Slip and Fall Attorney in Deland

If you are injured on another’s property and plan to file a lawsuit, these are the vital considerations that must be answered and supported with specific evidence.

• Before filing a claim, your lawyer must determine who may be liable for your injury, if anyone;
• Your injury’s exact cause; and
• Whether you were considered an invitee, licensee, or trespasser on the premises.

In preparing your claim and answering these questions, your attorney may:

• Determine how you were on the premises and why you were there.
• Investigate the scene of the accident and/or any DeLand police reports and photographs.
• Determine whether any former similar complaints or lawsuits were filed against the owner or party connected with the property.
• Consult experts who have experience and particular insight into liability.
• Interview witnesses, if applicable.
• Determine what steps, if any, were taken by the owner to decrease the chance of an accident occurring.

With this evidence, your attorney will set forth building your case. Your claim will form the foundation for your lawyer’s argument during negotiations and litigation and can outline how the property owner was at fault for the accident and is therefore responsible for your losses. How this evidence is presented can affect the amount of compensation you recover.

There are a number of parties who may be liable for your injuries. These parties can include the owner of the property, employees, and third parties. Take Note: Liability will likely depend on whether the individual from whom you are seeking damages owed you a “duty of care.” To determine who may be liable, you can contact us.

Injuries sustained on another’s property can be severe. This could be financially devastating for a victim and that victim’s loved ones. If the property owner or other party is responsible for your injuries, they may be responsible for providing compensation for the following:

• Current and future medical expenses,
• Lost wages,
• Loss of earning capacity,
• Mental anguish, and
• Pain and suffering.

If you or someone you know was injured while on another’s property, and believe the property owner was negligent in ensuring your safety, you may be able to file a lawsuit and hold them accountable.

To discover more about how our DeLand slip and fall attorneys may be able to help, please fill out our free, no-risk case evaluation today.

With more than three decades of experience, the personal injury attorneys at Morgan and Morgan have handled slip and fall cases that unfolded at a wide variety of public-access venues. Although you can slip and fall just about anywhere, three public-access venues stand out in DeLand as the venues that experience the most slip and fall incidents.

Convenience Stores

If we had to choose one public-access venue that presents the perfect conditions for slip and fall incidents, it would be the dozens of convenience stores operating in DeLand, FL, and surrounding Central Florida communities. First, you have a constant stream of customers flocking to convenience stores throughout the day. The high- volume of customers makes it difficult for store employees to keep up with maintenance requests, such as dry-mopping areas of a store that develop slick surfaces. 

Second, convenience stores have several opportunities for slick surfaces to develop, from a bottle of milk sitting in a display case shattering on the floor to a significant spill from the beverage station caused by a malfunctioning dispensing machine. Third, inclement weather-especially heavy rain from summer thunderstorms-can create safety hazards near a store entrance and/or in the parking area.

Shopping Malls

As with convenience stores, shopping miles present several opportunities for visitors to slip and fall. Shopping mall restrooms are notorious safety hazards, particularly when the safety hazards concern slip and fall incidents. An overflowing toilet, a defective pipe under a sink, and condensation that builds on the floor can cause a visitor to slip and fall. Food courts are another high-volume area where slick surfaces frequently develop.

Because of a large number of calls maintenance employees receive to clean up messes, some slick surfaces do not receive the prompt attention they should receive to prevent a safety hazard from causing a visitor harm. The individual businesses that form the commercial base for a shopping mall also present numerous safety hazards that can lead to slip and fall incidents.

Sports Venues

Imagine 20,000 fans under one roof rooting for their favorite team or enjoying a live concert put on by a world-renowned musical group. The sheer volume of fans contributes to a large number of slip and fall incidents. Employees must pay special attention during breaks when fans rush towards the concourse to use a restroom or purchase food and beverages from a concession stand. Slip and fall incidents can happen just about anywhere at any time, but they occur most often during breaks in a live event.

