What Factors Must Be Present to Win a Slip-and-Fall Lawsuit?
Posted on: 18 November 2016
The term "slip and fall" refers to a branch of personal-injury law that handles cases of injuries that result from slipping on floors. If you were walking inside or outside of a business and fell to the ground because of something slippery, you might be able to sue the owner of the business for this. Slip-and-fall cases can be tricky in some situations, but you may be able to win your case if the following factors are present.
Liability
The number-one element of any type of personal-injury case is proving liability. Liability refers to the ability to prove that the business owner was responsible for your slip. If you can prove this, you will have a better chance of winning your case. The hard part of slip-and-fall cases is proving that the owner is responsible for your fall. There are some situations when this can be easy to prove, though. For example, if you fell because the floor was uneven or had a huge hole in it, you will have a better chance of proving liability than you would if you had slipped on a floor that was not flawed.
Lack of Warning
There are times when business floors can be slippery. For example, if the floors were just mopped, they will be wet, and this can leave them slick. For outdoor slips, there are also times when sidewalks and parking lots can be slippery. Snow and ice are examples of things that can leave these areas slick. While floors and outside walkways can get slippery for these reasons, a business owner is responsible for warning people about these potential risks.
Wet-floor signs are commonly used by businesses for this purpose; however, you might still have a case even if there was a sign posted. If the sign was in an area that was not near the slippery ground, you could state that you were not properly warned. Another example is if the sign was hidden behind something. In this case, you may not have been properly warned about the potential slipping hazard, and you could use this to prove that the business owner is liable for your fall.
This factor in personal-injury law refers to negligence, which means proving someone did something that caused your harm or failed to do something, as a result of which you were harmed.
Injury
If you were not harmed by the slip-and-fall event, you will not have a case. There must be injuries for any type of personal-injury lawsuit to result. Injuries are a vital element of personal-injury cases because this branch of law is designed to compensate individuals that incur harm from the negligence of others.
To prove your injuries, you will need to gather all your doctor bills and expenses. You may also want to ask your doctor for a letter that ties the injuries to the slip-and-fall event you experienced. You can turn all these things in to your personal-injury attorney to allow him or her to review them. If these documents show that you were indeed injured from the slip-and-fall accident, and if you can prove you were not warned properly about this, there is a good chance you could win your case.
Personal-injury cases take time and require evidence. If you are not sure whether you have enough evidence to prove your case, visit a personal-injury attorney that specializes in slip-and-fall cases. After reviewing your case, he or she will be able to tell you whether or not you should proceed with a lawsuit. To find out more about slip-and-fall cases, schedule an appointment with an attorney today.
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