Slip And Fall Injury
If you slip and fall in someone's home or place of business other than your own, you may have a case to file a slip and fall lawsuit. Depending on the circumstances, if the party who owns the business or residence you were injured in is found to be negligent, it could mean some financial assistance for your injuries and pain.
If you were in a public place or a private residence and hurt yourself due to a slip and fall, you may be eligible to file one of the many slip and fall lawsuits that are on court dockets around the country. Of course, if the fault of the accident was yours, or there is some other circumstance that does not satisfy the slip and fall lawsuit requirement, you may still file a suit. There are plenty of slip and fall lawyers who will still gladly file the suit. But, you should expect that it could get dismissed, if the fault was yours.
You have to be able to prove some kind of negligence on the part of the company or private citizen at whose property the slip and fall injury occurred. A good example of this would be a wet floor. You are probably familiar with businesses that mop their floors and put out bright yellow or orange caution signs and/or cones to warn people that the area is wet and not to cross it. If these signs are clearly posted and you cross into the slippery area anyway, the business has a good chance of not being liable for the fall. As previously mentioned, you are free to file anyway, but if they can prove the signs were properly posted, any slip and fall lawsuit may be dismissed.
The sooner you file a lawsuit after the injury, the better off you will probably be. Most slip and fall injury claims are filed within 30 days of the injury. The reasoning behind this is that if you wait too long, it may look like you are trying to file a frivolous lawsuit instead of a legitimate one. If your case has even a hint of frivolity to it, you are more likely to get it dismissed.
Most slip and fall lawyers will tell you that you should first visit a doctor to see the extent of your injuries. This will prove that you did indeed suffer a slip and fall injury, and can be invaluable in your case. You must keep close records, not only of the medical injury records, but also of any work you missed and how much money it cost you. Any additional costs such as physical therapy, transportation, medications, and the like should also be carefully recorded. If you should win any slip and fall lawsuits, these expenses can be reimbursed, and then some.
Many lawyers have a specialty and are certified by their respective state boards. These specialties can be such practices as family law, divorces, corporate law, tax law, real estate law, personal injury, and more. It is the last specialty, personal injury, that most slip and fall lawyers are a part of.
A slip and fall attorney may focus on more than just a slip and fall injury—they may also take cases dealing with car accidents, on-the-job injuries (maybe even Workman's Comp cases), insurance claims, and perhaps even wrongful death claims (these are often handled by criminal lawyers).
Personal injury lawyers usually have a large amount of slip and fall injury cases, and so are the best choices when filing slip and fall lawsuits. Not only are they likely to be already experienced in this type of case, but also they know exactly how to go about filing a case. In many cases, they can get you a settlement without even going to court, which saves lots of time and money in court fees and dragged-out cases.
A lawsuit is considered frivolous, if it is filed despite that fact that the person filing the lawsuit may be at fault. In the case of a slip and fall lawsuit, the case is considered frivolous and perhaps even fraudulent, if the person filing was either at fault, was not injured as severely as they claim, or was not really injured at all.
You may be wondering how people can get away with filing slip and fall lawsuits when they are injured or claiming to be far more injured than they really were. Unfortunately, many people feel they can get some quick cash in a settlement and take the chance that the company or private citizen they are suing will want to throw the case out, so it never goes to court.
There are also, unfortunately, several slip and fall attorneys who are willing to take frivolous cases on the chance that they can get a settlement without actually filing a case or going before a judge or jury.
It is not advisable to file a suit that you know is frivolous. Not only can this get you in hot water with the law, but also it destroys your credibility should you be injured later and truly need to file a claim to collect damages.
The total cost of a slip and fall lawsuit to someone who files one is largely dependent upon whom you hire. Many top personal injury or slip and fall lawyers will charge you by the hour for their services, which can add up quickly if you go to court, or if you are lucky enough to settle out of court.
