If you are injured in a slip and fall, you could face enormous medical expenses, a lengthy recovery period, and difficulty doing things you once enjoyed. Our attorneys can help you handle these difficulties by preparing and filing a compensation claim.
We can handle the legal aspects of your slip and fall accident lawsuit so that you can focus on recovering and getting your life back on track. While you get medical treatment and confirmation of your injuries, our attorneys can focus on proving the four necessary elements of your lawsuit. We can interview witnesses, preserve video footage, and gather the hospital records necessary for your case. We will also tally your financial and intangible damages during this time so that we only settle for a fair amount on your behalf.
Call our slip and fall lawyers with The Carrion Law Firm at (631) 910-7493 for a free case analysis.
Injuries from Slip and Fall Accidents in Smithtown, NY
Slip and falls are some of the most common accidents that lead to serious injuries for victims. In extreme accidents, these injuries could be life-altering, negatively affecting victims’ earning capacities and general quality of life.
Broken Bones
An impact from falling onto a hard surface can break bones, especially delicate bones in the hands and wrists. When victims land on limbs, or their limbs get caught during a fall, bones might fully snap, which can take much longer to heal. All broken bones require a cast or sling to hold them in place while they heal. This could prevent you from being able to do things you enjoy while you recover. More serious fractures, like a compound fracture where the bone pierces the skin, will likely require surgical procedures to set in place for recovery. Additionally, even after your bone mends itself, you will have to regain strength and retrain the part of your body that was immobilized during recovery, which might require expensive physical therapy.
Bruises and Scrapes
Blunt impacts from falls can also easily lead to bruising. A bruise is when blood vessels are crushed underneath the skin, resulting in swelling, soreness, and discoloration around the bruised area. Most minor bruises can heal on their own. However, severe bruising over a large area requires immediate medical attention. In some cases, it could be fatal or indicative of internal bleeding.
If you fall onto a rough surface, you might sustain serious scrapes or friction burns. Again, while minor scrapes can heal on their own, more serious variants of these injuries, like abrasions, where the skin is ripped away from the muscle, require professional medical care. The top concern in these situations may be avoiding infection, which could lead to serious complications for victims.
Cuts and Puncture Wounds
If you land on something sharp after falling, you could get badly cut or stabbed. Deep cuts frequently require stitching or sutures to heal properly and could result in disfigurement if they are on a victim’s face. Stabs and puncture wounds are much more dangerous than cuts. Puncture wounds only need to travel a few inches into the body to hit organs and cause severe tissue damage. Moreover, stabs and punctures are harder to stitch shut than cuts, so they will be tougher for medical professionals to treat.
Nerve Damage
A fall that impacts the wrong location on your body could damage nerves and impair the brain’s ability to send signals to parts of your body. Most of the time, this kind of injury is temporary and might result in loss of sensation in a limb, tingling, or inability to move it for a time. However, nerve damage from a slip and fall is permanent in many cases. You could lose the ability to do certain tasks, which could cost you your job, prevent you from participating in recreational activities you enjoy, and make everyday tasks harder.
Traumatic Brain Injuries
Traumatic brain injuries (TBIs) are caused by hard impacts to the head that damage the brain, pierce the skull, or both. Even less serious traumatic brain injuries, like concussions, can have serious side effects, such as fatigue, sensitivity to light and sound, mood swings, and memory loss. The consequences of more serious TBIs are dire. Severe traumatic brain injuries can result in permanent cognitive deficiencies, loss of basic bodily functions like walking or talking, and, in extreme cases, death.
Spinal Cord Injuries
Spinal cord injuries are particularly common during falls from high heights. Any damage to the spinal cord could be disastrous, requiring intricate surgery from specialists to mitigate the negative effects on victims. Even still, many spinal cord injuries are permanent, entitling victims to substantial settlements or jury awards for their economic and non-economic damages.
