Am I Entitled to Compensation After a Slip and Fall Accident?
Slip and fall accidents are treated like all other types of personal injury and negligence law. If your fall was caused by the negligence of a property owner or manager and you suffer injuries and financial hardship as a result of the fall, you can recover compensation for your losses.
That recovery, however, is not automatic. You will often need to file a civil lawsuit against the property owner and use the facts about your slip and fall to show that the property owner’s negligence was the direct and proximate cause of your losses.
To recover the largest available compensation for a slip and fall accident in New York, you should also hire an experienced slip and fall accident lawyer, including any of the lawyers at Douglas & London. For almost 20 years, our personal injury attorneys have helped accident victims who have suffered slip and fall injuries in and around New York City to receive maximum compensation from property owners whose negligence led to those injuries.
When is a Property Owner Responsible for Damages in a Slip and Fall Accident?
Property owners have a duty of care for the safety of their guests and other persons who have a valid reason to be on their property. A failure to adhere to that duty will be a potential cause to recover compensation from the owner for a slip and fall injury.
This duty specifically requires property owners to fix known hazardous conditions on the property or provide reasonable warnings about those conditions. Practical examples of this duty include:
- Grocery stores must promptly clean up or direct shoppers around spills that can cause them to slip and suffer injuries
- Shopping centers must fix or warn about broken concrete, potholes, debris, and other parking lot hazards that can cause patrons to trip and fall
- Commercial offices must remediate broken stairs, frayed carpets, loose flooring, cracked floor tiles, and other tripping hazards that can lead to slip and fall injuries
- Construction sites must provide pathways around excavations and other areas with loose or unstable ground conditions, cables, or construction debris
- Hotels and hospitality businesses must provide handrails and secure walkways around steps and sloping surfaces, and remediate or warn about torn carpets.
- Restaurants must maintain clear and dry pathways to tables, and must promptly wipe up all spilled food that presents a tripping hazard.
What Compensation Will a Negligent Property be Responsible to Pay for Slip and Fall Injuries?
A property owner will owe a slip and fall accident victim both economic and non-economic damages as compensation for injuries. In a very small number of cases, a court might also award punitive damages as a penalty to deter future egregious conduct by a property owner, but punitive damages are very rare in New York slip and fall accident lawsuits.
Economic damages include reimbursements for costs related to::
- Medical bills and invoices for services to treat injuries
- Wages that a slip and fall accident victim cannot earn while recovering from injuries
- Expenses for physical and occupational therapy
- Transportation fees and expenses to commute to and from hospitals and therapy centers
- Contractor fees for modifications to living spaces that are needed to accommodate mobility limitations caused by slip and fall injuries.
In contrast, non-economic damages reimburse slip and fall accident victims for losses not readily quantified by invoices and bills. An experienced slip and fall personal injury lawyer will seek non-economic damages, for example, for a victim’s pain and suffering, loss of companionship with friends and family, and impairment of future employment opportunities that result from a victim’s injuries.
What Evidence is Needed to Justify Compensation in a Slip and Fall Lawsuit?
Your NYC slip and fall accident attorney will use all available evidence to demonstrate the total impact of a victim’s injuries on their finances and lifestyle. That evidence can include
- Photographs of the location of the accident and the hazardous conditions that catalyzed the victim’s injuries
- Oral and written reports from witnesses
- The policies and procedures that a business has adopted to inspect and maintain the safety of conditions at a property
- Any reports that the victim made to a property owner
- All medical records that show a diagnosis of a victim’s injuries and treatment recommendations made by physicians and therapists
- Pay stubs that show reduced income after a slip and fall accident
- Statements from friends and family members to show how the accident has impacted the victim’s lifestyle.
Evidence about a slip and fall accident is more relevant when it is promptly collected and preserved. In particular, an injured party should seek medical treatment for injuries no later than 24 hours after a slip and fall accident. Any delay in seeking treatment can lead to questions about whether the victim’s injuries are serious, or whether some intervening event after the initial slip and fall was the actual cause of the victim’s injuries.
Contact the Slip and Fall Attorneys that the People of New York City Trust
The NYC personal injury lawyers at Douglas & London have helped injured accident victims in the Empire State to recover the largest available compensation from negligent property owners following a slip and fall accident.
Please call our offices for a complimentary evaluation of your case and an assessment of whether you are entitled to compensation after a slip and fall accident. We have recovered millions of dollars for slip and fall accident victims and will use our 20 years of experience in New York slip and fall lawsuits to get you the compensation you deserve for your losses and injuries.
