Slip and Fall Attorney in Queens

The free case evaluation scheduled with one of the personal injury lawyers at Morgan and Morgan covers several legal issues. One of the most important legal issues concerns determining the cause of the slip and fall incident that caused you harm. Discovering the cause of your injuries represents the first step in deciding whether another party committed one or more acts of negligence.

With more than 30 years of litigation experience, Morgan and Morgan has compiled a list of the four most common causes of slip and fall accidents.

Slick Surfaces

Wet floors by far cause the most slip and fall accidents. Just a small puddle of water on a tile floor can become slick enough to cause a customer or visitor of a business to slip and fall. However, slick surfaces are not confined to just indoor settings. Ice and snow-covered pavements can also cause someone to slip and fall hard to the ground. 

Businesses owe customers and visitors such as vendors a duty of care to take steps to remove the potential safety hazard of slick surfaces. For indoor settings, placing a Wet Floor sign over a slick area and then acting quickly to dry mop the wet surface indicates a business addressed the safety hazard in a timely manner. If a business or public venue does not act quickly to dry mop a wet area, then the business can be held legally liable for any injuries sustained by a slip and fall victim.

Electrical Cords

Electrical cords are a particularly dangerous problem for businesses that undergo some type of remodeling project or require an extension cord to power certain equipment. Businesses owe both customers and visitors a duty of care to secure all loose electrical cords. The most effective way to remove the safety risk involves using industrial-strength tape to prevent an electrical cord from getting loose. Businesses also should run electrical cords outside of high-traffic areas to minimize the risk of slip and fall accidents.

Loose Flooring/Carpeting

Another example of a trip and fall accident occurs when flooring becomes displaced or carpeting bunches up to form an obstacle. Loose tiles can cause a trip and fall incident, especially when they are located near the entrances of businesses. Bunched-up carpeting is a common problem in office buildings. Another potential safety hazard is the mats placed near building entrances and individual offices. Businesses owe customers and visitors a duty of care to ensure all flooring remains in place and all carpeting is evenly distributed to prevent punching.

Poor Illumination

Poor illumination prevents a customer or visitor to a business from discovering a potential safety hazard, such as a slick surface or an unsecured electrical cord. Businesses owe customers a duty of care to provide sufficient lighting throughout their venues. Inferior illumination is an especially common issue for businesses that own parking lots. Inadequate lighting outdoors can cause customers and visitors to slip and fall. Poor illumination also can prevent business employees from discovering potential slip and fall safety hazards such as loose tiles.

The sudden and often violent impact of a slip and fall can make it difficult to sort out what needs to get done. What happens during the first several minutes after a slip and fall incident determines whether you receive just compensation for your injuries. 

Treat Your Injuries

Receiving medical care should be your priority after a slip and fall incident. The injuries sustained after slip and fall accidents can be serious enough to warrant emergency medical care. Injuries such as brain trauma, internal bleeding, and spinal cord damage require immediate medical care to prevent further damage from occurring. Even if you feel healthy enough to remain at the scene, you should eventually visit a healthcare provider to undergo a comprehensive series of diagnostic tests. Some injuries do not produce symptoms until a few hours have passed after slip and fall accidents.

Without proof of receiving medical care in the form of bills and records, you cannot expect an insurance company to approve your claim for compensation.

Inform Management

Notifying a member of management is essential for you to recover financial losses. Management is responsible for completing an incident report that your personal injury attorney refers to when trying to determine whether negligence played a role in the development of your injuries. If you require immediate medical care, a witness or an employee should notify a manager on duty regarding the slip and fall incident.

An incident report should include a detailed description of what transpired before, during, and after the slip and fall incident.

Meet With a Slip and Fall Attorney in Queens From Morgan and Morgan

After receiving medical care, the next step to take after a slip and fall incident involves contacting one of the personal injury attorneys at Morgan and Morgan. Meeting with a lawyer for a free case evaluation sets the legal wheels in motion to help you get the compensation that you deserve. Partnering with a slip and fall attorney in Queens prevents the other party’s insurance company from taking advantage of you. Many insurance companies take advantage of claimants that do not have legal representation by denying valid claims or approving claims valued well below what they are worth.

Gather Evidence/Interview Witnesses

Hiring an experienced attorney to handle a slip and fall case early in the legal process is important because you need to collect physical evidence and speak with witnesses that confirm your version of events. Physical evidence can include photographs of the accident scene captured by a Smartphone. Photos might provide evidence showing that the business where you fell committed one or more acts of negligence. Another piece of convincing evidence is the security camera footage shot of the area where you slipped and fell.

Witness accounts of the slip and fall do not represent physical evidence. Instead, witness accounts provide legal support for the physical evidence gathered at the scene of a personal injury incident.

Filing a civil lawsuit can lead to the awarding of three types of monetary damages: Economic. non-economic, and punitive. Your attorney calculates a value for economic and non-economic damages, while the judge hearing your case determines a value for punitive damages,

Economic Damages

Economic damages cover the tangible costs that are associated with your case. Medical bills represent the largest type of economic damages awarded for personal injury lawsuits. Diagnostic tests, treatment programs, and physical therapy sessions can run into tens of thousands of dollars. You also should ask for compensation to cover the costs associated with prescription medications and the use of an assistive device such as a walker.

If the slip and fall accident caused you to miss work, you should ask for lost wages as well.

Non-Economic Damages

Non-economic damages do not come with a price tag. The slip and fall attorney in Queens providing you with legal support seeks compensation to cover the costs associated with pain and suffering issues like experiencing acute anxiety. Your lawyer calculates a value for non-economic damages by using a formula that factors in the value of economic damages. The key is to request a reasonable value for non-economic damages or else the judge hearing your case might deny your request for compensation.

Punitive Damages

Judges award punitive damages to penalize plaintiffs for committing one or more acts of negligence. They also award punitive damages to deter plaintiffs from committing the same acts of negligence in the future. For cases involving gross negligence, the value awarded for punitive damages can exceed the combined value of economic and non-economic damages.

As a victim of a slip and fall incident, you have the right to recover the financial losses that are associated with your case. Build the strongest case possible by scheduling a free case evaluation today with one of the personal injury attorneys at Morgan and Morgan who specializes in handling cases involving slip and fall accidents.