Eureka slip and fall accidents can lead to debilitating and, sometimes permanent personal injuries. The extent of an accident victim’s injuries will depend mainly on how they fell to the ground and the force they hit the ground.
The surface that the accident victim fell on is also an essential factor. For example, an accident victim is likely to suffer more severe injuries if they land on concrete than if they fall on indoor carpeting. Accident victims can also sustain severe injuries if they hit their heads or backs when they fall to the ground.
Slip and fall victims can suffer:
- Lacerations requiring sutures
- Contusions
- Soft tissue injuries
- Broken bones
- Hip fractures
- Traumatic head injuries
- Internal injuries
- Spinal cord injuries
- Back and neck injuries
- Tailbone and pelvis injuries
If you have sustained injuries in a slip and fall accident on someone else’s premises, you might be in a position to file a claim or lawsuit that seeks money damages.
The skilled team of Eureka slip and fall attorneys at Reiner, Slaughter & Frankel can help you file your claim and, if necessary, litigate it in court. We will do everything we possibly can to get you the compensation you deserve for your injuries and everything else you suffered in your slip and fall accident.
The Duty of Care That a Eureka Premises Owner Owes to a Visitor
The duty of care that a Eureka premises owner owes to a property visitor will depend on why the visitor is on the property. In the case of local grocers, restaurants, bars, nightclubs, sports stadiums, and music venues, patrons are on the property to benefit the business owner. Therefore, these patrons are business invitees.
A property owner owes a business invitee the highest possible duty of care. Specifically, the business owner must maintain their premises in a reasonably safe condition at all times and must warn about or correct known dangerous hazards on the property. Premises owners and managers also must routinely inspect their properties for hazards. They must then properly remedy or warn about those conditions as well. When premises owners fail to take these measures, slip and fall accidents can happen on the property, leading to equally serious injuries.
A premises owner also owes a duty of care to licensees. In general, a licensee is a social guest present on the property. The duty of care that a property owner owes to a business invitee is much the same as they owe to a social guest. Specifically, the premises owner must maintain safe properties and warn about known defects on the premises or remedy those defects promptly. When the property owner fails to do this, and an accident and injuries occur, the property owner can be responsible.
Finally, under most circumstances, a property owner does not owe a duty of care to a trespasser. A trespasser is someone present on the premises without the property owner’s knowledge or permission. However, in some cases, as with children or known trespassers, the premises owner might owe them some reasonable duty of care.
The experienced Eureka slip and fall attorneys at Reiner, Slaughter & Frankel can help you determine if the property owner violated a duty of care. If they did, we can assist you with filing a claim with the property owner’s insurance company and seek the compensation and damages you deserve to recover.
Breaching the Duty of Care
A breach is a violation of the applicable duty of care. There are several circumstances where a property owner might violate the duty that they owe to a premises visitor. For a breach to occur, the property owner must fail to warn about or remedy a defect on the premises within a reasonable time. When that happens, a patron might slip and fall on the floor, sustaining serious injuries.
In some instances, it can be challenging to establish that the property owner behaved negligently under the circumstances. For example, the insurance company might argue that the property owner did not know about the spill or other defect on the premises that caused the accident victim to fall.
You can also be sure that the property owner’s insurance company will not do you any favors. On the contrary, they will do everything to contest liability and pay out as little money as possible to satisfy your slip and fall claim. The more money the insurance company keeps in-house, the more it can distribute to its shareholders
The knowledgeable Eureka slip and fall lawyers at Reiner, Slaughter & Frankel can help you prove all of the legal elements of your claim, including that the premises owner was negligent under the circumstances. Your lawyer might retain an expert, such as an accident reconstructionist, who can piece together exactly how the slip and fall incident occurred.
Your lawyer can also retain a qualified medical expert to connect your injuries to the slip and fall. These experts can draft a report and provide expert witness testimony at a jury trial in your case. This maximizes your chances of recovering fair monetary compensation for the injuries and other damages you incurred.
What Types of Compensation Can I Recover in My Eureka Slip and Fall Accident Case?
The types and amounts of monetary compensation that a Eureka slip and fall accident victim can recover will depend on various circumstances. Those circumstances typically include the cost of the accident victim’s medical treatment, the seriousness of their injuries, and whether or not their injuries are permanent.
Generally speaking, the more serious an accident victim’s injuries, the more compensable the case from a monetary perspective. In addition, an accident victim who suffers a permanent injury will usually receive more compensation than one who suffers only a temporary injury. That said, even seemingly minor injuries can cost a lot of money and cause significant losses.
To establish a permanent injury, a healthcare provider will need to state in writing—and to a reasonable degree of medical probability—that the accident victim’s injury, pain, and symptoms will likely last for their lifetime. This type of claim often involves past and future damages.
Types of Damages
First, a slip and fall accident victim can pursue monetary compensation for all related medical expenses and lost wages if they missed work. They can also seek reimbursement for any out-of-pocket costs that they incurred. These are economic damages.
In addition, slip and fall accident victims can pursue compensation for their related non-economic damages.
For example, they can file a claim to recover compensation for all of their mental distress, inconvenience, pain and suffering, loss of the ability to use a particular body part (such as with a spinal cord or paralysis injury), and loss of life enjoyment due to their injuries and their aftermath. The victim might even claim the loss of spousal companionship and family support due to the injuries.
The Eureka slip and fall attorneys at Reiner, Slaughter & Frankel can explain your eligibility for damages and pursue the maximum amount of compensation available to you in your case. We will also work to ensure that you recover monetary compensation not only for your medical expenses and lost wages but also all of the pain and suffering you endured after your accident.
Call a Eureka Slip and Fall Attorney About Your Legal Matter Today
Following a slip and fall, too many people assume their accident was too minor to warrant calling an attorney. However, millions of people incur medical bills each year due to slip and fall injuries, and if someone else is responsible, you should never cover those costs. Never hesitate to learn about your legal rights and options after a slip and fall accident and injuries.
The skilled team of attorneys at Reiner, Slaughter & Frankel is ready to help you pursue the compensation you deserve for your slip and fall accident injuries. Our lawyers are not afraid to pursue litigation and a jury trial if the insurance company is unwilling to offer you the compensation that you deserve.
Our team will fight for your right to recover compensation that fully and fairly compensates you for all of your accident-related injuries. For a free case evaluation and legal consultation with a skilled Eureka slip and fall lawyer, please call us at (707) 445-9628 or contact us online today.
Eureka
804 3rd Street
Eureka, CA 95501
(707) 445-9628
