Personal injury lawsuits sometimes struggle with proving fault. Click here to learn how you and your attorney can prove fault in a slip and fall case.
Did you know that one out of every four adults in the U.S. will fall during each year? Slip and falls are one of the most common personal injury lawsuits for that reason.
There are dozens of reasons why people slip and fall. Many times, the incident can result in serious injury. When negligence is involved, it is possible to be awarded damages due to your injury.
Read on to learn how to prove someone else is responsible for your slip and fall case.
Who is Legally Liable?
If you suffered from a slip and fall, the first thing to consider is why the fall took place.
Property owners have to maintain safe conditions at all times. A slip and fall accident is a legally recognized occurrence that was the result of some circumstances out of your control such as a wet floor.
You might be eligible for compensation by filing a slip and fall lawsuit. Unfortunately, there is a lot of grey area because the law requires that people also avoid foreseeable unsafe situations.
Figuring out who is liable boils down to the reason behind the unsafe condition. Was it negligence that led to your slip and fall?
If the property owner could have prevented the accident, then you likely have a case. The tricky part will be proving that the property owner was negligible and liable.
Proving Negligence And Liability
To be held liable for a slip and fall case, a property owner needed to fail to act in a reasonable manner.
There are a few questions you can ask to help determine negligence. Did the unsafe conditions exist for a long enough time period that the owner could have eliminated the hazard?
Were there preventive measures that the owner could have taken such as putting up signage, relocating the hazard?
Another way to prove negligence is to show that the owner or an employee knew there was a hazard but did not act.
Also, if you can show that the owner should have known there was a hazard, you can prove negligence. This is tricky because you have to prove what reasonable awareness means.
This argument could lead insurance companies to dispute a personal injury claim. Be sure you have an experienced lawyer to help you build a strong case.
Disproving Personal Fault
The last aspect of a slip and fall lawsuit is proving that the fall was not your fault. You must show that it was not possible to have noticed the hazard. You will need to prove that you did not ignore warning signs.
In order to do this, you will have to explain the conditions of the hazard such as dim or no lightning.
Do I Have a Slip and Fall Case?
There you go! Now you have a good sense of what you need to do to prove fault in a slip and fall case.
Remember, your best shot at fair compensation is hiring a personal injury attorney.
