Atlanta Personal Injury Attorneys

Atlanta Slip and Fall Accident Attorney

Slip and falls are some of the most accidents in the United States. Each year in Atlanta, thousands of these incidents occur. In most cases, you will recover quickly, with just a bruised ego. Sadly, though, these accidents have the potential to do serious medical harm. Falls are the leading cause of emergency room visits, with 21.3 percent of hospital visits linked to these accidents. If you, or someone you know, has been injured in a slip and fall accident, there are steps you can take. Let’s look at some of these actions.

I Was Injured in a Slip and Fall Accident in Atlanta, Now What?

There are a few simple things you can do after a slip and fall accident in Atlanta. This will allow you to build a strong slip and fall accident case. First, it’s important to take photographs of the slip and fall accident site. This will give your personal injury slip and fall accident lawyer a better understanding of the conditions in which the slip and fall accident occurred. Tell the owner of the property of the accident. Check that they made an official incident report. If anyone witnessed the accident, you’ll need to get their contact information. They will be able to provide an affidavit verifying your version of events.

If you need a medical report, get this as an urgently as you can. If you leave it too long, the opposing lawyers might claim that you got your injuries elsewhere. Plus, you want to start the recovery process as quickly as possible. Take plenty of pictures of your slip and fall accident injuries. Do this throughout the recovery process.

You should also spend a few minutes creating a written account of the slip and fall injury incident. Go into as much detail as possible. This can be a good way to make sure that you remember all the important information.

A good additional step is to put the clothes you were wearing on the day to one side. This ensures that the owner of the building can’t claim that they played a role in the accident.

Proving Atlanta Slip and Fall Accidents

The most important thing you need to do is prove that the other party was negligent. This will allow you to pursue a claim against them. However, this can often be a challenging legal bar to get over.

To prove liability for a slip and fall accident, there are a few things that you need to do. First, you’ll need to show that the unsafe conditions were responsible for the fall. Then, you’ll need to prove that the owner of the building knew about the condition. Third, you need to establish that they had enough time to take action and rectify the situation. Finally, the law will consider what role your actions played, to see whether you contributed to the accident.

To give you a better understanding of how this would work. Let’s look at a few examples. Imagine that you are walking through a parking lot. There is a pothole. You fall and break your leg. Later, you discover that the pothole had been attracting complaints for months, but the owner hadn’t done anything about it. In this case, you would have a strong claim.

Now let’s change the scenario slightly. Imagine that you see the pothole. It has been cordoned off behind traffic cones. Bright yellow markings are around the edges of the hole. You ignore these, walk through the hole, and break your leg. Even though the owner hasn’t fixed the problem, they did give people enough warning of the danger it posed. As a result, you would have a hard time proving negligence.

This isn’t the only complication. Owners often have differing levels of responsibility depending on where the accident occurred. For example, a business is responsible for making sure that the worksite is safe. If it happens on federal property, your lawyer will need to go through tort laws. As you can imagine, proving negligence requires a skilled premises lawyer.

What Can You Claim For? 

If you have been hurt in a slip and fall accident in Atlanta, there are a range of things you can add to your claim. Some of the most obvious damages are:

• Hospital costs
• Wages, if you were unable to go to work
• Cost of buying drugs and medications

But some damages are harder to see. The most common example of this is pain and suffering. This covers the physical pain caused by the slip and fall injury accident. It also covers the emotional and mental distress caused by the accident. This is a lot harder for your personal injury lawyer to quantify. But, as long as you get someone who is experienced in this area, they will be able to get an accurate figure.

Sometimes, you might have lost a loved one to a slip and fall accident. In this case, there are a few damages that you can be compensated for. First, you’ll be able to claim the funeral expenses. Any medical expenses they incurred before succumbing to their injuries can also be included. You’ll also be able to claim for loss of consortium. This is the value of the time that you would have spent with your loved one.

Some offenses will be egregious. In this case, the judge might decide to award punitive damages. This is a way of punishing the defendant. It also sends a message to the community that this behaviour won’t be tolerated.

Dealing With Insurance Companies

The person or organization who caused your Atlanta slip and fall accident will often turn to an insurance company. They will start investigating as soon as possible. Their goal is twofold. First, they want to find out what caused the accident. Second, the insurance company wants to limit the amount of money they need to pay.

There are a few ways that they will attempt to lower your compensation claims. One of the most common is by calling you after the accident. They will often word their questions to try and get you to minimize the extent or seriousness of the accident. The insurance company can use this evidence to argue that your injuries aren’t as severe as you claim. Sometimes, your weakness can cause them to become even more ruthless. They can change their tactics from limiting liability to denying you any compensation at all.

Unfortunately, after the call is over the damage has often been done. Because of this, it’s best to get an Atlanta personal injury attorney as soon as possible. This will allow you to direct the insurance company’s inquiries to your personal injury lawyer.  

How Are Slip and Fall Cases Resolved?

Often, only a minority of slip and fall cases will end up in court, because of the high costs. Most of them are settled outside the courtroom. However, you still need to get a good personal injury attorney. You need to have someone who is going to fight to make sure that you get the highest amount of compensation possible. If necessary, they will have to be ready to head to court.

Contact The Injury Firm

At The Injury Firm, we know what it takes to win a slip and fall case in Atlanta, Georgia. Our team is prepared to put in the long hours to prepare a strong case. We’ll also make sure that the insurance companies treat you fairly throughout this process.  If you are in Atlanta, Georgia, and want to learn more give our Atlanta friendly team a call and book your free case consultation today.