It may be played for laughs in a movie or TV show when someone falls down. In those shows and movies, they usually get right back up, but real-life slip and fall accidents may cause head or brain injuries, broken bones, and other serious injuries that could lead to medical bills and other damages you need compensated.
Our attorneys use our skills and resources to aggressively pursue premises liability claims against the owners, management, and maintenance companies responsible for allowing these accidents to happen. If you were injured, our attorneys can help you get the damages you need to cover medical expenses, lost wages, and pain and suffering.
Call The Carrion Law Firm at (718) 841-0083 for a free case evaluation with our slip and fall attorneys.
Basics of a Slip and Fall Case in New York City
A slip and fall accident is a specific type of personal injury case that falls under the broader category of premises liability cases. In these cases, victims usually file against the property owner or operator for dangerous conditions that caused their injuries.
Property owners have a legal duty to make their property and premises safe for guests. This duty usually covers customers and guests who come to the property, requiring the property owner to take steps to find and repair dangers that could injure them. They are also responsible for warning of hidden dangers to others who might have permission to show up at the property, like a neighbor knocking on the door or a delivery person with a package.
Slip and fall accidents tend to be based on negligence. This accuses the owner/operator not of intentionally injuring you but rather injuring you by failing to take adequate steps to keep you safe. For most slip and fall cases, this means leaving a dangerous condition like a puddle, a broken step, a loose handrail, or an uneven tile in a place where it could hurt someone, all without warning them of the danger.
People do not think of slip and falls as particularly serious accidents, but anyone who has been involved in a slip and fall or fall down accident knows otherwise. Injuries can be long-lasting or even leave victims with permanent disabilities or pain, especially if you hurt your back or suffered a traumatic brain injury during the fall.
How Do I Know If I Have a Strong Slip and Fall Case?
The first thing you need for a strong slip and fall case is proof that it happened on someone else’s property. Additionally, you need evidence of defective or dangerous property conditions. For example, it is not enough to merely trip and fall down the stairs in a department store. There must be proof that the stairs were dangerous, such as being uneven or in poor structural shape.
Whether or not you have a case may depend on your relationship with the property owner. Generally, a property owner is responsible for making their property safe for invited guests and customers or at least warning about dangers to anyone who can reasonably be expected to enter the property. Trespassers are not usually covered and typically cannot bring a lawsuit for a slip and fall unless there was some sort of trap or intentional danger set up.
Your case is typically strongest when there was a report or other record that the defendant knew about the danger. Then, it would be clear that they should have repaired it or warned you about it and that they failed to do so. For example, if a grocery store clerk was notified about a spill but went on break and failed to mop it up or put up a “Wet Floor” sign until hours later, that could prove they had notice and a chance to fix the danger before you slipped in the spill.
The best way to determine the strength of your case is to actually talk to a lawyer about it. Our slip and fall attorneys offer free case evaluations, where we can discuss what happened and give an initial opinion about whether you have a case and how strong it might be.
Who Can You Sue for Slip and Fall Accidents in New York City?
Property owners are often liable for any injuries sustained on the premises because of a hidden danger or defect. However, other parties might also bear some degree of liability, depending on the circumstances of your case.
Landlords
Most New Yorkers do not own their residences or business spaces, which draws the question as to whether the owner/landlord or the tenant is responsible for a slip and fall. A landlord might be liable in a slip and fall case if the accident happened in a common area of the building, like a lobby, stairwell, or outdoor area. Landlords are typically responsible for these areas, whereas the tenant, renter, or property operator would be responsible for areas within their unit, apartment, or commercial space.
Store Owners/Operators
Similar questions about who is operating the space arise when it comes to injuries in stores, shops, and bodegas. Commercial landlords typically hand over all daily operations to their renters, meaning the store or its owners would be liable in place of the commercial landlord. In the same way, they might turn over day-to-day operations to their staff, but liability usually makes its way back up to the property owner. This means you would usually sue a shop’s owner rather than the individual clerk or store manager for a slip and fall in a shop.
Private Individuals
You can even sue a neighbor or other private individual for a slip and fall accident if it happened in their home or apartment. These kinds of cases sometimes come from social visits gone wrong. For example, someone might trip on a broken step their friend neglected to repair or slip on an icy front porch they failed to shovel.
