Slip and Fall Claims
Let’s talk about slip and falls. Now, these are really tough cases. Basically, in order to have a slip and fall case, you have got to show that the owner of the property or the person responsible for maintaining the property knew or should have known that a hazard existed on their premises.
Well, to begin with you have to show there is a hazard. Let us take the situation where you are in the grocery store and you slip, fall and hurt yourself. The first question is what did you slip and fall on? Let’s say there was food in the isle way; You looked down, there was a smashed grape and that is what your foot hit.
Do you have a case? It is hard to tell. The people controlling that store are only responsible if they knew or should have known that that grape existed on that floor. You are responsible for proving that. What does that mean? Well, what it means is that if you do have a slip and fall, there are a lot of things that you need to do right away. The problem is that most of the time if you just have a slip and fall, you will be injured. You will not be able to do the things that I am about to tell you that you need to do.
So, hopefully you have someone there with you that can do the things that will help you prove your slip and fall case. First, you need to obtain witness statements and get the names and addresses of anybody who saw you fall. Secondly, you need to take pictures; everyone has a cellphone nowadays with a camera, use that to take pictures of what you fell on. Document where you fell, the isles, and anything that is relevant to your injury. This is very important because the chances of getting photographs from that store are usually slim to none. You have to start your investigation immediately and that is often very difficult while you are being carded out on a gurney to the emergency room with a fractured leg.
Remember the advice above if somebody comes to the scene of the fall; they can help you out by getting the names of witnesses and the other information that you need. Your ultimate goal is to show that the store either knew or should have known that the dangerous conditions existed. If you can’t prove that, there is not much we can do.
Let’s talk about certain specific falls. We get a lot of calls in the winter where someone slip and falls on ice or snow. The bad reality in the State of Ohio is that if you fallen on ice and snow, it’s a natural accumulation and thus you have no case. Now, that doesn’t mean that just because you fell on ice and snow you have no case. It has to be a natural accumulation. What I would I advice if you have a fall, if you are injured call us, we will be happy to talk to you we will be happy to discuss it.
If you have a case we will be happy to represent you. If you don’t have a case, we will tell you, we will explain to you that we just don’t think it’s a case that we can pursue. The bottom line is for slip and fall cases make sure that you get as much information as possible from the scene of the fall. Photographs, witness names, fill out a report, notify the people that own the premises. You are going to have to start from the moment you have fallen or you’re not going to have a claim. The harsh reality is you may not be in a situation to do these things because you are injured and being taken to the emergency room. If you have a slip and fall claim give us a call. Free consultation, we will be happy to talk to you. If we can help you – great, if we can’t we will explain to you the law, and explain to you exactly why we can’t help you. Thank you.
Call us today at (614) 944-5055 for your absolutely free consultation
The Flickinger Legal Group, LLC is a personal injury law firm that resides at Easton Town Center in Columbus, Ohio. We are dedicated to helping you with your dog bite, car accident, or slip and fall injury. We are also bikers ourselves, and thus are proud to serve the motorcycle community as motorcycle accident attorneys.