Dormont Slip and Fall Injury Lawyer

After an injury, the last thing you want to worry about is medical debt. If you’re recovering from your injuries, you may even be behind on bills while you take time off from work. Financial insecurity can take the focus off of your physical health. As your legal representatives, we want to give you the opportunity to put your focus back on your physical health while we take care of the rest.

If you tripped, slipped, or fell and suffered injuries as a result, a personal injury lawyer could help you seek compensation from the landowner or another liable party for their negligence.

Recoverable Damages for a Dormont Slip and Fall Case

After getting hurt because of someone else’s carelessness, it’s common to ask questions about how much of your expenses will come out of your own pocket. Generally, someone who causes your injuries through negligence should be responsible for the financial and personal damages you suffer. For example:

• Medical bills. The at-fault party could have to pay the reasonable cost of medical treatment you need for your injuries. These expenses could include things like the ambulance, emergency room, hospital, surgery, doctors, blood transfusions, physical therapy, prescription drugs, and other healthcare services.
• Lost wages. If you did not get paid for the time you were recovering from your injuries, we can add that financial loss to your Dormont, Pennsylvania, slip and fall injury case. You should not have to face financial hardship because of someone else’s careless actions.
• Pain and suffering. In addition to (or because of your injuries), you may suffer physical and emotional pain. These personal losses can result in a loss of quality of life. These are also compensable damages in your case.

There is No “Average” Settlement for Slip and Fall Accident Victims

Every slip and fall personal injury claim is different. If two people were hurt because of the same hazard on the same property, their injuries could be quite different, leading to differences in the amount of compensation each person could recover.

Talk to your Dormont slip and fall attorney about the various ways your life has been affected by your injuries. You might have additional losses that are not on this list of examples. Our team wants to account for everything you’ve lost, so your financial award appropriately compensates you.

How a Dormont Slip and Fall Attorney Can Benefit Your Claim

Your attorney will do the heavy lifting on your slip and fall injury claim, so you can focus on your recuperation. We will investigate your claim and the accident, calculate a fair settlement amount, and reach out to the insurance company to demand what they owe you.

Your Dormont slip and fall lawyer can negotiate with the insurance company on your behalf. If the case does not settle and it is appropriate to do so, we can file a lawsuit and take your case to trial.

Elements We Must Prove in a Slip and Fall Accident

Landowners are not strictly liable for slip and fall accidents. We must prove that the owner was negligent in some way and that their carelessness caused the accident and your injuries. We must show each of these factors before we can hold the owner of the premises liable for your losses:

• The owner had a legal duty to you. The extent of that duty will depend on your reason for being on the property. Generally, if you were on the property legally, the owner has a responsibility to correct, block off, or provide adequate warnings of hazards. The owner must have known about the dangerous condition or should have known about it. Intentional ignorance does not relieve an owner of liability.
• There was a dangerous condition on the premises.
• The owner failed in their duty to correct, block off, or post warnings about the hazardous condition.
• The dangerous condition on the property caused your injury.
• You have a physical injury that comes with measurable losses, like medical bills or lost wages.

An Example of Negligence in a Slip and Fall Accident Case

To help you understand how these elements work when evaluating the question of liability in a slip-and-fall accident in Dormont, let’s run through a quick scenario.

• A client had an appointment at the hairdresser’s salon. The client was present in the salon legally.
• When walking from the waiting area to the hairdresser’s station, the client slipped and fell on water that had leaked out of one of the sinks. Water on the floor was a dangerous condition.
• One of the other hairdressers commented that the sink had been leaking for weeks, but the owner refused to fix it. The owner failed to correct, block off, or post adequate warnings of the hazard. The owner’s negligent failure to respond caused the accident.
• The client broke her wrist when she tried to block her fall. Her physical injury satisfied the requirement of measurable losses.

Having met all of the required elements, the client can file a personal injury claim against the owner.

The Statute of Limitations for Premises Liability Cases in Dormont, PA

You could face consequences if you wait too long to take legal action on your slip-and-fall case. Per Pa. C.S.A. § 5524, you have two years from the date of the accident to file a lawsuit against the at-fault party. If you miss the filing deadline, you could forever lose the right to seek compensation for your injuries and other losses.

What Can Cause a Dormont Slip and Fall Accident

There are several common causes of slip and fall accidents:

• A slick floor
• An obscured tripping hazard
• Defective stairs or railing
• A spill or leak on the floor
• Cracked or uneven flooring
• Winter weather conditions

These are only a few examples of the many things that could cause a person to lose their footing and trip, slip, or fall. Talk to your slip and fall injury lawyer about whether you can take action based on the condition that caused your accident.

Choose Berger and Green for Your Dormont Slip and Fall Injury Lawyers

Berger and Green works tirelessly for injured people to get the compensation they deserve. We are happy to offer a free initial consultation. Reach out to us today to get started.