The management company in charge of running an arena or a stadium assumes legal liability for any slip and fall incident that involves one or more acts of negligence. Employees should be trained to respond quickly to calls for dry-mopping slick surfaces, as well as fixing equipment issues that cause water to leak onto a venue’s floor.

One of the most important types of legal support provided by your attorney is to ensure you file a civil lawsuit that seeks monetary damages before the expiration of the statute of limitations. Each state has established a deadline for taking legal action, with the typical deadline falling between two and four years. However, a few states grant plaintiffs as long as six years and as short as one year to file a personal injury lawsuit. Florida grants plaintiffs four years to take legal action, with the clock starting to tick for a slip and fall case on the day of the personal injury incident. You might receive an extension if your attorney can show the court you sustained one or more injuries that developed delayed symptoms.

Although four years gives you and your personal injury attorney a considerable amount of time to take legal action, you should not wait until the last minute to file the proper legal documents to initiate a civil lawsuit that seeks monetary damages. You have two compelling reasons to act with a sense of urgency. First, waiting up to four years to file a personal injury lawsuit can place you under tremendous financial distress. A healthcare provider does not make a deal with a plaintiff to hold off sending bills until the plaintiff receives just compensation. This means you can quickly fall into a deep financial hole unless you act quickly to recover financial losses. Second, your attorney needs to interview witnesses as soon as possible after a slip and fall incident to receive the most accurate versions of what transpired before, during, and after the slip and fall incident.

If you fail to file a personal injury lawsuit before the expiration of the statute of limitations, you can expect the court clerk processing your case to dismiss it.

The most important type of legal support provided by slip and fall lawyers in DeLand, Florida involves getting their clients the compensation that they deserve. Your attorney requests three types of monetary damages to help you recover from financial losses.

Economic Damages

Economic damages refer to the tangible costs associated with your case. Medical expenses by far represent the costliest type of expense experienced by victims of slip and fall incidents. You have to pay for the costs associated with diagnostic tests, treatment programs, and physical therapy sessions. If you purchased prescription medications and/or an assistive device such as a pair of crutches, you have the right to request compensation for those medical expenses as well.

Although property damage is not as prevalent of an expense for a slip and fall incident as it is for a motor vehicle collision, one or more electronic devices might endure strong enough impacts that cause damage. Another type of economic damage concerns lost wages, which you verify by submitting copies of bank and timekeeping records.

Non-Economic Damages

Also called general compensatory damages, non-economic damages do not come with a price tag. Instead, your personal injury attorney calculates a value for non-economic damages that refers to a formula in which the value of economic damages factors into the equation. The key to requesting non-economic damages is to submit a reasonable value for compensation. If you submit an unfair value for non-economic damages, the judge hearing your case might not consider non-economic damages when determining the value of monetary damages.

Non-economic damages cover the costs associated with pain and suffering, such as the development of emotional trauma issues that have a highly negative impact on the quality of your personal and professional relationships.

Punitive Damages

The judge hearing your case determines whether you should receive punitive damages and if the judge grants punitive damages, the value of compensation as well. Punitive damages do not pay for the costs associated with a slip and fall incident. This type of compensation penalizes the defendant for committing one or more acts of negligence. Punitive damages also act as a deterrent to prevent the plaintiff from committing another act of negligence that harms a customer or visitor.

If your case involves one or more acts of gross negligence, the value of punitive damages might exceed the combined value of economic and non-economic damages. 

Because our law firm operates on a contingency fee basis, you do not have to worry about paying any upfront legal fees. All your concentration is on receiving the compensation you deserve from an insurance company and the favorable legal judgment issued by the judge hearing your case. Our contingency fee arrangement is just one reason why Morgan and Morgan is considered one of the best personal injury law firms in Florida.

Schedule a free case evaluation today to learn more about how our slip and fall lawyers in DeLand can help and determine the most effective strategy for recovering your financial losses.