Understanding What It Takes To Win A Slip-And-Fall Case
When it comes to slip-and-fall accidents, it helps to use a real life example to explain these cases. So let’s say you are at the grocery store. The aisle that you are in is not very well-lit. You slip on a puddle of water that is leaking from one of the freezers. You fall and bang your elbow pretty bad. It hurts, but you don’t feel like making a big deal out of it.
Let’s fast forward ahead four weeks later. You can barely move your elbow. In fact, pain is shooting up into your shoulder. You don’t have much mobility at all in that arm. You go to the doctor now because the pain is unbearable. You make the connection between the fall at the grocery store with your injured elbow and shoulder. Everything goes back to that poorly-lit aisle with the puddle from the freezer.
The question here becomes this: can you sue the grocery store to reclaim damages from the medical expenses that you received and the lost wages for the time that missed from work? Let’s take a minute to dive into this a little further.
Let’s Start With Liability
Everything starts with liability. In other words, was the grocery store liable for injury? Did the grocery store neglect to take care of situation that put their customers in danger of a possible injury? These are the questions that need to be answered in order to prove that the grocery store was liable for the injury.
Proving Negligence
Next, you need to prove that the grocery store was negligence in performing their duty of care. You need to prove that the grocery store was aware of the poorly-lit aisle and yet did nothing to fix it. Or maybe, the store knew that one of their freezers was faulty, causing water to spill out into the aisle ways.
Finding Fault
Finding and proving fault can be difficult because there are many factors that come into play. It’s also important to report a slip-and-fall accident right away after the accident occurs. In the example that we mentioned, the person did not report the accident to the store when the injury occurred. In fact, the injury was not examined by a doctor until four weeks later. The more time that is separated from the incident, the harder it is to prove negligence.
If the negligence of the store was the cause of the injury, then you have fault. But again, there needs to be sufficient evidence that shows that the store was at fault here. For example, maybe a work order was placed to fix the lights and the freezer two weeks before the accident; however, the maintenance team ignored the order and never fixed the problem. This is steadfast evidence that the store was negligent and at fault for the injury that took place.
Utilizing A Personal Injury Attorney
Slip-and-fall accidents are very complicated cases with many variables that come into play. For example, in the state of Oregon, you must know the exact substance that caused your fall. If you do not know the substance, you have no case. This is why you need an experienced personal injury attorney who will ensure that you are following the proper procedures to get you closer to the compensation that you deserve for your injury.
If you were the victim slip-and-fall accident here in the state or Oregon, contact us today at Dwyer Williams Cherkoss Accident Injury Attorneys for a free case evaluation. You can also reach us directly at: 1-800-285-8678. Our team of highly skilled personal injury attorneys will work hard to ensure that you receive the justice that you deserve!