What Is the Settlement Check Process for Ski Lift Lawsuits?

When you have been hurt on a ski lift or while skiing, you may have questions about the ski lift lawsuit settlement check process. The support of an experienced personal injury lawyer can make a world of difference in assisting you through this challenging time and in helping you to understand the ski lift lawsuit settlement check process. 

Most people who have been hurt on a ski lift do not understand all of their opportunities to recover compensation and can therefore make mistakes in their case that could jeopardize them from recovering full and fair compensation. That makes it all the more important to retain the services of an experienced and knowledgeable lawyer as soon as possible. Read on to learn more about what it takes to recover damages and what you can expect in the ski lift lawsuit settlement check process. 

Can I Sue a Ski Resort? 

Most people going out skiing for the day, the weekend, or the week do not anticipate that they will end up suffering from a serious ski lift injury. However, if this does happen you need to be prepared to consult with a dedicated lawyer as soon as possible. Not all circumstances involving a ski injury will make you eligible to open a personal injury lawsuit, but if you can show that the property owner or manager is responsible for improper maintenance on the ski lift or other issues of negligence, you can hold them accountable in a lawsuit. 

Failure to maintain a ski resort for safety is one of the most common reasons for filing a lawsuit against a ski resort. Ski resorts have a legal responsibility to make sure that their premises are relatively safe for anyone visiting the resort. Ski resorts are not able to always avoid responsibility simply by having people sign legal paperwork like a waiver. This means that ski resorts must make reasonable efforts to ensure that their ski lift slopes and other equipment are appropriately maintained. 

Imagine that a ski resort fails to maintain their ski lift on a regular basis or does not engage in regular maintenance for safety checks and that someone subsequently gets hurt. Injured skiers may have eligibility to open a lawsuit and to work through the ski lift lawsuit settlement check process. Ski resorts, however, are only accountable for injuries that occur on their premises. This means that if you decide to ski outside the boundaries or attempt to engage with ski lifts that are not open to the public, then you would not necessarily be eligible to pursue a lawsuit. 

The ski resort, however, does need to take reasonable steps to determine whether there are dangerous conditions on their premises, and even in those situations, a ski resort still has a legal responsibility to make sure that any trespasser is aware of the hazardous conditions. This means that in some circumstances a trespasser can even sue a ski resort if they were injured by dangerous conditions in the absence of proper warning or signs indicating danger. 

Lifts and Machinery Problems

When appropriately maintained and well managed the lifts and machinery at ski resorts are relatively safe, but this is not always the case. Some people can be seriously injured during a ski lift malfunction when a person comes in contact with machinery or when another person improperly uses the lift. Resorts are responsible for ensuring that they only hire trained professionals to operate machinery and should regularly check it for defects. 

If you find yourself seriously injured on a ski lift and need to move forward with a lawsuit as an effort to recover compensation, it is strongly recommended that you retain a personal injury lawyer who has familiarity with this area of the law and can help you to file a suit. 

Understanding the Basics of Settlement Checks

Most cases involving ski lift injuries will not go to trial or will resolve before the filing is complete. This is because they mirror many other personal injury lawsuits in which the settlement process is the most common form of resolution. If you wind up hurt in a ski lift accident, it is highly likely that you will file a lawsuit with the other side to at least evaluate the terms of settlement opportunities early on. 

Settlement checks can be one way for you to close out the case without worrying about the uncertainty of trial, but sometimes these can be a frustrating process because most people are not familiar with what happens next. 

The settlement check might appear right away after settlement, or it might take weeks or months depending on your specific situation. In either case, however, you need to have an awareness of the typical timeline so that your lawyer can help you if needed.