Baton Rouge Slip and Fall Injury Attorneys
You’re going about your day, minding your own business, preoccupied with your own thoughts and tasks. That’s when it happens: your feet come out from under you, and suddenly you’re looking up at the ceiling, feeling the unforgiving surface beneath you. Slips, trips, falls, and fumbles happen to the best of us, often at the worst of times. And while the average fall might feel like a minor incident, you can easily suffer serious injuries when the premises are not well maintained or safe.
Did you know that slip and fall accidents are the leading cause of annual emergency visits in the US? These injuries are often the result of negligence, such as a failure to clean up a spill or mark off an area in need of repair. This makes the property owner responsible for any accidents that may happen on the premises.
Even minor injuries can cause you financial hardship if you aren’t prepared for them. But what recourse could you possibly have for such a minor slip, and how could you begin to prove that the accident was not a result of your own actions? This is where many victims of slip and fall accidents in Baton Rouge decide to drop any claim they may have for compensation.
Like any legal process, it can feel like a minefield seeking compensation for an injury. Baton Rouge slip and fall lawyers are adept at navigating the choppy waters of fall injuries.
No matter the extent of your injuries, our firm will take on your case and ensure that you are getting the compensation you need to keep abreast of your medical bills while recovering.
Potential Causes Of a Baton Rouge Slip And Fall Accident
The first thing a slip and fall attorney will want to determine is the responsible party for the accident. The answer to this question is not always as straightforward as it seems.
Depending on the ownership and use of the property, there are several parties who could be responsible for the property maintenance under the law. Both businesses and landlords are required to keep their properties safe for visitors under certain industry standards. If they fail to repair damaged sidewalks, awnings, or railings, their carelessness can make them liable in a personal injury suit.
Next, you’ll want to determine the initial cause of the injury and the type of injuries sustained. Cuts, scrapes, sprains, and strains are all minor injuries that a fall can cause. But you may also fall victim to head injuries like concussions, bone fractures, and spinal cord injuries, all much more serious injuries that could have lifelong repercussions.
Falls are most commonly caused by improperly maintained premises. This could include untended spills, holes, warped/cracked/missing flooring, or unsafe areas without proper designation. And for those over the age of 65 or with certain conditions, the risk of a fall can increase severely, as well as the chance of injury.
Are you uncertain about who should be held responsible for your Louisiana slip and fall accident? Talking to an attorney is the best way to understand the implications of your injury, what compensation you may be entitled to, and start the investigation process into the responsible party for your accident. The attorneys behind Babcock Injury Lawyers have years of experience helping to uphold the rights of Louisiana accident victims and secure them fair compensation for any injury.
Establishing Negligence In Slip And Fall Accidents
Under Baton Rouge law, four elements need to be present in any incident to prove someone’s negligence and make them liable to you. These are the four elements of negligence in slip and fall cases.
- Duty. This means that the owner of certain premises should have taken care to make their home or property safe for others.
- Breach of duty. The owner failed to maintain the property and keep it safe.
- Proximate Cause. Because of their failure, you got into a slip-and-fall incident and suffered injuries.
- Damages. This refers to the physical and emotional harm that resulted from the slip and fall accident, as well as any damage to your personal property.
If these four elements are present in your situation, someone should be held liable for your slip and fall accident. At Babcock Injury Lawyers, our Baton Rouge slip and fall attorneys will help you by determining who is liable for your accident and creating a solid case to take on the responsible parties in your claim.
Injuries From a Slip And Fall Can Be Fatal
In most cases, slip and fall accidents will result in temporary injuries like broken bones, sprains, and bruises. While these will have a shorter recovery period, you may still have to pay for medical treatment and the injury can have an impact on your work.
Slip and fall accidents can result in more serious injuries, such as traumatic brain injuries, spinal cord damage, and even paralysis. These will require lifelong medical care. Many people never recover full mobility in these instances, needing a caretaker and constant physical therapy to function.
In the worst situations, slip-and-fall accidents can result in internal bleeding, permanent brain damage, or death. While your injury may not seem serious immediately after your slip and fall, you never know if it will get worse over time and evolve into a debilitating medical condition. This is why you should always seek the help of a qualified and experienced attorney after receiving proper medical treatment.
After a slip and fall accident, it’s important to undertake a full physical and psychological examination by a medical professional.
This will help determine the extent of the injuries you suffered due to the accident and the treatment you will need afterward.
This will also factor into your injury case. Seeking treatment right away will help you to document the extent of your injuries, as well as the time, date, and place in which they occurred, which can strengthen your case considerably.
Compensation In Baton Rouge Slip And Fall Cases
If you have suffered a slip and fall incident due to someone else’s negligence, you are entitled to compensation for damages you may have suffered. Not only could you be entitled to compensation for your injuries – considered economic compensation – you could suffer from mental damages that prevent you from living and enjoying the life that you had prior to your accident, for which you can seek additional non-economic compensation.
Economic compensation may apply to your medical, medications, and physical therapy bills. This form of compensation may also apply to any personal property that was damaged in your fall. Having receipts or other proof of the value of your bills and any damaged personal property is easy; it is much harder to prove the value of non-economic compensation in an accident.
Non-economic compensation applies to intangible damages from your injury. This could be things like a deterioration in mental health, an inability to live your life as you once did, and even an ability to interact with others as you did before. Most commonly, these damages are lumped under ‘pain and suffering.’ This is where a skilled lawyer is going to be detrimental to your injury claim.
Many slip-and-fall accident victims will have problems determining if they have a real case. If you’re not quite sure, feel free to get in touch with our law firm – our experience and knowledge can help you assess if your injury is compensable.
Contact a Baton Rouge Slip and Fall Attorney For Help With Your Case
Don’t accept less than a fair settlement under the law! If you were a victim of a slip and fall accident, contact us through our details on this website. We’ll set up a free consultation with a Baton Rouge slip and fall accident attorney who can assess what happened and see if there’s a case for compensation.
Babcock Injury Lawyers is a Baton Rouge, LA law firm that focuses on litigating personal injury lawsuits. Talk to us for help with slip and fall cases in Baton Rouge!
We help with lawsuits involving all kinds of slip and fall accidents, regardless of the degree of personal injury. Our Baton Rouge slip-and-fall attorneys will fight to win you the best possible settlement for your case.