People are slipping and falling all the time. Sometimes it’s because they were not paying attention, and sometimes it’s because a business or someone was negligent and left a dangerous condition in your way. Many slip and falls occur inside retail establishments like clothing or grocery stores. Many trip and falls occur outside and many also occur due to construction around walkways, sidewalks or streets. If you slip or trip and fall and think it was because some liquid or debris was left in a dangerous way, or if you trip over some unfinished construction or debris left near a walkway, try to take a photograph of the condition, the areas around the condition and of course your injuries. Without a photograph, our experts don’t have much to examine. If you are seriously injured, summon help or dial 911. Try to note or contact the owner or manager of the area where you fell, and say you want to fill out an incident report. The incident report and photographs are critical for any slip/trip and fall. Many businesses do not want you to fill out an incident report as they know such reports and photographs are useful for your case against them. If there are any witnesses around, try to get their names and numbers. Trip/slip and falls are ususally “he said, she said” and the company or business will usually hide from liability and make you sue it before negotiating, or just ignore you. That is why it’s invaluable to hire a lawyer who handles such cases. This firm handles and has handled many, and has reached favorable recoveries for our clients. If you do not have health insurance, we know doctors and physical therapists in all fields (even psychological) who can see you on a lien basis, meaning you do not have to pay them yourself until there is a recovery. Always keep a diary of your injuries with dates, when you got medical treatment, when you were unable to engage in activities, etc. This will be useful months down the road when making a reasonable settlement demand. Many businesses will not disclose what amount of liability insurance they have or if they have no-fault medpay. We are successful in getting them to disclose this information, which is critical when trying to reach a reasonable settlement, hopefully before a lawsuit is filed. In Nevada, there is a duty for all busineses, companies and persons to obtain, maintain and presever evidence of a trip or slip and fall when on notice of a claim. Such evidence is ususally security or surveillance videotape footage, photographs, cleaning/maintenance/repair records, construction plans/records, witness statements, etc. It is important to contact a lawyer right away so we can send a representation letter and demand to obtain, maintain and preserve evidence. In the letter, we will let the at-fault party know if they don’t keep the evidence, a court will impose sanctions, which could include striking the answer and entering judgment in your favor (you win!), or a presumption or jury instruction of spoliation (destruction) of evidence. Obtaining this advantage in your case will put pressure on the at-fault party to settle with you. We take slip/trip and fall cases on a contingent fee basis, meaning you pay nothing unless there is a recovery. We have construction and human factor experts who will help prove your case, and we advance those costs so you don’t have to come out of pocket. Please give us a call if you have a slip/trip and fall and we would be happy to discuss your case with you.
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Jun '14
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