Mariners Harbor Slip & Fall Lawyer
Not all accidents are massive disasters. Some appear small and even inconsequential, like a slip and fall accident. However, a slip and fall is not as mundane as it might first seem. Victims are often very badly hurt and in need of emergency help. If you were injured in a slip and fall accident, you may be entitled to financial compensation from the person or people who owned the property where you were hurt.
Property owners may owe a duty of care to keep the premises safe for guests, and if they fail to do so, accidents like a slip and fall may occur. Proving liability requires that we prove how the defendant failed to maintain their property and that they owed you a legal duty of care or safety. We should also be prepared to refute accusations that the accident was your fault. While slip and fall cases might sound simple, they can be very complex, and you might be unprepared to handle everything on your own. It is in your best interest to hire an experienced attorney to help you.
Call The Carrion Law Firm at (718) 841-0083 and get a free, confidential assessment of your case from our Staten Island slip and fall lawyers.
Who is Responsible for a Slip and Fall Case in Mariners Harbor
One of the tricky things about many slip and fall accidents is figuring out who should be held responsible. It is very easy to assume that someone fell because of their own clumsiness and many victims do not pursue legal action for this very reason. The truth is that many slip and falls happen because the property is unsafe. Property owners often owe a duty of care to guests on their property to keep it safe. This involves removing or repairing known hazardous conditions and making reasonable inspections for possibly unknown hazards.
Landlords
Staten Island is a heavily populated city, and many residents rent apartments. Renting is extremely common in New York, possibly more common than homeownership. While you, as a renter, might be responsible for the condition of your apartment, the landlord may be responsible for various other conditions that might cause injuries.
For example, landlords are often responsible for the maintenance of common areas in apartment buildings and complexes. This includes things like stairwells, hallways, elevators, and courtyards. If you fell in a common area because the landlord let it fall into disrepair, our slip and fall attorneys will help you determine if your landlord is responsible. We will likely need to look at the terms in your lease. In some cases, the landlord may be held responsible for dangerous conditions inside your apartment if they are related to maintenance issues that fall under the landlord’s responsibility.
Business Owners
You might instead sue the owner of a business if your slip and fall accident happened while you were a customer or client of that business. A very common example is a slip and fall in a grocery store. Spills are common in grocery stores, and employees are usually quick to clean them up and place signs warning customers of the wet floor. If the spill goes unnoticed by employees, an unsuspecting customer might fall. In such a case, the owner of the store may be held liable. The same idea may apply to a bar or restaurant where a patron slips in a spilled drink.
Neighbors
Even your neighbors might be held responsible if you slip and fall on their property, as long as you were lawfully present. For example, if a neighbor invites you into their home for coffee and you slip on their stairs and break your ankle, you can sue the neighbor for damages if you fell because the stairs were in disrepair. Your neighbor is legally obligated to repair the stairs before having guests or warn guests not to use them. However, if you were not lawfully present – like if someone entered the home without permission – the homeowner would not owe them a duty of care.
How to Prove Liability for a Slip and Fall in Mariners Harbor
We need strong evidence of your injuries and the defendant’s negligent actions to prove your claims in court. Gathering evidence is often regarded as one of the most challenging parts of a civil case. In addition, we must be prepared to refute claims from the defendant that you somehow caused your accident. That means we need even more evidence showing how you do not share any blame for the incident.
Evidence
Collecting evidence often begins at the scene of the accident. If you can, take photos of the area where you fell. The property owner will likely remove or repair the hazard that caused you to fall after you leave for medical treatment. While this is not illegal, it might cause us to lose evidence. Photos of the area, including the hazardous conditions that made you fall, might help us prove your claims in court.
We might also make use of security camera videos if any exist. For example, slip and fall accidents inside stores or businesses are often recorded on security cameras. We should immediately reach out to the store owner and ask them to allow us to see those videos. If they refuse, we can get the court to order them to turn over the videos as part of discovery. Video footage of your accident can be very powerful and difficult for defendants to undermine.
We must also contact witnesses. If others saw the accident or have first-hand knowledge of the dangerous conditions on the property, we should speak to them about what they know. Witness testimony is also often persuasive and powerful if witnesses have clear memories and trustworthy information.
Comparative Fault
The defendant might try to shift blame to you by claiming that you caused the accident, perhaps by your own clumsiness or because you were behaving carelessly when you fell. For example, they might say you were running while not watching where you were going, and they should not be held responsible for your carelessness. We must be prepared to push back against such allegations.
According to C.V.P. Law § 1411, if you are deemed partially responsible, your damages are reduced according to your share of fault for the accident. There is no limit on how much of the blame you may bear. If you are 90% responsible, you may still recover damages, but your damages will be greatly diminished.
Get Help Now From Our Mariners Harbord Slip and Fall Lawyers
Call The Carrion Law Firm at (718) 841-0083 and get a free, confidential assessment of your case from our slip and fall lawyers.