When you are injured in a slip and fall accident, it can be difficult to know where to turn. The personal injury attorneys at Sadaka Associates are here to help protect your right to compensation and win back to the life you love.
To find out more about our legal services and call our experienced serious personal injury lawyers at Sadaka Associates today at 1-800-810-3457. You do not have to go through this alone, our experienced slip and fall attorneys will fight to help prove your case and hold the negligent parties responsible for the pain they caused you.
It is time to seek the legal help of the Law Offices of Sadaka Associates. We can help you put together a strong claim and fight to get the necessary compensation to take care of your incoming expenses. We’ll discuss some of the most common legal concerns regarding slip and fall accidents in New Jersey:
Types of Slip and Fall Accidents
Slip and fall accidents can happen virtually anywhere. There are more common cases, like those in grocery stores, outlet retailers, and warehouses, but the truth is that slip and fall cases take place on any piece of property owned by another party.
Any type of negligence that causes you to slip and injure yourself can be considered a slip and fall case, including as a result of faulty building practices, slick floors, unattended cables, and more.
Taking a closer look, our firm has handled countless slip and fall cases from clients just like you. Over the years, we have seen accidents in both commercial and public spaces, with fault falling on both individual citizens and business owners alike in their legal capacities.
Whoever put you in harm’s way should have to own up to their actions, which is why we fight to bring justice for our clients who have been wronged.
When you walk into a place of business, for example, there is a certain degree of trust that you give the owners to keep you safe. When that trust is betrayed, and you are left in a great deal of pain and suffering, you might be entitled to financial compensation from the responsible parties.
Let’s look at some specific examples of how this may have happened to you.
Slip and Fall Injury Information
Stairwells
These structures are inherently dangerous as it is on an incline.
Whether you are walking up or down the stairs, one false move can result in serious injury, paralysis, or even wrongful death. Business owners need to make sure that stairwells are cleared of any obstructions, liquids, and debris as staircases can quickly end in tragedy.
Staircases are also liable to collapse or break if built poorly.
Sidewalks
Many slip and fall cases occur on public sidewalks because towns and cities do not pay enough attention to the upkeep of these areas. Many towns and cities do not make sidewalk repair a priority, which creates a very cmmon area for dangerous spills, loose cables, holes and cracks
Parking Lots
When there are so many cars in one place, parking lots are hazardous. These locations are often the site for many personal injury cases, due to slick substances coating the ground or traffic.
While most parking lots are left almost completely unattended, so the potential for injury is high. The longer a lot is not managed or cleaned, the more dangerous it becomes to innocent bystanders.
Raised Carpets
Tripping over an object that should not be there in the first place and injuring yourself is almost never your fault. Businesses have a duty to remove known dangers on the floor that could cause a person to trip and fall.
Businesses should be watching for dangerous conditions on the floors to make sure employees and customers are safe at all times. Raised carpets in stores and businesses, for example, cause countless falls and injuries every year.
Nursing Homes
The elderly are among society’s most vulnerable people.
After so many years of dedicated service to their families and communities, it is tragic when elderly patients are injured after an act of negligence in a nursing home. You do not have even have to be frail to injury yourself in a nursing home, as many cases arise each year because the overworked staff neglect to handle simple cleaning tasks or fail to put items away that can cause injuries.
Wet Surfaces
Slipping on a wet surface is what most people imagine when they think of typical slip and fall lawsuits.
Any business that is open to the public has a duty to keep patrons safe. Their duty includes warning visitors of any slick surfaces. When a company fails to warn people of slippery surfaces they can be held liable in a court of law.
Apartment Complexes
Even if you are not a resident of an apartment complex, the building owners can still be held liable for failing to make repairs that put your health and safety in danger.
Landlords have a duty to keep the common areas of an apartment building or complex safe and secure from known dangers. That includes providing adequate security and making repairs. If you are injured because the landlord failed to make repairs or provide adequate security in your building then they must be held accountable.
Malls and Shopping Centers
Malls are some of the highest-trafficked areas of the country, with potentially thousands of visitors walking through the doors each day.
Many janitorial services and staff members fail to realize the reasonable expectations of safety. There are so many people in one place that obstacles, wet spots, and safety hazards all have the potential for causing harmful accidents.
Office Buildings
Offices are primarily built of hardwood or laminate floors, creating massive potential for slip and fall cases.
As many of these businesses only have cleaning crews that come through a few times a week, spills and other hazards quickly accumulate. These individuals need to take extra time out of the workday to make sure the staff and customers are kept safe from harm.
Government Property
The government is inherently run on public funding. It needs to make sure that the tax dollars are going to the right places.
Instead of keeping the citizens safe from harm, many government properties are poorly managed due to lack of funding, including courthouses, public parks, DMVs, and more.
Public Roads
Roads need a certain degree of maintenance to keep civilians safe, and there is a lot of ground to cover.
