A slip and fall attorney in Los Angeles is a civil litigator who provides legal representation for you in a personal injury case that takes place at someone else’s property due to their negligence.
Legal procedures, following a slip and fall accident, are not only expensive but also extensively daunting, especially if the victim himself decides to take the matters up to the court. This is where you need a slip and fall attorney in Los Angeles who can litigate such accidents on your behalf!
While you rest and recover, the attorney will handle all the necessary procedures that help you receive compensation.
Today, let’s discuss specific scenarios where an attorney can help you get monetary compensation to understand better when to hire them.
Circumstances That Call for A Slip and Fall Attorney
Finding Out Who Is Responsible
A slip and fall accident involves at least two parties like any other accident. However, it is difficult to determine the person at fault, since there is no second party involved that is physically asserting force or pushing you to fall.
Here’s an example: if a car hits a bywalker, it is a clear case of who is at fault. However, when you fall from a staircase or slip-on land, the key to finding the fault is within the surrounding circumstances, which cannot be pinpointed directly to an individual.
In slip and fall scenarios, it is the property owner’s responsibility to keep the area safe for everyone. However, if due to his negligence, an accident does occur, the victim can bring up the matter to the court of law. Nevertheless, if you decide to do this alone, you will be going up against the property owner or their business and their insurance company. In slip and fall accidents, insurers rarely acknowledge liability to unrepresented victims. The insurance company thinks of the victim to either have a weak case or not take the issue seriously at all.
You certainly do not want that. A slip and fall attorney in Los Angeles opens an adequate communication channel with the insurance company. Furthermore, through their expertise, they can help prove the liability as well as help you claim the damages.
Proving Liability
In Los Angeles, for a slip and fall case to reach a position where it gets settled through trial, you must first prove liability. Meaning, the defendants in this case (the people at fault) need to realize their negligence. To be liable for an accident, the defendant’s negligence plays a part in causing the victim’s injury.
According to jurisdiction in Los Angeles, any premises owner must carefully maintain safe conditions on their property. An owner must warn of known latent dangers which are not known to an entrant. The entrants can discover these dangers on their own, but that should never be the case.
Fundamentally, the dangers that the property owner knows about must be repaired or the people entering the property need to be adequately warned. The owners should essentially correct the issues as they arise. This includes filling in any holes or uneven terrain, placing visible signs for dangerous areas, etc.
A premises owner must alert the public of any issues on the property and appropriately attend to them. If the property owner fails to uphold this responsibility and does not meet the safety standards, they are deemed negligent, which can be used in the court of law to claim compensation.
Slip and Fall Signage
Warning signs are effective if they alert the individuals entering the property for hidden dangers. Signs that are too small, placed inadequately, or are imperceptible do not meet the standards.
The property owner is held liable for any injuries that result from lack of signage, regardless of the signs installed. It is tricky for you to prove that liability on your own. But, with a slip and fall attorney in Los Angeles, who knows the importance of signage, you can make your case strong.
Compensations
Without the help of a slip and fall attorney in Los Angeles, it can be challenging to build a strong case. Other than the need to prove liability, negotiating a settlement is a skill that most victims are not well-versed with. For securing the adequate compensation owed to you, a qualified slip and fall attorney can help settle communications with the insurance company.
If the insurance company denies the settlement amount, there is a possibility that the case will go to court. Yet, having a slip and fall attorney on your side is crucial, as they can litigate the case on your behalf.
Furthermore, the attorney can also witness statements and prove the damages to strengthen your case effectively. By not having a personal attorney in Los Angeles, not only the victims face a challenging endeavor to get the compensation they rightly deserve, but the process also takes a massive toll on their recovery from the accident.
Proving Damages
A reputable slip and fall attorney will help gather all the relevant information for your case to help prove the opposing party’s fault. They will also negotiate a fair settlement after liabilities have been established and attorneys have gathered all the necessary evidence. The evidence includes photographs from the accident scene, witness statements, and, more importantly, medical records.
Documentation such as medical records and all lost income is crucial to prove the damages from a slip and fall accident. From your initial visit to every process during your treatment, it is essential to obtain all the medical details of the slip and fall in writing.
A Los Angeles slip and fall attorney’s primary role is to gather all the documents that include hospital bills, medical records, employer’s pay records, tax returns, and forms, etc. Collecting these essential items can help the attorney carefully review your case’s information in the most accurate manner and provide an estimation to the insurer for compensation.
Proving Your Innocence
In many slip and fall accidents, the property owner and insurers argue that you are also partially responsible for the accident that led to your injuries. This argument is the legal concept known as “comparative fault,” which will affect your ability to recover compensation if you’re found partly guilty.
In states that follow comparative fault, you will be barred from collecting any damages at all if you bear any degree of responsibility for your accident. The claim for the injury damages will be reduced by a percentage that equals the share of liability.
To determine whether you are on the hook for causing any portion of the personal injury, here are a few things you must know.
Firstly, think about the activity you engaged in that might have prevented you from noticing a potential hazard. These include talking and texting on the phone. A reasonable person would have seen the threat, but you became a victim of a slip and fall accident because you were occupied with your phone.
Secondly, did you have any lawful access to the location where the slip and fall accident occurred? Or were there any legitimate reasons for you to be in a dangerous place? Lastly, were there warning signs and other safety measures posted that were ignored by you?
If the defending party shows that you are likely the cause of the accident through negligence, winning an injury claim will become challenging. However, a slip and fall attorney in Los Angeles can handle such matters legally by negotiating the compensation with the defending party.
Case Complications
An attorney will get to the bottom of an accident by considering many variables. For instance, they will ask you about whatever you remember a description of the scene. Moreover, they will also inquire about potential witnesses. There could be many complications within a slip and fall case that could have caused the injury. These could be missing steps, tripping over a dress or shoelace, reaching for something, losing balance, or slipping over an erroneous object.
Los Angeles slip and fall attorneys examine every aspect of the scene and discuss all possibilities to determine what went down. Bear in mind; the property owner is not liable if you fell because of your shoelace. But if the liability is legitimately the fault of the property owner, then you can advance your case with the help of an attorney.
Key Takeaway
Slip and fall accidents can lead to severe traumas and injuries. There can be many cases that involve personal injuries. The property owner will be liable to compensate you if the case is valid and you are not found responsible for your damage. Remember, an attorney will help ease the process of receiving your compensation. Founding attorney Greg Kirakosian is dedicated and diligently practice law by serving ordinary people to take on prevailing organizations.
Need help with your slip and fall case? Call us at (213) 444-2908 or visit Kirakosian Law today.
These blogs are meant purely for educational purposes. They contain only general information about legal matters. They are not legal advice, and should not be treated as such. If you have any specific questions about any legal matter you should consult with an attorney.