Common Slip and Fall Injuries

A fall in a parking lot or inside a place of business may leave a slip and fall accident victim with many serious injuries. If the accident occurred due to the negligence or carelessness of a landowner or business operator, the injured person has a right to seek compensation for their medical expenses, pain and suffering, and lost time from work, among other damages. The aggressive Pembroke Pines premises liability lawyers at Cohn & Smith are here to help you pursue maximum compensation if you have been hurt on someone else’s property.

Common slip and fall injuries include fractures, sprains and strains, disc herniations, rotator cuff tears, contusions, and concussions. When a pool or another source of water is involved, drownings, spinal cord injuries, and brain trauma are also possible. In cases in which a business owner does not take proper security measures in light of known criminal activity in the neighborhood, sexual assaults, muggings, and homicides unfortunately become a risk.

Personal injury cases are based on the principle of negligence, which is meant to hold a person or entity accountable if that party failed to act in a reasonably prudent manner. To be successful in pleading a negligence claim, an injured person must first establish the legal duty that they were owed. The duty that a landowner owes a visitor may vary considerably, depending upon the reason that the visitor was on the landowner’s premises and the level of permission that was in effect or implied under the circumstances. For instance, an invitee who is a business customer, such as a shopper going into a grocery store or a customer eating at a restaurant, is owed greater care and consideration than a person trespassing across the outskirts of a large farm.

Once a duty has been established, the next inquiry is whether the defendant landowner breached that duty. A critical element of a negligence claim will consist of establishing that the defendant’s breach of duty was the cause of certain common slip and fall injuries. Once the plaintiff has proved the basic components of a negligence case, the defendant in a premises liability action may seek to reduce the amount of damages owed to the plaintiff by claiming that the plaintiff’s own negligence – or the negligence of a third party not named in the case – contributed to the accident. Under Florida’s pure comparative fault law, the plaintiff still may recover compensation for damages in an amount that is proportionate to the defendant’s negligence.

Since important evidence may quickly slip away, the investigation phase of a slip and fall case demands a thorough, careful approach, and it should begin as soon as possible after the accident while the evidence is still fresh. Damages that may be available in these cases often include medical bills, the costs of future treatment, pain and suffering, and lost income and earning capacity.

Recovering fair compensation for common slip and fall injuries may be a difficult proposition unless you enlist a knowledgeable injury attorney. To get started on your case, call the Pembroke Pines attorneys at Cohn & Smith at (954) 431-8100 or contact us online. We offer a free case evaluation and represent people in Fort Lauderdale, Hollywood, Davie, Weston, Sunrise, Tamarac, Coral Springs, Pompano Beach, Aventura, and cities across North Dade County.