Accidents involving a slip and a fall are a common source of personal injury lawsuits. These claims meet with varying degrees of success in terms of settlements or damages awarded at trial. Here is a quick checklist of items to consider when you approach a lawyer to represent you in your slip-and-fall claim.
Questions To Ask Yourself About Your Slip-And-Fall Accident
- How significant are your injuries? If your fall left you with broken bones, a traumatic brain injury, or a life-altering disability, you may want to consider pursuing a lawsuit.
- Was the property owner or manager aware of the hazard at the time of the accident? Your lawyer will need to prove that the property owner was aware of the hazard that made you fall and did not take steps to fix it, or to warn you about the hazard.
- Were there mitigating circumstances involved? For example, if you walked through an area that had just been painted and was marked as such, and you tripped over a paint can, then the court will expect that you should have been aware of potential slip-and-fall hazards in that area.
- Are you partially at fault for the accident? Were you texting, being reckless, or just not paying attention? Louisiana law recognizes the doctrine of comparative fault, which means any settlement or award you receive in a slip-and-fault lawsuit will be reduced by the percentage that the court determines that the accident was your responsibility. So if your comparative fault was determined to be 20 percent, you would only recover $8,000 of a $10,000 settlement.