When a hazard appears on a public road, it often takes a great deal of time before the city does anything about it. During that period, many people are unknowingly at risk of slip and fall cases.
Hospitals
Not only do hospitals care for patients medically, but these facilities also provide food, water, and other supplies that quickly becoming hazardous if spilled or unsupervised.
Hospital-based slip and fall cases often deal with unattended cords, which cause individuals to trip and injure themselves, for example. As the average hospital has plenty of activity at any given moment, these hazards can be ignored in lieu of more pressing issues, opening the management to liability.
Premises Liability Law
Property owners in New Jersey are required to ensure that any visitors to the property enjoy a reasonable expectation of safety.
It includes warning patrons of any construction projects, wet floors, paint spills, electrical cords, faulty building practices, and more. If it cannot fix the issue at hand, the hazard sign needs to be clearly and obviously legible for the owners to be released of any wrongdoing in these types of cases.
If the owner of the premises is found liable for the injuries or suffering that occurred as a result of the negligence, it may be forced to pay an appropriate sum of money to compensate for the damages.
New Jersey premises law extends to business grounds, government properties, and private residences.
Some examples of these types of premises liability cases include:
- Injury in a slip and fall accident on a job site
- Falling victim to an accident at a sporting arena
- Injury in a grocery store
- Being struck by a vehicle on school grounds
- Falling down the stairs at an apartment complex
- and more
Do I have a Slip and Fall Case?
It is not always immediately clear whether your situation is a slip and fall case.
If you were injured in any way while on another person’s property – even if you are not sure who the property is owned by – it is best to contact a team of experienced slip and fall attorneys. At the law offices of Sadaka and Associates, we have given countless people legal representation in these types of cases.
We will do everything in our power to protect your right to compensation, including gathering the necessary medical documents, video surveillance, speaking to eyewitnesses, industry experts, and more.
To find out more about what we can do for your case, call our serious personal injury lawyers today at 1-800-810-3457 for your consultation.
You do not have to fight your slip and fall case alone. The legal world can sometimes be confusing, so hiring a slip and fall attorney can provide you with peace of mind knowing that you are being taken care of so that you can move forward confidently with your recovery process.
How Is Liability Determined?
Determining liability falls on the sorts of negligence involved.
If you knocked over a shelf and subsequently slipped on a spilled glass of coffee, for example, the company responsible may be less liable than in other cases where a spill was left on the ground by an employee.
Your case will need to display some form of negligence toward public safety by the responsible party, which can include ignoring warning signs that an accident is about to occur, forgoing proper building techniques, using improper cleaning supplies, failing to hang hazard signs after an accident, using poor lighting techniques, not hiring enough cleaning staff, failing to tape down unwieldy carpets, or loose cords, and more.
A slip and fall injury attorney can build the timeline of your case, which may ultimately display the true culprit of the incident.
Factors a Jury Will Examine
Trip and Fall Lawsuit Timeline
Many slip and fall cases may be settled within a few months of the initial accident, although some cases can drag on for years if the case calls for it.
Some businesses reach out and try to settle as soon as possible, avoiding incurring any lawyer fees on their end. It’s important to note that each case can be a little bit different than the last, though.
Some examples of these types of premises liability cases include:
- You are injured in a slip and fall case.
- You seek medical treatment for your injuries and attain medical proof of your ailments.
- You meet with a personal injury lawyer as soon as possible after receiving treatment for your injuries.
- You come to the agreement with your attorney to file a complaint against the parties responsible. In some cases, your attorney might forgo a lawsuit to reach an outright settlement with the insurance company associated with the property. Otherwise, a suit will be filed if an agreement cannot be reached.
- After some time, the defendant will answer your claim.
- Depending on if you reach a settlement, you may need to appear in court to give a sworn statement as to the events that occurred.
- A settlement will generally be reached within a few months of legal proceedings on behalf of you and your legal representation.
- If not, the case will go to pre-trial proceedings and move to a trial if deemed necessary.
Trip and Fall Accident Statistics
According to studies gathered by the CDC, slip and fall cases are both incredibly dangerous and common around the United States.
Important statistics include:
- One out of five falls results in a serious injury, including broken bones and injuries to the head.
- Over 800,000 patients are hospitalized every year due to injuries associated with falls. Many of these injuries come from resulting head injuries or fractures of the hips or extremities.
- Falls cause more traumatic brain injuries than any other type of accident source.
- Falls resulted in over $50 billion in medical bills in 2015.
Slip and Fall Resources
Contact a New Jersey Slip and Fall Attorney Today
Hiring a slip and fall attorney helps you focus on your recovery while we handle the legal side of things.
At a time like this, there is no reason you need to be worrying about making ends meet. The legal professionals at the Law Offices of Sadaka Associates will do everything possible to protect your right to compensation in these cases of negligence.
We will not sit by as these injustices continue to happen in our community.
Find out more about our New Jersey slip and fall legal services, call our professionals today at 1-800-810-3457 for your consultation.
