Trip/Slip and Fall Accidents

Slip and Fall Attorney in Gwinnett County

Trips, slips, and falls are a major cause of injury in the United States. In fact, approximately eight million people rush to the emergency room each year after falls, accounting for over 20 percent of all ER visits, according to the National Floor Safety Institute. Injuries can range from scrapes and fractures to traumatic brain damage and spinal injuries. Fortunately, Georgia law provides an avenue through which injured people might obtain compensation for these injuries. Contact a slip and fall attorney in Gwinnett County from the Law Offices of John Morrison to pursue compensation for the damages you suffered.

Do I qualify to sue someone after a trip, slip, or fall accident?

Your eligibility to file a lawsuit after a trip, slip, or fall accident depends on several factors. First, if your accident occurred at work, you will likely qualify for workers’ compensation and generally will not file a lawsuit. (That is, unless there was a third party involved that caused the accident, in which case your injuries may warrant a third-party claim or lawsuit.)

If the accident occurred on your own property and you were responsible, you will most likely have to depend on your own health and/or disability insurance to cover your losses.

A large portion of slip and fall accidents occur on someone else’s premises though, such as at retail stores and sporting events, or in building stairwells and parking lots, etc. When you suffer injuries on another person’s or a business’s property, you might be able to file a premises liability claim or lawsuit against the owner and seek a settlement for your losses.

In order to qualify to file suit, you must be able to demonstrate the four following elements.

• The owner owed you a duty of care. (You had explicit or implicit permission to be on the premises, i.e., you were not trespassing or doing something illegal.)
• The owner knew about or should have known about the hazard that caused your injury and did not address it or failed to warn you about it.
• The owner’s negligence was the cause of your slip and fall accident.
• You sustained injuries and damages as a result of the fall.

Was the owner negligent (and therefore liable) for my accident?

Because premises liability cases hinge on negligence and because victims have the burden of proof, you will need to be able to show that the owner somehow breached his duty of care to you.

There are many ways an owner can be negligent for a slip and fall. Below are just a few examples.

• The owner failed to put up signage for wet or waxed flooring.
• Misplaced merchandise littered the store’s aisles.
• The owner did not repair broken handrails or damaged steps.
• The owner failed to clean up rain, snow, and slush that visitors tracked in.
• The building had inadequate lighting in the parking lot or stairwells.
• The owner failed to clean up spills.

Determining negligence and liability can become complicated. Did the owner know about the hazard? Should he have known about it? Did he take any steps to remedy it? Were there any third parties at fault? In order to accurately determine liability and to figure out what party you may be able to hold accountable for your injuries, speak to a premises liability attorney from our firm.

Call John Morrison For Help After A Slip and Fall

If you or your loved one suffered injuries in a slip and fall accident on someone else’s property, you owe it to yourself and your family to try to recover the maximum amount possible. For a free, no-obligation consultation with a slip and fall attorney in Gwinnett County, contact the Law Offices of John Morrison, LLC at 770-951-8900 today.