Mark Reed and Associate

Slip and fall accidents adversely affect approximately one percent of Americans annually. Legally, an accident can be categorized as slip and fall when a person slips or trips and falls resulting in serious bodily injury on the premises of another individual or institution.

Slip and fall accidents can happen anywhere and the causes could be varied. It is very difficult to establish complicity of the defendant in a slip and fall lawsuit. You should consult an experienced and reputed personal injury lawyer to get a just and fair compensation in case you have been the victim of a slip and fall accident due to the negligence of another person or institution.

Personal injury lawyer might have to seek the help of reconstruction experts and other professionals who will help determine whether the owner of the property can be held responsible for the plaintiff’s slip and fall accident.

Accidents can occur at work, home, government facility or private property.  They can happen on land, sea or air. The owner of the property is legally responsible for any accident that occurs on his premises. Accidents might occur either inside or outside a building.

On the face of it these accidents seem innocuous but can cause physically and mentally debilitating injuries. Some of the most common causes are:

• Flooring – Floors that are wet due to improper cleaning or spilled liquids and food can result in falls. Floors that are uneven or have cracks and holes. Worn out flooring or torn carpets on the floor might also cause accidents
• Insufficient lighting
• Failure to put up adequate warning signs when repair and maintenance work is being carried out inside or outside the premises
• Improper alignment between elevator/escalator and flooring
• Sidewalks that are littered with debris, improperly constructed, or damaged
• Snow , ice and rain
• Uneven patios and those with broken stones or missing mortar
• Improper seating
• Potholes
• Steps without handrails
• Steps that are not properly marked and appear to be on the same level as the floor due to covering by carpets
• Steps that are improperly constructed or uneven
• Dim lighting in the stairway
• Damaged handrails
• Glass entry doors without proper labeling or warning signs
• Inappropriately designed wheelchair ramps or ramps without handrail

If you have been injured due to any of the above causes you can sue the owner or person responsible for managing the property. You have to clearly establish the following points with substantial evidence to ensure that your case is not considered frivolous or ungrounded:

• Negligence or carelessness
• Lack of attention to proper safety measures
• Violation of legal duty
• Construction of buildings or structures in violation of local government regulations

Slip and fall injuries are legally complicated cases. It requires an efficient and experienced personal injury lawyer who can work in conjunction with other professionals to establish the role of the defendant in the accident and help you get a fair compensation.

Slip and fall accidents are not uncommon. In fact, thousands of such happenings are recorded every year that they have become quite a very common occurrence. A slip and fall may seem quite harmless on the surface. But it can result in severe injuries, including serious body bruises, bone damage, joint sprains, muscle impairment, internal ruptures, concussions, and coma. It can even be fatal sometimes. Such accidents demand even more attention when the victims are elderly people. In addition to the physical suffering, victims go through emotional pain, not to mention the encumbrance of heavy medical bills.

In cases where a slip and fall accident results from the negligence of the property owner, victims are entitled to compensation under Law. A slip and fall lawsuit can be filed against the owner. In case you are considering such a lawsuit, here are some significant points you need to attach importance to:

• Evidence speaks. So, make sure you have medical evidence for all the pain and suffering you have undergone. Keep in place your X-rays or other medical examination reports, prescriptions, ambulance records, and records of expenses incurred toward hospitalization and treatments.
• Statements of eye witnesses are significant. In case there exists a possibility, it is recommended that witness statements be gathered at the time of the accident itself, either by the victim or his/her companions. Such immediate evidence holds strong in the court of Law. This may not be possible most of the times, and therefore the minimum information you can acquire as evidence would be the name and contact information of witnesses. A written account of the accident from a witness is more than welcome.
• Have photographs of the place of accident taken, soon after the occurrence of the accident if possible. Other necessary documentation would include your police report on the accident including the case number.
• You need to prove that negligence on the part of the property owner caused the accident. So, first get to know if the owner is really to blame, if he/she hasn’t done something that had to be done in the first place to avoid such happenings. It is necessary to show the court that the owner was aware of the risk the property posed and refused to do anything about it.
• Gather documentation in the form of employer statements to show how your income has been affected by the accident and provide proof of any long-term impact of the accident on your earning potential.
• It is very important that you file your lawsuit before the expiry of the SOL (Statute Of Limitations).

An expert slip and fall injury lawyer is essential to make your lawsuit a success. He/she will guide you through the procedure and will be able to gather all the above-mentioned documentations. An expert attorney can help you get justice for the physical and emotional trauma you have experienced due to the accident

Mention that you broke a bone in an accident to most people and they will immediately assume that your accident was quite serious.  However, with 206 bones in the body and probably just as many different types of fracture, breaking a bone can mean anything from having to spend 6 weeks with your leg in a plaster cast through to an injury that may permanently change your life.  In between these extremes, there is any amount of broken bone injuries that can affect your mobility to a greater or lesser degree and for a time period ranging from a few weeks through to the rest of your life. If the broken bone was the result of an accident that was not your fault, there is a possibility that you could make a claim for compensation.