Common Causes of Slip and Falls in New York City
You may be tempted to blame your own clumsiness for a slip, trip, or stumble, but there may be more to it. Many slip and fall accidents are actually caused by someone else’s mistakes or errors that left these kinds of common dangers in a store, office building, home, or other property:
- Water or other liquids on floors
- Frayed, torn, or worn carpets and rugs
- Area rugs missing non-slip backing or pads
- Debris that accumulates on floors and other surfaces
- Broken or uneven curbs, paved surfaces, and sidewalks
- Uneven or damaged staircases
- Missing or broken handrails
However, one of the most common types of slip and fall cases our New York City slip and fall lawyers handle is based on tenants, building owners, and property management companies failing to properly clear snow and ice from sidewalks and parking lots. Failing to clear a sidewalk can make the sidewalk impassible, especially for older or disabled New Yorkers. This is especially dangerous when it comes to the nearly invisible “black ice” that can easily form in cold weather.
Serious Injuries from Slip and Falls, Trip and Falls, and Other Fall Down Accidents
Unlike what you might expect from movies or TV, slip and fall victims frequently end up in a hospital for treatment. Your fall down accident can easily result in any of the following injuries, all of which need urgent medical care:
- Broken bones
- Head, neck, and back injuries
- Concussions and traumatic brain injury (TBI)
- Spinal cord injuries
- Nerve damage
- Lacerations
- Serious bruising and contusions
- Sprains, strains, and other soft tissue injuries
- Shoulder, hip, and knee dislocation
Depending upon the force with which the victim hits the ground or floor, a slip and fall accident could even result in death.
Recovering from the injuries suffered in a fall can be a long, arduous, and expensive process. Our slip and fall lawyers want you to focus on getting the rest and care you need to battle back from your injuries while we fight for the compensation you deserve, including things like
- The cost of medical care, including rehabilitative services and physical therapy
- Lost wages and earnings from your injury or disability
- Lost or diminished future earnings from a full or partial disability
- Pain and suffering you endured because of the injuries
There may be other areas of damages unique to your case, such as the cost of childcare while you are in the hospital. Our attorneys can examine the specific details of your case, go over financial records with you, and see what other economic damages you can claim.
When it comes to determining non-economic damages, we can account for the pain and suffering you faced along with emotional distress, mental anguish, lost enjoyment of various activities/hobbies, hardships with daily activities, and more. Although these damages can result in monetary payments, they are not based on financial records and bills, so it often means employing accepted calculation methods our attorneys have plenty of experience using.
Evidence You Need for a Slip and Fall Lawsuit in New York City
To support your claims and get compensation for your injuries, you must have evidence. Every case is unique, and while some plaintiffs have a plethora of evidence to draw on, others have very little. In any case, our slip and fall attorneys can help you use the evidence you have to make effective arguments, and we can potentially find more evidence you might not have thought about.
Witnesses
Many slip and fall accidents happen in front of others, like in a store or with other social guests. These witnesses can be called to testify about what they saw if we can get their contact info and call them to court. Even people who did not witness your accident may be able to testify about the condition of the property, or they might have previously notified the property owner about the hazard that ultimately injured you. Statements from store workers and managers can also be important evidence about what they knew, when they knew it, and what they did or did not do to repair the dangerous condition.
Remember that you are also a witness to what happened. Your story about what you saw, what you did not see, and what happened to you will be presented in court as the main story of your case, and we can back up and supplement your story with other evidence. For example, if we have other witnesses who can agree with what you said or we have photos and security footage that agree with your details, it can help show the jury how strong your testimony truly is.
Photos and Video
We can also demonstrate unsafe property conditions with photos and videos. Getting pictures of the accident scene can help us present the case and explain details to the jury, especially if the photos still show the unrepaired hazard. This requires quick action to get photos before the dangers are repaired or cleared away. Moreover, security camera footage might actually show your slip and fall, and our lawyers can reach out to property owners or stores to have them save copies of the footage so we can later get access to it as part of your case.
Other Evidence Our Lawyers Can Request
We can also look for other evidence you might not have access to, such as internal company records detailing when workers were notified of dangers or what steps – if any – were taken to repair the danger before you were injured. We can also get company and customer data in some cases to help us identify potential witnesses, such as finding out what workers were on duty at the time of the accident.
Evidence of Damages
Lastly, you must have proof of your damages. One of the most significant sources of damages in a slip and fall case is medical bills, and the bills themselves will provide proof of the amounts charged. Your medical records will also be crucial to proving the extent of your injuries and the overall severity, which we will use to calculate pain and suffering. Other monetary harms, like lost income, can also be detailed through other documentation, pay stubs, and financial records. Your own testimony will also provide evidence of how severe the injury was and what pain and suffering you experienced.
Contact Our New York City Slip and Fall Lawyers for Help with Your Case Today
Call The Carrion Law Firm today at (718) 841-0083 for a free initial case review with our slip and fall lawyers.
