receipts or bills the victim receives and then add up expenses for the following:
Non-economic damages after a slip and fall incident in Lexington are going to revolve around more immeasurable losses a victim is likely to endure. Above, we mentioned the more unseen internal traumas an individual could sustain as a result of the incident, including emotional and psychological trauma and loss of quality of life. Non-economic damages are not as measurable as the economic losses, but there are various accepted standards for adequately measuring these losses.
Proving that another party was negligent in causing a slip and fall incident involves gathering as much evidence as possible. Some of the main types of evidence obtained for a slip and fall incident include photographs of the cause of the slip and fall incident along with the injuries. Statements from eyewitnesses who saw what happened can be helpful. If there is any video surveillance footage, this will be obtained and could be used in the insurance claim process or during the trial.
The goal of gathering the evidence is to show that the alleged at-fault party somehow breached the duty of care that they owed the plaintiff and that this breach led to the injuries and any monetary losses associated with the incident.
The total value of a slip and fall accident claim will vary depending on the factors related to each particular situation. Some of the main factors that can affect the dollar value of a slip and fall accident claim in Lexington include:
These are not the only factors that can affect the value of a slip and fall accident claim. Your attorney will work with trusted medical and economic experts to evaluate all expenses that have already occurred as a result of the incident, current expenses, as well as future expected expenses.
As mentioned above, the majority of premises liability cases involve insurance companies for defendants. Insurance companies can make financial recovery difficult, especially when you are not represented by an attorney. If you are contacted by an insurance company, you should not speak with them until you have first consulted with a personal injury lawyer in Lexington. Most insurance companies are not on your side and they do not care about fairly compensating you. They care about paying out as little as possible to close their claims quickly, and slip and fall accidents are no exception.
Our Lexington slip and fall attorneys are experienced negotiators and they are familiar with insurance company tactics. Some attorneys want to make quick settlement agreements for their clients and move on to the next case, but our attorneys want to make sure that you receive the compensation that you deserve. They will never recommend settling a claim that does not fairly compensate you and your family. Most slip and fall injury claims settle before trial, but our personal injury attorneys will take your case to trial when insurance companies are being unreasonable and unfair in their negotiations.
Contact our team at Gary C. Johnson, P.S.C., to discuss your legal options and resulting slip and fall injuries during a free consultation. Kentucky property owners have a duty to keep their premises safe for visitors and guests and they should be held accountable when they breach that duty of care. We can build a strong case and help you recover damages for medical expenses, pain and suffering, and more.