Manhattan Attorney for Injuries at Hotels
Hotels are meant to be places of peace and comfort for weary travelers. Hotels and their staff must ensure that the place is clean and safe for guests. When hotels fail to fulfill their duties, guests may be injured in accidents.
Hotels are responsible for the safety of guests, and an injured guest can sue the hotel for negligently causing an accident. Under premises liability laws, property owners are obligated to keep the property safe for visitors. A failure to do so is a legal breach and may result in a lawsuit.
If you were a guest in a Manhattan hotel and were injured in an accident, you have the option to sue. Our New York City attorneys for injuries at hotels can help you recover damages to pay for your medical treatments and other expenses related to the accident. Contact The Carrion Law Firm for a free case evaluation. Call our offices at (718) 841-0083.
Can I Sue for Injuries at a Hotel in Manhattan?
In many cases, you can certainly sue the hotel where you were injured for compensation for your damages. A hotel is obligated to protect the health and safety of its guests, and a violation of this duty should not go unreported. Our Manhattan attorneys for injuries at hotels have experience representing injury victims in cases against negligent parties and are prepared to help you.
An injury in a hotel may allow a premises liability lawsuit. Such a lawsuit involves proving that the property owner was negligent in making the premises safe for guests and visitors. This area of law covers many types of properties, including private homes, retail stores, and hotels.
Your accident need not be caused by some sinister intentional act. Cases of negligence in premises liability cases typically involve unintentional acts or failures to act that led to an accident. Negligence involves several key factors that you must prove to win your case.
You must show that the hotel owed you a legal duty, that the hotel violated this duty, that the hotel’s violation directly caused your accident, and that your injuries are real. While this might sound simple, it is a long and complex legal process that most people are unprepared to take on alone. An attorney can help you fight for the compensation you deserve.
What Evidence Do I Need to Sue a Hotel for My Injuries in Manhattan?
Lawsuits are won and lost based on evidence. Evidence is a very tricky subject because it changes from case to case. The evidence you need to support your specific claims against the hotel might be very different from another premises liability case. Our Manhattan attorneys for injuries at hotels can help you track down and assess the evidence needed in your case.
Good evidence will help show a court of law that your accident happened at the hotel and that the hotel is liable. Most hotels have security cameras at various locations throughout the premises. These cameras are intended to help hotel security, but they might have captured your accident on video. Such a video would be crucial to your success.
If there is no surveillance video available, you can record the accident scene yourself. If you have a camera with you, such as the one on most cell phones, you can take pictures and record videos of the scene right after the accident happened. This is important because the hotel might clean up the accident scene to prevent further injuries, eliminating anything that might make them look bad in the process.
If you were not alone when your accident occurred, we can ask eyewitnesses to provide statements and testimony about what they saw. Eyewitness testimony is crucial, especially when there is no photographic or video evidence of the accident.
We can also subpoena hotel records related to your stay and the accident. For example, unfinished repair requests can help us show the hotel knew a particular area might have been unsafe.
Common Accidents and Injuries in Manhattan Hotels
Hotels can be big or small, but they are often very busy places requiring much upkeep to stay safe and clean. General maintenance and cleaning are daily occurrences in most hotels. If a hotel is negligent, it can quickly fall below safety standards.
Slip and fall accidents are perhaps some of the most common premises liability cases. A slip and fall accident might occur on uneven stairs, a wet floor, or an icy sidewalk in front of the hotel. These accidents can lead to very serious injuries, including broken bones, head trauma, and back injuries.
Swimming pools and hot tubs are common in many hotels throughout Manhattan. If a pool or hot tub is not properly cleaned or otherwise poorly maintained, hotel guests might get sick or experience skin irritations. A common swimming pool complaint is skin and eye irritations from too much chlorine. Pool and hot tub filter systems can also cause serious injuries, especially to children.
Many other common hotel accidents involve unclean conditions, contaminated food, or security failures. If an intruder got into your hotel, got up to your room, and assaulted you, you may be able to sue the hotel for negligent security.
What Will the Hotel Do After I File a Lawsuit for My Injuries in Manhattan?
Once you file your lawsuit, the hotel will immediately go on the defensive. Understanding the hotel’s arguments against you is important for our Manhattan attorneys for injuries at hotels to make effective counterarguments.
A hotel will try to get around their own liability by claiming they did not owe you a duty of care. Hotels owe a duty of care to guests who have checked in, but not everyone who walks through a hotel is a guest. Instead, you might be a tourist who came in to ask the front desk for directions. Even still, a hotel might reasonably expect people to enter and make inquiries or visit the hotel bar. They still owe a duty of safety to these people even if they are not guests at the hotel.
The hotel might instead argue that you are responsible for causing your own accident and the hotel was not negligent. We can use the evidence we have gathered in your case to prove that your accident happened because of the hotel’s negligence.
Contact Our Manhattan Hotel Injury Lawyers for Advice
If you recently checked into a Manhattan hotel but checked out with injuries, our Manhattan attorneys for injuries at hotels can help you get compensation. Contact The Carrion Law Firm for a free case review today. Call us at (718) 841-0083.