How To Seek Compensation For Injury Suffered In Fall?

If you trip over a rake that you left on your own lawn, and then you get hurt, you cannot file a personal injury claim. On the other hand, if you have been welcomed onto a neighbor’s property, and you trip on some object that was placed on the lawn, then you can file a personal injury claim. You were the victim of a trip and fall incident on someone else’s property.

Types of falls

Not every fall result from the fact that the fallen victim first tripped on a specific object. Sometimes, a victim slips on a wet or smooth surface and falls. Too often, an elderly patient in a nursing home fails to receive adequate supervision, and therefore falls. Sometimes, too, a patient falls out of his or her bed in a nursing home or a hospital.

Does the property owner become responsible for any injuries suffered by the fallen victim?

An injury lawyer in Georgetown can help a victim to answer that question. Lawyers understand what sort of evidence must be presented in a courtroom, in order to win a lawsuit against a property owner. That evidence must show that the same owner failed to deliver an acceptable level of care to the spot where the incident took place.

Various documents can be gathered in an attempt to demonstrate the absence of that expected level of care. Those would be things like maintenance logs, inspection reports and safety manuals. Property owners also invite a lawsuit, if their actions suggest the awareness of a situation, but the absence of a desire to improve it.

For example, the owner of an empty lot might choose to ignore that small piece of land. It might grow weeds, which then attract bees. At that point, the owner could be alerted to the fact that a passerby might get stung. Moreover, if any weeds grew out onto the sidewalk, a passerby might trip on some growth from a weed and fall.

Arguments that might be used by a defendant’s defense team in a slip/trip and fall case:

• The plaintiff did not heed the posted warning.
• The plaintiff was not wearing a sturdy pair of shoes.
• The plaintiff failed to make note of an obvious hazard.

The plaintiff’s readiness to respond to an open invitation demonstrated his or her willingness to accept any risks that might be present on the host’s property.

A defense attorney has a number of avenues to pursue, when disparaging a plaintiff’s/victim’s claim. Indeed, that attorney might use more than one of them. For instance, the attorney might allege that the plaintiff welcomed the invitation from the property owner, but failed to watch for any hazards, after venturing into the owned or rented establishment.

More to explorer