Americans incur injuries from slip and falls each year – some very seriously. According to the National Flooring Safety Institute:
Eight million people visit emergency rooms each year for falls, the leading cause of all ED visits (21%). Slip and fall scenarios account for one million of these visits.
About 5% of all falls result in fractures, the most commonly reported serious injury.
Slips and falls can also lead to concussions, head injuries, spinal cord injury, and other serious side effects. If you incurred injury as the result of a fall, what are your legal options?
If you or a loved one suffered injuries in a serious slip and fall accident, the Fort Worth personal injury attorneys at the Law Firm of Aaron A. Herbert, P.C. can help. We have extensive experience in personal injury law, and know how best to represent our clients’ interests. We have the tenacity and commitment to fight for full compensation on our clients’ behalf. Our firm cares about what happens to each client that comes to us for help.
Why Choose Aaron Herbert?
When you trust the Law Firm of Aaron A. Herbert, P.C. with your slip and fall case, you get attorneys who care. We believe in the power of personal attention for each injury claim. Why choose us to represent you?
We take care of case evaluation, investigation, evidence gathering, eyewitness interviewing, claims filing, and many other legal processes.
We have years of experience taking complicated personal injury cases to trial for fair compensation. Aaron Herbert has personally litigated more than 50 court trials.
We operate on a contingency-fee basis. We only charge clients attorneys’ fees if they win financial awards.
We have a track record of success, with the highest possible AVVO rating and thousands of completed cases.
A slip and fall accident victim can benefit from hiring a lawyer. Rather than risking insurance companies taking advantage of them, victims can trust attorneys to take care of settlement negotiations on their behalf to ensure a fair case outcome. Our attorneys have won numerous premises liability claims in Texas over the last 10 years.
Determining Fault
Fault for a slip, trip, and fall incident will depend on the circumstances of the accident. The setting where the fall occurred, property owner responsibilities, and the relationship between the owner and the victim will all affect liability for injuries. It will take a case investigation to identify the proximate cause of the slip and fall, as well as to determine the correct defendant. Many cases involve more than one defendant sharing fault. Where the fall happened can help a victim understand fault.
Business slip and fall. A slip and fall at a grocery store, big box store, financial institution, amusement park, or other business could mean company liability. If you were a customer, the business owed you the highest standards of care. This means inspecting the property for hidden risks, repairing known slip and fall hazards, and warning of dangers such as wet floors. Failure to do so could result in liability.
Workplace slip and fall. A workplace slip and fall could be the employer’s fault if the employer should have maintained a safer premises for workers, and if the employee was on duty at the time of the accident. If a worker was off-duty or contributed to the accident through recklessness, however, the employer may escape liability. The worker must prove either he or she was performing job-related tasks at the time, or that the employer was negligent, to be eligible for compensation.
Private property slip and fall. A fall accident on privately owned property will require proof that the owner was negligent in his or her duties to the victim. Private property owners still owe certain duties of care to visitors depending on why the person entered the property. Proving liability may take speaking to eyewitnesses and bringing in experts to testify.
Premises liability laws make it a property owner’s legal responsibility to ensure the reasonable safety of his or her land. Failure to do so, resulting in a preventable accident, is negligence. In these cases, the owner will be liable for the victim’s damages. This could include payments for medical bills, lost wages, and pain and suffering.
What Is the Average Settlement for a Slip and Fall Accident?
If you suffer injuries to a fall on someone else’s property, you could file a personal injury lawsuit against the property owner to recover from your injuries. You will have to prove that the owner acted in negligence and allowed hazardous conditions to exist on the property. Depending on the circumstances of your case, you can receive compensation for losses you sustained as a result of your injuries. If you are wondering how much in compensation you will receive, the answer is that it depends.
Slip and fall claim amounts vary from case to case, as the exact circumstances of your accident will inform your final claim amount. However, certain factors could impact your claim’s total and may increase its value once you reach the end of your settlement.
First, the extent and severity of your injuries will greatly impact the final settlement in your slip and fall accident. The worse your injuries are, the higher your medical expenses could be. Your damages will have to include the total amount of your medical expenses, as well as any future medical care you may need. If your injury resulted in permanent or temporary disability, you may have to receive compensation for ongoing treatments and therapies. The more severe your injuries, the higher your claim will likely be.
