In a world where mishaps happen every day and no one is safe from being injured, it is important for you to know what you should do to prevent yourself from being injured. Although it is common practice to hire a slip and fall injury attorney as soon as something happens, it never fun to be the victim in any type of situation. No amount of money in the world can spare you from the pain and mental anguish that is felt. Not to mention that you can't get back anytime that is lost while you are recovering. Taking some precautions can help keep you out of harm's way so you won't have a need for a slip and fall attorney.
First, it is important for you to be mindful of your surroundings at all times. This means that you need to pay attention to what is actively going on where you are. No one is going to look out for you better than you can. Everyone has their minds on what they need to get done so they can make it through the day and usually there is so much to keep them preoccupied, that they don't really have any extra time to devote to overseeing your well-being; unless of course, you are a child. Sure your friends and family may spend time with you and go shopping; they can't keep tabs on you at all times. You have to look out for yourself.
Always wear shoes that you are comfortable walking in. This means that if you are trying to impress someone by walking around in 6 inch stilettos and you aren't completely at ease in them, first stop fooling yourself by thinking that you look good. You don't; you look silly and you walking around in shoes that you can't walk in is the perfect way for you to end up in the hospital and in need of a slip and fall attorney. You never know when something is going to be spilled and knocked over in the store and by some mere coincidence you are the person that ends up getting injured. Accidents happen, but that doesn't mean you have to be one of them.
Adhere to all of the rules in any establishment that you are going to. There are rules in place for a reason and they are there to protect each and every single customer. You should never assume that someone else is going to be smart and do the right thing, so you have to play it safe with everyone else in mind. If you cannot go into an establishment where there is nothing for you to worry about except for how much something is going to cost, then you are in the wrong place. Keep in mind that accidents often happen when you least expect them, so you always have access to a great slip and fall attorney.
DTS- Jesse
Tuesday 11 September 2012
Sunday 9 September 2012
Understanding Slip and Fall Issues
Did you know that there is a category of the law known as premises liability and it includes an area called "slip and fall" injury? This is actually an extremely common issue that has to do with someone experiencing an injury, and even some subsequent emotional distress, due to what should have been an avoidable fall or tumble. Often it results in the need, by the injured party, for a qualified Miami slip and fall injury attorney.
Let's just consider a fairly common example of such an incident to see why a Miami slip and fall attorney is going to be required. Let's say that you are helping someone to empty their basement, and as you walk across the floor your foot becomes lodged in an uncovered drain hole. This causes you to fall and break your lower leg. Although the person that you are helping summons emergency medical treatment and you reach the hospital in a matter of minutes, they refuse to pay for the care. This is a perfect moment to hire a Miami slip and fall attorney to help you with the case.
Remember, it won't just be the medical expenses associated with the injury that you will require; it will also be the lost wages and even the emotional distress caused by the incident and the subsequent turmoil. Your Miami slip and fall attorney will demonstrate that basic safety was ignored in the incident and that all of the volunteers helping to empty the basement should have been warned about any and all hazards.
While a slip and fall issue is going to be considered a premises liability issue, you are probably going to discover that a personal injury attorney is suitable to tackling the case. Before just hiring any attorney, however, you should ask them about their experience or background with such issues. For example, you might ask if they have successfully won lawsuits similar to yours? Are they familiar with the judges, clerks, and other attorneys involved in the court system handling the case? Do they actually handle a lot of slip and fall cases throughout the year?
Only by taking a few minutes of time to clarify the attorney's level of expertise and experience can you be sure they are suitable to your needs. Most attorneys will be more than happy to reassure potential clients of their abilities, but if they hesitate to answer you may want to continue your search.
DTS- Jesse
Let's just consider a fairly common example of such an incident to see why a Miami slip and fall attorney is going to be required. Let's say that you are helping someone to empty their basement, and as you walk across the floor your foot becomes lodged in an uncovered drain hole. This causes you to fall and break your lower leg. Although the person that you are helping summons emergency medical treatment and you reach the hospital in a matter of minutes, they refuse to pay for the care. This is a perfect moment to hire a Miami slip and fall attorney to help you with the case.
Remember, it won't just be the medical expenses associated with the injury that you will require; it will also be the lost wages and even the emotional distress caused by the incident and the subsequent turmoil. Your Miami slip and fall attorney will demonstrate that basic safety was ignored in the incident and that all of the volunteers helping to empty the basement should have been warned about any and all hazards.
While a slip and fall issue is going to be considered a premises liability issue, you are probably going to discover that a personal injury attorney is suitable to tackling the case. Before just hiring any attorney, however, you should ask them about their experience or background with such issues. For example, you might ask if they have successfully won lawsuits similar to yours? Are they familiar with the judges, clerks, and other attorneys involved in the court system handling the case? Do they actually handle a lot of slip and fall cases throughout the year?
Only by taking a few minutes of time to clarify the attorney's level of expertise and experience can you be sure they are suitable to your needs. Most attorneys will be more than happy to reassure potential clients of their abilities, but if they hesitate to answer you may want to continue your search.
DTS- Jesse
Thursday 6 September 2012
Tips on Finding Effective Slip and Fall Lawyers
There will always be moments when you are just walking and you suddenly slipped and fell. Most of these events are just ignored. However, there are rare cases when you are seriously injured. When this happens, you have no choice but to undergo medical treatment and that can make you spend a lot of money. That is why it is important to request for compensation from the owners of the property where you experienced your accident.
Slip and fall accidents may be a common occurrence but some individuals are really injured that they are forced to find slip and fall lawyers to help them process for the compensation. But finding these professionals are not really that arduous as long as you know how to follow the appropriate steps.
1.) Slip and fall injury attorneys can be located anywhere. Perhaps the simplest way to find them is by asking your friends, relatives and colleagues if they can provide leads on where to locate credible lawyers specializing in this kind of accident.
2.) If any of your relatives and friends cannot help you find one slip and fall counsel, you move along to the next method. There are certain attorneys advertised by some group of people. This is your opportunity to research more on those lawyers and assess if someone is suitable for your needs. Furthermore, it is also possible to look for a list of licensed lawyers near your area by getting in contact with the state bar association or you can search for them online. Procure all the important information about all the lawyers that you can see on the website or on the list. Luckily, there are certain attorneys who will give a general biography about themselves as well as their credentials. Most importantly, never forget to confirm if the lawyer you want to choose has a specialization in slim and fall claims as well as in any personal injuries.
3.) The moment you've collected a list of slip and fall lawyers, you can use the best methods in determining which one of them can give you the best kind of services. You can ask the attorney's previous clients and make them provide some feedback about that particular counsel and use it as your reference in choosing the right lawyer. Furthermore, you can also ask the clients if they are satisfied with the services given to them.
4.) If the lawyer that you want to help you is not listed on the state bar association online site or from the mailed list, you have to contact the attorney through a website where they are listed. Moreover, the most important thing to do is to make sure that this lawyer has a license to practice his or her profession in your state.
Majority of slip and fall attorneys provide a free conference meeting where you would be explaining every detail of your case. This is also the moment where they will tell you what they can do for you. As the consultation continues, you can both establish rapport and in the end, you can make a decision if this counsel is suitable for your case.
Now that you know the tips of finding effective slip and fall lawyers, you must never forget that the attorney you've chosen to assist you can guarantee you the right compensation for your injuries.
DTS- Jesse
Slip and fall accidents may be a common occurrence but some individuals are really injured that they are forced to find slip and fall lawyers to help them process for the compensation. But finding these professionals are not really that arduous as long as you know how to follow the appropriate steps.
1.) Slip and fall injury attorneys can be located anywhere. Perhaps the simplest way to find them is by asking your friends, relatives and colleagues if they can provide leads on where to locate credible lawyers specializing in this kind of accident.
2.) If any of your relatives and friends cannot help you find one slip and fall counsel, you move along to the next method. There are certain attorneys advertised by some group of people. This is your opportunity to research more on those lawyers and assess if someone is suitable for your needs. Furthermore, it is also possible to look for a list of licensed lawyers near your area by getting in contact with the state bar association or you can search for them online. Procure all the important information about all the lawyers that you can see on the website or on the list. Luckily, there are certain attorneys who will give a general biography about themselves as well as their credentials. Most importantly, never forget to confirm if the lawyer you want to choose has a specialization in slim and fall claims as well as in any personal injuries.
3.) The moment you've collected a list of slip and fall lawyers, you can use the best methods in determining which one of them can give you the best kind of services. You can ask the attorney's previous clients and make them provide some feedback about that particular counsel and use it as your reference in choosing the right lawyer. Furthermore, you can also ask the clients if they are satisfied with the services given to them.
4.) If the lawyer that you want to help you is not listed on the state bar association online site or from the mailed list, you have to contact the attorney through a website where they are listed. Moreover, the most important thing to do is to make sure that this lawyer has a license to practice his or her profession in your state.
Majority of slip and fall attorneys provide a free conference meeting where you would be explaining every detail of your case. This is also the moment where they will tell you what they can do for you. As the consultation continues, you can both establish rapport and in the end, you can make a decision if this counsel is suitable for your case.
Now that you know the tips of finding effective slip and fall lawyers, you must never forget that the attorney you've chosen to assist you can guarantee you the right compensation for your injuries.
DTS- Jesse
Tuesday 4 September 2012
Slip and Fall Causes
Slip and falls are the second leading cause of injuries in the United States. They account for an estimated 16,000 deaths each year. Many more slip and falls injury attorney result in serious injuries. Often these injuries and deaths are caused by a dangerous or hazardous condition in someone else's property. An injury or death from a fall that is caused by a hazardous condition in another person's property may entitle the victim or the victim's family to compensation.
Why Do Slip and Fall Accidents Occur? Over 70% of falls occur due to dangerous conditions and hazards in our environment. Dangerous conditions that cause slip and fall accidents frequently result from poor design or improper maintenance. Other hazards are created by the presence of slippery surfaces and substances, such as areas with food spillage or water leakage.
Where Do Slip and Fall Accidents Occur? Slip and fall accidents occur virtually everywhere - in a supermarket or shopping mall; at school or at an office; or on a sidewalk. Your slip and fall may be caused, for example, by a defect in flooring, which may be wet or uneven, or else it may be attributable to inadequate lighting that obstructs your ability to foresee a danger.
How Do Slip and Fall Accidents Occur? Slip and fall accidents have two main types of mechanism. In one slip and fall scenario, your front foot slips forward, causing you to fall backward. In the alternative scenario, your rear foot slips backward, causing you to fall forward. A related type of accident, a trip and fall, occurs when your foot comes into contact with an obstacle, such as a protrusion, along your path.
The traumatic impact of a slip and fall or a trip and fall accident can cause severe and long-lasting injuries. Therefore, if you suffer a slip and fall or a trip and fall, it is in your best interests that you seek medical and legal help without delay.
DTS- Jesse
Why Do Slip and Fall Accidents Occur? Over 70% of falls occur due to dangerous conditions and hazards in our environment. Dangerous conditions that cause slip and fall accidents frequently result from poor design or improper maintenance. Other hazards are created by the presence of slippery surfaces and substances, such as areas with food spillage or water leakage.
Where Do Slip and Fall Accidents Occur? Slip and fall accidents occur virtually everywhere - in a supermarket or shopping mall; at school or at an office; or on a sidewalk. Your slip and fall may be caused, for example, by a defect in flooring, which may be wet or uneven, or else it may be attributable to inadequate lighting that obstructs your ability to foresee a danger.
How Do Slip and Fall Accidents Occur? Slip and fall accidents have two main types of mechanism. In one slip and fall scenario, your front foot slips forward, causing you to fall backward. In the alternative scenario, your rear foot slips backward, causing you to fall forward. A related type of accident, a trip and fall, occurs when your foot comes into contact with an obstacle, such as a protrusion, along your path.
The traumatic impact of a slip and fall or a trip and fall accident can cause severe and long-lasting injuries. Therefore, if you suffer a slip and fall or a trip and fall, it is in your best interests that you seek medical and legal help without delay.
DTS- Jesse
Sunday 2 September 2012
Slip and Fall Accidents: Proving Fault
Who is responsible for an injury resulting from a slip and fall injury attorney? Many thousands of people are injured each year -- some very seriously -- when they slip or trip and fall on a dangerous floor, a flight of stairs, or a rough patch of ground. Sometimes the property owner is responsible for the accident, and sometimes he or she is not.
If you have been injured in this way, first consider that it is a normal part of living for things to fall on or to drip onto a floor or the ground, and for smooth surfaces to become uneven. Also, some things put in the ground -- drainage grates, for example -- serve a useful purpose there. So a property owner (or occupier) cannot always be held responsible for immediately picking up or cleaning every slippery substance on a floor. Nor is a property owner always responsible for someone slipping or tripping on something that an ordinary person should expect to find there or should see and avoid. We all have an obligation to watch where we're going.
However, property owners do need to be careful in keeping up their property. While there is no precise way to determine when someone else is legally responsible for something on which you slip or trip, cases turn on whether the property owner acted carefully so that slipping or tripping was not likely to happen -- and whether you were careless in not seeing or avoiding the thing you fell on. Here are some general rules to help you decide whether someone else was at fault for your slip or trip and fall injury.
(Learn more about different types of slip & fall accidents and state specific slip & fall laws.)
Determining Liability
To be legally responsible for the injuries you suffered from slipping or tripping and falling on someone else's property, one of the following must be true:
The owner of the premises or an employee must have caused the spill, worn or torn spot, or other slippery or dangerous surface or item to be underfoot.