Other slip and fall attorneys will take a case “pro bono.” This means that they take the case without an initial fee. If you should win your court case (or an out-of-court settlement), you pay a percentage of the settlement to the lawyer as the fee. If you should lose the case, then you would owe the slip and fall attorney nothing.
The amount that a pro bono lawyer will take varies. Generally speaking, the amount they take can be as low as 10% or as high as 25%. The amount that the lawyer takes should be predetermined, before they begin working for you in order to avoid any confusion or problems after your settlement arrives. This percentage should be clearly stated in the contract you sign with your slip and fall lawyer before they file a claim.
There is no way to determine an exact amount that you may receive from slip and fall lawsuits. The dollar figure is different in each and every case and varies according to how severely you were injured, whether the case was settled out of court, and other factors.
Companies involved in slip and fall lawsuits will often try to settle out of court. The amount of money they offer is usually much lower than what you can potentially get from a jury. Despite this, your slip and fall attorney may prompt you to take the settlement anyway, because there is no guarantee that the jury will award you more, or that they will award you anything at all. It's a roll of the dice that most are not willing to take when there is guaranteed money already on the table.
If you do go before a jury and win, they can award you not only medical costs and lost work wages, but also pain and suffering damages. This can range from several hundred dollars to several million dollars. The dollar amount mostly depends on how severe your injuries were and how much you lost from your quality of life as a result.
If you do settle out of court, the person you filed against will often have you sign a waiver saying that taking the settlement does not mean an admission of guilt on their part, and that you will not sue them over this incident again. Whether you choose to sign this and take the settlement is a big issue that you must weigh the pros and cons of with your slip and fall attorney.
If you did agree to or receive a settlement amount from the defendant in your case, you may be expecting a big financial windfall. Unfortunately, this may not be the case, at least not immediately. Your settlement in your slip and fall injury case may come in the form of what is called a structured settlement.
A structured settlement means that the full amount of the settlement is paid in installments over a predetermined amount of time. Let's say for example that you received a settlement in the amount of $25,000. The company may send you the entire amount at once, or they may send you $5,000 initially, with payments on the rest to be made in either monthly, quarterly, or yearly installments. This is done mostly to protect the defendant from financial ruin or having to file bankruptcy.
If your settlement is not structured, you can expect to receive the full amount of your money at once. The amount of time it takes to receive your settlement, structured or not, can vary widely by state. Some require payment within weeks, while others give them up to six months.
There are some businesses that will pay you the entire amount of your settlement up front and collect your structured payments for you. They will charge a hefty fee for this, usually a percentage of the total they will receive over time.
Once you find a slip and fall attorney and they file a case, the process can go one of two ways—very quickly with an out-of-court settlement, or it can drag out, if done in court.
This is another reason a settlement is generally good for both parties—it is short and sweet and taken care of within just weeks. A court case could drag out, as it may take weeks or even months to get a hearing to even decide if the case will go to trial. If your case is selected for trial, it could take several more weeks or months for the trial to happen.
If you go to court and win, appeals can still be filed on behalf of the defendant, further tying up your case for months or years. Depending on how many appeals and motions are filed, it could be years before you see a penny of your money, despite the fact that it was awarded to you.
Slip and fall lawsuits can be filed when you sustain an injury of any kind due to slipping or falling in a public or private place. This can be a place of business or a private citizen's home. You will have to prove negligence on the part of the defendant you are filing against and have proof that you lost work compensation, quality of life, and suffered a medical trauma as a result of the slip and fall injury.
Your slip and fall attorney can either charge you for the case or take it pro bono, meaning they get a cut of your settlement should you be awarded one. The fee generally ranges from 10-25% of your settlement. You should watch out for a slip and fall lawyer who wants to file a frivolous or bogus lawsuit.
You can either settle out of court for a one-time flat sum of money as a settlement, or take your chances in court before a jury that can potentially give you more money, or send you home empty handed.
If you do receive a settlement, it can be either in a lump sum or a structured settlement, meaning it is broken down in payments. A company or private citizen usually has to pay the amount within six months of the agreement or court verdict, though this varies widely by state.