In addition to impacting your medical expenses, more severe injuries will also lead to longer periods of recovery. As a result, you will have to stay home from work for a longer period of time and lose out on your usual wages. The more work you miss, the more compensation you can receive for lost wages. In addition, disability and impairment will also impact your future earning ability, which would also increase your settlement.
If you suffered significant trauma or emotional anguish as a result of your slip and fall, you could receive more compensation in the form of pain and suffering damages. The jury or insurance company will usually evaluate your pain and suffering claim based on the severity of your injuries. These companies assign a multiplier to calculate your pain and suffering damages. The insurance company will multiply your medical bills by the multiplier to determine how much you could receive for pain and suffering – so the more severe your accident, the higher your medical bills and multiplier will be, and the higher your pain and suffering could be as well.
A factor that could decrease your settlement amount is Texas’s comparative negligence rule. If the jury determines that you were responsible for a portion of your injuries, they will decrease your settlement amount by that percentage. For example, if you receive a settlement of $30,000 and the jury finds you responsible for 15% of your accident, you will only receive $25,500.
What Compensation Could You Receive in a Slip and Fall Case?
In slip and fall lawsuits filed in Texas civil court, you could collect compensation for all damages and losses you sustained as a result of the accident. The courts usually divide these damages into economic losses, which you can calculate based on bills and other solid documentation, and noneconomic losses, which usually include pain and suffering damages.
First and foremost, you can claim compensation for past and future medical expenses related to your injuries. These damages may include hospitalizations, medications, physical therapies, mobility equipment, and routine doctors’ visits. You can also claim economic damages for lost wages and loss of future earning potential. In certain circumstances, you can claim compensation for property damage you sustained in your accident.
Your pain and suffering damages can include multiple forms of losses. If you suffered permanent or partial disability or impairment as a result of the accident, you could claim damages for these injuries. You can also claim compensation for emotional anguish, post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, anxiety, and a loss of quality of life.
A Matter of Premises Liability
Premises liability is a legal concept that applies to personal injury cases resulting from an unsafe or defective condition on someone else’s property. Like most other personal injury cases, slip and fall cases rely on proving someone was negligent in the ownership or upkeep of the property. In other words, your slip and fall accident must be the result of someone failing to use reasonable care regarding the maintenance or ownership of the property.
To collect damages from someone else after a slip and fall or a trip and fall accident, the following must apply:
The owner of the property caused the defective condition. In a slip and fall case, this might be a spill, a tear in the carpet, or a slippery surface.
The owner was aware of a dangerous or defective condition but did nothing about it.
The defect directly led to your injuries.
You incurred specific damages as a result (for example, had to go to the hospital and received medical bills).
Possible Causes of Slip and Fall Accidents
A person might fall on a public walkway, park, or in a retail store. Slip and fall or trip and fall cases also apply to stairs, ladders, restaurants, malls, public driveways, and more. They may result from food spills, inclement weather, or even over-waxed floors. Defective staircases can lead to trip and fall accidents when they fall into disrepair or lack handrails. A property owner may minimize the likelihood of a serious accident by taking basic precautions like:
Cleaning spills promptly
Providing plenty of lighting
Posting warning signs in the event of a spill or property defect
Installing handrails on stairs
Removing electrical cords from anywhere there is foot traffic
Evening out potholes or uneven cracks in sidewalk
How Can a Personal Injury Claim Help?
If you’ve incurred significant damages as the result of a slip and fall or trip and fall accident, you may be able to collect compensation for your injuries in the following forms:
Economic damages. These address medical bills, lost wages, losses in earning capacity, and the costs associated with rehabilitation and recovery.
General damages. These provide compensation for intangible losses such as physical pain and suffering, emotional distress, mental anguish, and any loss in your quality of life.
Contact a Fort Worth Slip and Fall Injury Attorney
At the Law Firm of Aaron A. Herbert, we’re committed to helping victims of slip and fall or trip and fall accidents regain their financial security. If you’re struggling to pay your medical bills or make ends meet in light of a debilitating injury, contact our Fort Worth personal injury firm for a free initial consultation. Let us provide a confidential review of your legal options and help you decide on your next course of action. We also offer our legal services on a contingency-fee basis, which means you’ll only pay if we win a settlement or court judgement.
To get started on your slip and fall or trip and fall personal injury claim with our experienced team, contact us.
Americans incur injuries from slip and falls each year – some very seriously. According to the National Flooring Safety Institute:
