How a New York Slip-and-Fall Lawyer Can Help Maximize Your Recovery, or Defend Against Unworthy Personal Injury Claims
Introduction to Premise Liability Cases in the New York City
Chances are that you, as a New York City property owner has gotten a phone call, email or text message indicating that someone has fallen and injured him or herself at your home or business on an uneven patch of carpeting or a wet floor.
Or in the alternative, you might have been the unfortunate New Yorker who has fallen prey to a slip-and-fall accident on a slippery surface while mundanely shopping for groceries or clothes.
Whether you are the injured party or responsible property owner, understanding the many ways premises liability cases can result, how to prevent them, determining their worth, finding ways to prove or disprove a case—forms the core of a slip-and-fall lawsuit.
New York City slip accident lawyers, zealously prosecute their clients’ cases, while defense fall lawyers representing the property owner defend with equal fervor.
Admittedly, there are nuances that only premises liability claim specialists who represent the injured victim, and their loved ones or the property owner know of. This makes all the more important to hire a well-versed New York City slip-and-fall lawyer.
To learn more about the elements that must be proven in New York State in an ordinary slip-and-fall case as well as the common ways for these cases to be disproven and dismissed, it is worth it to spend a few moments by reading further.
What is the Life-Cycle of a Brooklyn Personal Injury Case under New York Law?
New York City slip-and-fall injury cases are one of the most common lawsuits arising out of injuries that take place on other persons’ land or establishment. When there is a “special relationship” between the visitor and the property owner, there exists a duty for the owner to keep the land free of unsafe conditions, or dangerous conditions such as puddles of water, grease and other slippery surfaces.
The basic elements of a personal injury case involving slip-and-fall have as a leading cause:
- A New York City-property owner (the government or a private owner) who allows some hazard to exist on the property or parking lot (such as: a slippery puddle of water; icy sidewalk; uneven carpeting; lack of handrails or railings, grease; a wet floor; or other substance) long enough for someone (the injured fall victim) to fall on top of it and suffer anything from minor to very serious injuries, such as traumatic brain injuries.
According to Nolo’s guide to Slip-and-Fall lawsuits, the elements are not drastically different from other states as the claim is not unique to New York law. Nolo’s Slip-and-Fall Blog. A slip-and-fall case exists when:
- There the landowner is the government and breaches its duty of care owed to a private person who injures him or herself,
- based on there being “a premise defect” on a sidewalk, path or walkway. The New York Supreme Court, the reviewing courts of the Supreme Court, and New York Court of Appeals have given meaning to these terms “defect” and “duty” over time based on public policy concerns and technological advances.
To make out a premises liability claim under New York law, a person must be able to show that it is more likely than not that the injured victim was either an “invitee” or “licensee” as opposed to being a mere “trespasser.”
According to the New York State Bar Guide to Slip-and-Fall Litigation, a plaintiff-invitee can be understood as one who is usually expected to come onto the owner’s land—typically a mall or grocery store—to buy a product being sold at that establishment and encounters some hazard not obvious enough to avoid in time.
Once this hurdle is met to create a fall injury claim, the injured party must prove by evidence—often using video recordings (if available), testimony of witnesses and other forms of proof—to show that the property was allowed to be in a hazardous condition, and that the owner failed to take steps to make ensure safe conditions or to warn the victim of the slippery or hazardous condition. The next step usually includes having settlement negotiations with the insurance company of the negligent property owner.
Time Limits for Filing a Fall Injury Claim Whether On Broadway, Manhattan
Often the greatest challenge to successfully bringing a slip-and-fall case is timely bringing suit on the matter, or before the statute of limitations is said to “run.”
According to New York Civil Practice & Rules Section 214, a victim has just three years from the date of the slip-and-fall accident to file a lawsuit.
Statutes of limitations exist to ensure that evidence remains fresh and in the opinion of the courts and legislature claims have merit. Another reason is not to inconvenience the other party by waiting an unreasonably long time to report the fall injury when it could have done sooner, especially when evidence proof of injury is stronger, such as unhealed broken bones or traumatic brain injuries.
By hiring the right fall accident attorney, you increase your odds at recovery by not waiting too long until the statute of limitations expires.