There are literally dozens of different ways that bones can break and be broken during an accident.  Some of these types of fracture are specific to certain bones; others can happen to just about any bone in the body.  Fractures can vary greatly in their severity, and also in terms of how difficult they are to treat.  Generally speaking most fractures to the limbs are divided into two groups, simple fractures and compound fractures.  A simple fracture, where the bone has broken in only one place and the skin around the break has not been broken can be much easier to treat than a compound fracture, which is where one or both ends of the bone break through the skin.

Treatment of broken bones sustained during accidents

The treatment of a fracture that has been sustained in an accident obviously depends on the type of fracture, whether there are multiple fractures to the same bone and the location of that bone in the body.  The common methods for treating more straightforward fractures range from using a splint (commonly used for fractured fingers and toes) to some form of plaster cast or removable support designed to protect the bone and take the strain off it whilst it heals.  For more serious fractures,  treatment might take the form of an operation to either manually set the bones in the correct position so that they will heal by themselves, or metal or composite pins will be inserted to physically tie the pieces of bone together.

If you have suffered a broken bone in an accident that wasn’t your fault, you should contact an independent accident claims solicitor to find out if you have the right to make a broken bone injury compensation claim.

Imagine the situation; you’re out shopping, perhaps with friends or family members when all of a sudden you slip on something and lose your balance.  At some time or other, nearly all of us will have slipped or tripped whilst out in public.  But just because these accidents are quite common, it doesn’t mean that they are not preventable.  In a lot of cases, a slip or trip can be caused by something that has been split or dropped on the floor and hasn’t been mopped up or cleared away by the person responsible.  If your accident happened in a shop, supermarket or on any business premises then it may well be possible to make an accident claim against the owner or occupier for personal injury compensation.

For some people, a trip or a slip can be a very serious accident indeed. An awkward fall can lead to broken bones, bruising or soft tissue damage that could take weeks or even months to heal.  During this time, the injured person might have to rely on friends and relatives to help them out with everyday tasks.  If this sounds like a situation you have been in, then making a personal injury claim with an independent solicitor could help you to secure compensation for the pain and discomfort you have suffered.

Responsibility of businesses to ensure minimum risk of injury

Generally speaking, businesses have a responsibility to members of the public to make sure that they use their premises without risking injury.  This includes making sure that there are no tripping hazards such as loose materials and trailing wires left on the floor and no slipping hazards, for example spilt liquids or vegetable matter.  If a slipping or tripping hazard has been left on the floor in an area of the business open to the public for any length of time, then that business would be likely to be liable for any injuries suffered by people slipping or tripping over those hazards.

A slip and fall accident can occur anywhere and anyone become a victim of such an incident. A number of factors could be responsible for these accidents of which carelessness of the victim is a major one. These mishaps can befall you at your house or any other place outside. Every place is a potential hazard.

The majority of accidents from slipping occur due to wet and slippery floors, sidewalks and roads. Slippery grounds and courts used for outdoor games are also risky. Another major and well known hazard is the banana peel thrown carelessly. Obstructions or uneven surfaces in the roads and sidewalks, or potholes or even wet fallen leaves could cause a slip and fall accident.

Most accidents of this nature cause injuries to your esteem rather than to your body, but sometimes slipping and falling could cause very serious injuries which in some stray cases prove to be fatal.  This is a rare occurrence but a person involved in such an accident could sustain injuries which are very painful and are severe enough to lead to hospitalization.

The worst affected part of the body of a victim of a slip and fall accident is usually the back, more specifically the lower back. Hands and wrists, arms and legs are also injured at times but it is the back that bears the brunt. Head and neck injuries are not entirely uncommon and such injuries are normally of a very serious nature but they are rare.

When a person slips and falls down, he more often than not lands on his buttocks. This poses considerable risk to the spine and muscles and nerves of the back. A fall like this would lead to serious damages to the back muscles and ligaments. Such accidents could hurt the spine and damage the vertebrae, disks and nerves in it. Severe pain, sprains, strains, muscle and ligament tears and bone fractures could be the consequences of these mishaps.

The spine is the column which bears the entire weight of a human body in keeping him erect. Vital nerves from all parts of the body are encased in the spinal cord and attached to the brain. Any injury to it could even transform a person into a mere vegetable. The entire skeletal system is controlled by the spine.

The back and the spine lend support to a person and if they are seriously damaged there could be more severe effects on the physical condition of the sufferer. A person who was involved in a slip and fall incident and suffered back injuries could be rendered invalid as his condition becomes incurable. If initially he passes it off as a mere back pain and does not go to a doctor, he could be asking for trouble. His injury might be so serious that he could be disabled for life. Hence when a person injures his back he should go in for immediate medical treatment. Any negligence or delay in doing so could have very drastic effects