Do not be fooled by anybody that says slip and fall incidents are not serious. A slip and fall injury is serious, and they can result in severe injuries and disabilities for victims. At Jacobs & Jacobs, our team is here to help if you need a New Haven slip and fall attorney by your side. Our law firm has the resources necessary to handle complex premises liability claims just like this. Our personal injury attorneys want to make sure that you recover the maximum compensation you are entitled to if your slip and fall injury was caused by the negligent actions of a property owner.
A premises liability attorney is going to be needed for slip and fall cases because it is not uncommon for property owners and their insurance companies to push back against paying any compensation at all for these incidents. In fact, we often find that the at-fault party tries to shift all blame for the incident onto the slip and fall injury victim.
A skilled New Haven premises liability lawyer can use their resources to obtain all evidence needed to prove liability and dangerous conditions, including:
In addition to obtaining the evidence needed to prove what happened, our personal injury law firm makes sure that their client is evaluated by trusted medical and economic experts who can adequately calculate the total expected losses.
Slip and fall accidents occur in a wide variety of ways in and around New Haven, Connecticut. Most of these incidents happen in the blink of an eye due to property owner negligence, but they can have a lasting effect on the victim. The majority of slip and fall incidents are preventable, especially the ones that occur indoors. Some of the most common causes of these incidents include the following dangerous conditions:
Regardless of how a slip and fall accident occurs, the reality is that property owners have a legal duty of care to those who have a right to be there. This includes ensuring that they take the actions necessary to prevent slip and fall accident conditions.
A slip and fall accident can result in much more than just minor injuries, such as bumps and bruises. A victim of a slip and fall accident can sustain life-changing and permanent injuries, including joint and ligament damage, brain injuries, and painful broken bones. Senior citizens are especially at risk of extensive injuries in falls due to the possibility of a hip fracture, which can come with life-threatening complications such as infections, bedsores and pulmonary embolism.
Common injuries that are associated with slip and fall accidents are:
In the most severe cases, a victim may never fully recover from a slip and fall accident in New Haven. Sadly, some of these accidents result in a victim’s death. If you have lost a loved one in a fatal slip and fall accident in New Haven, contact our wrongful death lawyers about a potential lawsuit. Our law firm has the resources and personnel to handle any type of injury lawsuit, premises liability claim or wrongful death case to seek maximum financial compensation for our client.
If you get injured in a slip and fall accident, this does not automatically mean that you have grounds to file an injury claim. In Connecticut, a civil lawsuit may only be brought if there is proof that the victim’s injury could have been prevented had the defendant used an ordinary level of care. In a premises liability lawsuit, this typically means evidence that the owner or controller of the property fell short of the responsibility to maintain a safe premises.
For example, if you slipped and fell because of a spill at a grocery store, you or your lawyer must prove that the owner of the premises (or an employee) knew or reasonably should have known about the spill but failed to remedy it promptly. If another person in the same or similar situation would have noticed the spill and mopped it up prior to the accident, this can be enough to hold the defendant responsible for your slip and fall.
To have a valid claim to financial damages, you must bring your slip and fall lawsuit within Connecticut’s statute of limitations. This is a legal deadline of two years from the date that the injury was sustained. There are not many exceptions to Connecticut’s statute of limitations. If you wait too long and try to file after two years have passed since your slip and fall, your case will most likely be dismissed by the courts before you have a chance to present your evidence.
Another law to know is Connecticut’s comparative negligence rule. Comparative negligence is a defense tactic that asserts that the defendant should not be responsible for paying for 100 percent of a victim’s injuries because the victim’s own negligence contributed to the slip and fall. In Connecticut, a plaintiff’s comparative negligence will not automatically bar him or her from making a financial recovery. However, it can reduce the victim’s compensatory award in proportion to the percentage of negligence or fault.
Connecticut has a modified comparative negligence law, meaning a plaintiff’s ability to collect financial compensation is capped at 50 percent of the responsibility for the accident. If your degree of fault exceeds 50 percent, you will lose the right to recover any compensation at all. It is important to hire an attorney if you are being blamed for your slip and fall accident in New Haven, even by a small amount. An attorney can help you combat this defense and maximize your financial recovery.
Our attorneys have extensive experience handling complex injury cases, and we know what it takes to obtain the compensation you need. This can include coverage of your medical bills, lost wages, pain and suffering damages, and more. If you or a loved one has been injured or affected by a slip and fall accident caused by the negligent actions of a property owner in New Haven, get in touch with a Jacobs & Jacobs slip and fall lawyer for legal advice and a case evaluation today. Contact us online or call at (203) 777-2300.