Slip-and-Fall Defenses for Slip-and-Fall Cases in Manhattan, Queens and Bronx Boroughs
According to the nationally-renown and premier legal resource and directory Nolo.com, commonly slip-and-fall accident cases can be considered weak and of little value if some of the following is true of the victim:
- Comparative negligence, meaning that the victim was partially, whether in part or in full, to blame for the incident.
- The business owner had warned the victim of the hazard and yet the victim ignored such warnings and injured him or herself.
Other defenses in slip-and-fall accident cases can relate to more procedural issues dealing with a victim’s difficulty in corroborating a story due to poor sensory abilities, inconsistencies in their testimony or other flaws dealing with the injured victim’s past, including:
- The victim had previously filed slip-and-fall cases against other establishments before.
- The injured victim was not around other witnesses who could substantiate the victim’s version of the facts.
- The injured victim’s memory of the exact circumstances of their fall lacks precision as to how the supposed hazard is responsible for the victim’s injuries.
- The injured victim had previous health conditions that are claimed to have been caused by the fall. (i.e. a broken bone caused by a previous slip-and-fall accident)
Based on whether the dangerous condition is on private property or government property, a slip-and-fall accident victim may be limited to first reporting the incident to the proper government authority rather than directly filing suit on the injury claim in a civil court.
Legal Options: How Much Can an Injured Victim Expect to Recover for a Property Owner’s Negligence in a Slip-and-Fall Case?
Based on the skill and years of experience of the personal injury attorney handling a victim’s case, a client can recover greater amounts if the lawyer stays up-to-date with the changes in the laws governing slip-and-fall lawsuits, including the limits on damages, the changes in the factors determining grounds for recovery and other procedural hurdles allowing cases to be heard by a jury of the client’s peers, often guaranteeing multi-million dollar verdicts for particularly malicious and egregious cases involving serious injury requiring immediate medical attention.
According to the Rosenbaum & Rosenbaum, P.C., determining the valuation of a slip-and-fall accident verdict and settlement and one’s legal options, can be based on some, all or any of the following factors:
- Future and current lost wages by the victim (Or how long a person had to miss work after being injured)
- Pain and suffering of the victim (or the severity of the injury and whether it is permanent or temporary, such as a spinal cord injury)
- The victim’s medical bills (or factoring in the number of doctors seen and the extent of surgery required)
- His or her future medical costs (or whether the victim requires continuing treatment, whether medical or psychological)
- Property damage, if any (or if the victim lost property as a result from the slip-and-fall in addition to physical damages
- What is the Importance of Hiring a Skilled Slip-and-Fall Lawyer?
Commonly NYC slip-and-fall injuries take place in grocery stores while patrons are busying themselves with their shopping lists and not able to pay attention to hazards created by the neglect of the staff of the store. Many top-rated personal injury law firms specialize in these cases, including New York City-based Raphaelson Levine, P.C., the national personal injury firm McDonald Worley, P.C., among others in the Houston area and surrounding areas, many offering a free consultation and case review.
At such law firms, a specialist will ask you, the client, questions to maximize the value of your case or minimize liability—whether you are a victim or the property owner defending against the claim. In any case, you should be prepared to create a narrative of facts detailing everything that you remembered before, during and after the NYC slip-and-fall accident, including keeping meticulous records of emergency room medical bills and expenses for medical care. As a property owner, it is also imperative to share any insurance company policy maintained and provide all known information that could be helpful for the lawyer to assess and test the strength and validity of the victim’s claim.
Forming an Attorney-Client Relationship: Call a NYC Slip-and-Fall Personal Injury Lawyer Today for a Free Case Evaluation and Discussion of the Odds of a Obtaining a Favorable Settlement.
Whether you are a victim, victim’s loved ones or property owner, having the right slip-and-fall personal injury lawyer who provides you with legal advice can ensure the best outcome in a settlement to recover medical expenses. The attorney-client relationship forms upon consultation when you consider hiring the attorney, and usually includes a disclaimer during the initial consultation phase depending on the firm. Failing to be adequately prepared can result in not being compensated for a serious injury including wrongful death with clear liability, such as if the attorney is not particularly qualified in the particular case brought. Likewise, this can result in excessive payouts for non-meritorious personal injury claims and in turn can cause a business to be in dire straits.
In any case, use Lawsuit.org to pinpoint the right slip-and-falls personal injury attorney offering a free consultation to obtain the just result you deserve.
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