The owner of the premises or an employee must have known of the dangerous surface but done nothing about it.
The owner of the premises or an employee should have known of the dangerous surface because a "reasonable" person taking care of the property would have discovered and removed or repaired it.
The third situation is the most common, but is also less clear-cut than the first two because of those pesky words "should have known." Liability in these cases is often decided by common sense. Judges and juries determine whether the owner or occupier of property was careful by deciding if the steps the owner or occupier took to keep the property safe were reasonable.
What Is "Reasonable"?
In determining a property owner's "reasonableness," the law concentrates on whether the owner makes regular and thorough efforts to keep the property safe and clean. Here are some initial questions you can ask to determine whether a property or business owner may be liable for your slip or trip and fall injuries:
If you tripped over a torn, broken, or bulging area of carpet, floor, or ground, or slipped on a wet or loose area, had the dangerous spot been there long enough that the owner should have known about it?
Does the property owner have a regular procedure for examining and cleaning or repairing the premises? If so, what proof does the owner have of this regular maintenance?
If you tripped over or slipped on an object someone had placed or left on or in the floor or ground, was there a legitimate reason for the object to be there?
If there once had been a good reason for the object to be there but that reason no longer exists, could the object have been removed or covered or otherwise made safe?
Was there a safer place the object could have been located, or could it have been placed in a safer manner, without much greater inconvenience or expense to the property owner or operator?
Could a simple barrier have been created or a warning been given to prevent people from slipping or tripping?
Did poor or broken lighting contribute to the accident?
If the answers to one or more of these questions come out in your favor, you may have a good claim for compensation. However, you must still think about whether your own carelessness contributed in any significant way to your accident.
DTS- Jesse
If you have been injured in this way, first consider that it is a normal part of living for things to fall on or to drip onto a floor or the ground, and for smooth surfaces to become uneven. Also, some things put in the ground -- drainage grates, for example -- serve a useful purpose there. So a property owner (or occupier) cannot always be held responsible for immediately picking up or cleaning every slippery substance on a floor. Nor is a property owner always responsible for someone slipping or tripping on something that an ordinary person should expect to find there or should see and avoid. We all have an obligation to watch where we're going.
However, property owners do need to be careful in keeping up their property. While there is no precise way to determine when someone else is legally responsible for something on which you slip or trip, cases turn on whether the property owner acted carefully so that slipping or tripping was not likely to happen -- and whether you were careless in not seeing or avoiding the thing you fell on. Here are some general rules to help you decide whether someone else was at fault for your slip or trip and fall injury.
(Learn more about different types of slip & fall accidents and state specific slip & fall laws.)
Determining Liability
To be legally responsible for the injuries you suffered from slipping or tripping and falling on someone else's property, one of the following must be true:
The owner of the premises or an employee must have caused the spill, worn or torn spot, or other slippery or dangerous surface or item to be underfoot.
The owner of the premises or an employee must have known of the dangerous surface but done nothing about it.
The owner of the premises or an employee should have known of the dangerous surface because a "reasonable" person taking care of the property would have discovered and removed or repaired it.
The third situation is the most common, but is also less clear-cut than the first two because of those pesky words "should have known." Liability in these cases is often decided by common sense. Judges and juries determine whether the owner or occupier of property was careful by deciding if the steps the owner or occupier took to keep the property safe were reasonable.
What Is "Reasonable"?
In determining a property owner's "reasonableness," the law concentrates on whether the owner makes regular and thorough efforts to keep the property safe and clean. Here are some initial questions you can ask to determine whether a property or business owner may be liable for your slip or trip and fall injuries:
If you tripped over a torn, broken, or bulging area of carpet, floor, or ground, or slipped on a wet or loose area, had the dangerous spot been there long enough that the owner should have known about it?
Does the property owner have a regular procedure for examining and cleaning or repairing the premises? If so, what proof does the owner have of this regular maintenance?
If you tripped over or slipped on an object someone had placed or left on or in the floor or ground, was there a legitimate reason for the object to be there?
If there once had been a good reason for the object to be there but that reason no longer exists, could the object have been removed or covered or otherwise made safe?
Was there a safer place the object could have been located, or could it have been placed in a safer manner, without much greater inconvenience or expense to the property owner or operator?
Could a simple barrier have been created or a warning been given to prevent people from slipping or tripping?
Did poor or broken lighting contribute to the accident?
If the answers to one or more of these questions come out in your favor, you may have a good claim for compensation. However, you must still think about whether your own carelessness contributed in any significant way to your accident.
DTS- Jesse
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)