Plantation Slip and Fall Accidents

Slip and fall accidents may happen in many different places and under a seemingly endless array of circumstances. Here in Plantation, Florida, a slip and fall accident might take the form of a shopper slipping on a grape and breaking her arm at the grocery store, a college student falling on a broken stair at his apartment complex and dislocating his shoulder, or a tourist slipping in the shower of her hotel room and hitting her head. If you or a loved one has been hurt in a slip and fall accident and believe that the property owner’s negligence contributed to the accident, the knowledgeable Plantation slip and fall attorneys at Cohn & Smith, P.A., are here to help you investigate your case. Retaining a premises liability lawyer is an important step to take in seeking maximum compensation for what you have been through.

Slip and fall accidents fall under what is known as “premises liability” law, which, in turn, is part of a larger branch of law known as “negligence” law. The term “negligence” generally means that a person, business, or governmental entity has failed to act in a reasonably prudent manner under the circumstances, causing harm to someone else. There are four elements in these claims: duty, breach of duty, causation, and damages. The plaintiff has the burden of proving each of these elements by a preponderance of the evidence.

If an injured person waits a long time before talking to an attorney, a slip and fall case may be difficult to prove. Spoliation of evidence may greatly reduce the chances of a successful claim. The accident scene may change significantly over time. Without good photographs, it may be difficult for the jury to understand the situation surrounding the accident. Witnesses may move away, taking with them their testimony about the slip and fall. Even surveillance footage of an accident may disappear, since many systems only store information for a short time unless someone intentionally saves it to longer-term storage. Thus, it is important to enlist a slip and fall lawyer in Plantation as soon as possible if you have been hurt in this type of accident.

The doctrine of comparative fault factors into many slip and fall accident cases. If the defendant can cast some of the blame for the accident onto the plaintiff, the defendant only needs to pay damages in proportion to their own fault. For instance, if a person slips and falls in liquid that had been present for a long enough period of time that it should have been discovered by the defendant in the exercise of due diligence, but the jury finds that the plaintiff also was negligent because they were looking at their phone instead of looking where they were going, it is likely that both parties will bear some of the fault for the plaintiff’s slip and fall. If, for example, fault is proportioned as 30% to the plaintiff and 70% to the defendant, the defendant will be ordered to pay 70% of the plaintiff’s total damages. This is another reason why seeking experienced legal counsel in the aftermath of an accident is critical, since a lawyer may help minimize allegations that you were also responsible.

Time is of the essence in civil litigation. Cases not filed within the statute of limitations are usually dismissed without consideration of the merits of the plaintiff’s claim for damages, such as medical expenses, lost wages, and pain and suffering. At Cohn & Smith, P.A., our Plantation slip and fall lawyers help injured people seek fair compensation for harm caused by others’ negligence. To schedule a free consultation, call us today at (954) 431-8100 or contact us online. Our injury lawyers handle most of our cases on a contingency fee basis, which means that we do not get paid unless you do.