Slip And Fall Lawyer in Denver

You can slip and fall anywhere, but a few venues report more slip and fall incidents than other types of venues in the greater Denver metro area and beyond.

Ski Resorts

A slip and fall incident is waiting to happen around every turn on a ski slope. However, the Colorado Ski Safety Act does not hold ski resorts accountable for most of the spills and tumbles taken on the slopes. Instead, the law states ski resorts can be held legally liable for a slip and fall only if the resort committed one or more acts of negligence. The Colorado Ski Safety Act requires skiers to ski according to their abilities, which means maintaining proper speed and control. If a skier sustains one or more injuries as the result of a skiing accident, the most likely candidate to sue is another skier.

Nonetheless, ski resorts must comply with the duty of care doctrine, which means they must take steps to ensure the safety of all visitors. For example, if you slipped and fell inside a lodge as the result of a slick floor and the incident caused you to sustain one or more injuries, the ski lodge might be held legally liable for violating the duty of care doctrine. Another example of negligence committed by a ski resort concerns failing to shovel and de-ice common foot traffic areas, such as the areas around the housing rented out to guests.

Restaurants

Because of its proximity to ski resorts and Rocky Mountain National Park, Denver, Colorado is one of the busiest tourist destinations in the United States. The result of the boom in tourism is constantly busy restaurants in the city, as well as the suburbs such as Aurora and Lakewood. Customers can slip and fall in a bathroom where moisture has accumulated on the floor, as well as near beverage stations when ice placed in bins start to melt. Another source of slip and fall incidents at restaurants concerns the grease tracked from the kitchen into the dining area.

Convenience Stores

Convenience stores possess the two ingredients required for a slip and fall incident: Frequent beverage spills and a high volume of business. Most convenience stores include a large beverage station located in the middle of a store, where customers help themselves to a wide variety of refreshments. The beverage stations are prime areas for beverages to spill. In addition, customers can spill beverages stored in refrigerated units that usually run around the interior perimeter of a convenience store.

Store employees should take swift action after a beverage spill, such as placing a Wet Floor sign over the impacted area and then dry mopping the spill to prevent a slip and fall incident.

The success of an insurance claim and/or a civil lawsuit that seeks monetary damages depends on how you respond after a slip and fall incident. Completing the following steps in the correct order helps your slip and fall lawyer in Denver build a strong case.

Receive Treatment for Your Injuries

Seeking immediate medical care after a slip and fall incident demonstrates the seriousness of your injuries, which is important for both the insurance company and the judge hearing a personal injury lawsuit to know. If you procrastinate in getting medical treatment after any type of personal injury incident, your case loses strength because of the perception that you did not act with a sense of urgency. Even if you feel healthy after a slip and fall, you should seek immediate medical attention to determine if you sustained any injuries that develop delayed symptoms, such as whiplash or a concussion.

The results of diagnostic tests and a comprehensive description of treatment programs represent the medical evidence you need to receive just compensation for your injuries after a slip and fall incident.

Inform Store Owner/Manager

Because of the high volume of foot traffic at a convenience store, an employee might not have noticed the slip and fall incident. This means either you or someone you know should notify the nearest employee, who in turn informs the owner or manager on duty about the slip and fall. Notifying the owner or manager on duty initiates an investigation that leads to the filing of an incident report. Your slip and fall lawyer in Denver should receive a copy of the formal incident report as part of the investigation conducted to collect and organize physical evidence.

Do not assume responsibility for causing the slip and fall, which an unethical store owner or manager might try to persuade you to do.

Contact a Slip and Fall Lawyer in Denver

Before you contact the appropriate insurance adjuster, you should meet with a slip and fall lawyer in Denver from Morgan and Morgan. Without legal representation, the insurance company might deny a valid claim or approve a claim that is worth well below what you deserve in compensation. You also might have to deal with an unethical insurance adjuster who tries to trick you into signing a waiver of liability. Meeting with an experienced slip and fall lawyer in Denver from Morgan and Morgan ensures you receive the level of legal support required to file a successful insurance claim, and possibly, a personal injury lawsuit as well. 

Your slip and fall lawyer in Denver from Morgan and Morgan provides several types of legal support. One of the most important types of legal support involves filing a personal injury lawsuit before the expiration of the statute of limitations. Every state has established a deadline for filing a personal injury lawsuit, with most states setting the deadline between two and four years. 

Colorado’s statute of limitations is a bit confusing because the state applies a different deadline for car accident cases than it does for every other type of personal injury case. For a slip and fall incident, you have two years to file a civil lawsuit that seeks monetary damages. The clock starts to tick on a personal injury lawsuit on the date of the slip and fall incident, although you might receive an extension if you sustained one or more injuries that developed delayed symptoms.

Two years gives you plenty of time to build a convincing case, but you should act promptly for two important reasons. First, your attorney needs to interview witnesses as close to the date of the slip and fall incident as possible. Witness accounts are more reliable the closer they are given to the date of a personal injury incident. Second, you can dig a deep financial hole if you do not take swift legal action. The healthcare providers that take care of you expect payment of medical bills as they come due. The only exception is if you and your healthcare providers agree to place medical liens on an approved insurance claim and/or a favorable legal judgment.

If you do not file a personal injury lawsuit before the expiration of the statute of limitations, the court clerk processing your case has the power to remove it from the judicial docket.

Morgan and Morgan operates on a contingency fee basis, which means you do not have to pay upfront legal fees. Instead, you pay your slip and fall lawyer in Denver a percentage of the compensation you receive from an insurance claim, as well as a legal judgment that awards you monetary damages. Your personal injury attorney seeks three types of monetary damages when filing a lawsuit: economic, non-economic, and punitive. Make sure to ask about the three types of monetary damages when you schedule a free case evaluation with Morgan and Morgan.