Proving Liability for Slip and Fall Injuries in Smithtown, NY
Understanding what is necessary to prove fault in premises liability claims is crucial. Otherwise, victims may not get the compensatory damages they need from negligent parties. When approaching your case, our slip and fall lawyers can make a plan to prove each element of your lawsuit, including duty of care, breach of duty, causation, and damages.
Duty of Care
The first step in proving liability for slip and fall injuries is establishing a duty of care. Property owners have a duty to maintain reasonably safe environments free from obvious hazards. They owe this duty to anyone visiting their property, whether for commercial or personal reasons. For example, homeowners owe a duty of care to anyone who comes to their home, and retail shop owners owe a duty of care to their shoppers.
Breach of Duty
Next comes proving that the property owner breached their owed duty of care by failing to address a hazardous condition. This can vary drastically from case to case. For example, suppose there is a loose tile in the lobby of a hotel, causing a guest to trip and fall. If hotel staff did not properly mark the damaged flooring to prevent an accident, the hotel could be liable for the guest’s resulting injuries and damages.
Property owners might be liable for actions other than their own personal conduct. For example, if a business owner’s employees are negligent on the job and injure a victim by failing to address hazards, the owner can still be financially responsible because of vicarious liability and because he accident happened on their property.
Our lawyers may obtain eyewitness statements to prove a breach of duty occurred and show how an accident happened. Slip and fall accidents often happen in view of others, particularly when they take place in commercial establishments. If possible, ask witnesses for their information so we can quickly interview them. We can also contact the property owner in case they have security cameras on site and we need to preserve footage of your fall.
Causation
Causation is the third element of injury lawsuits. We must show that the hazardous condition from the defendant’s negligence caused your resulting injuries. Again, eyewitness testimony can help achieve this, particularly if you sustained visible injuries during a fall. Otherwise, victims’ immediate medical records from after an accident can confirm the date, time, and manner in which they were injured, eliminating potential arguments from the defense that they were hurt in another incident or had a pre-existing condition that exacerbated their injuries.
Damages
We must then show how the accident has affected your life and caused you to suffer real damages, like hospital expenses. These are typically the most consequential damages for slip and fall victims, and we can closely monitor them and all other losses so that our final calculations are accurate.
Damages You Can Get in a Smithtown, NY Slip and Fall Accident Lawsuit
When victims are successful in their slip and fall lawsuits, the court will award them compensatory damages. Damages in civil suits are designed to put the plaintiff in as close a position as possible to where they were before getting injured. Damages take the form of financial compensation for two main reasons. Economic damages are based on medical bills and lost income, which have monetary value based on reality. Non-economic damages are for things like mental distress, pain and suffering, and the inability to participate in activities because of injuries.
Economic Damages
First, plaintiffs typically incur significant medical expenses from their injuries. One of the ways for a plaintiff to get back to where they were before an accident is to have the court recoup their financial losses. Second, it is often not literally possible to put the plaintiff back where they were before the accident. For example, if a plaintiff loses 80% of the range of motion in their arms from falling down, the court cannot restore that range of motion. In those cases, financial compensation is used as a substitute for restoring the plaintiff to their prior condition. Our slip and fall lawyers can consider how your injuries might affect your long-term earning capacity, which could influence the compensation we request for lost wages.
Non-Economic Damages
When evaluating your non-economic damages, we may weigh factors like the severity of your injury, your age, whether or not you will fully recovery physically, and if you have been diagnosed with any mental health conditions since the accident, like depression or anxiety. Underestimating your non-economic damages could lead to you undervaluing your entire claim. Plaintiffs who do not know their lawsuit’s worth might accept unfair settlement offers from negligent property owners, and we can prevent that from happening when handling your case in Smithtown.
Connect with Our Smithtown, NY Slip and Fall Accident Lawyers Today
Reach out to The Carrion Law Firm’s slip and fall lawyers at (631) 910-7493 to get a free review of your case.