While slipping and falling may not seem like a big deal to everyone, they have the potential to cause serious injuries. A person who suffers a hard impact on a curb, shelf, or other stationary object may end up dealing with muscle strains, bruises, lacerations, fractures, and potentially even permanent brain or spine damage, which could require lengthy and expensive medical treatment.
If you suffered a severe injury from falling, you may want to consider speaking with a Lewisville slip and fall lawyer about your legal options. With guidance from a seasoned personal injury attorney, you may be able to file suit against a negligent property owner and seek compensation for your losses.
Like other types of personal injury claims, most cases stemming from a slip and fall are based on a theory of legal negligence. Under this theory, a person who violates a duty of care they owe to another may be held financially liable for harm they cause as a direct result of that breach.
However, the exact duty of care a property owner or manager owes a visitor varies depending on why that visitor is on their premises. For example, retail store owners in Texas must provide customers with adequate warning of known hazards and take action to fix those safety issues as quickly as possible in order to keep those customers safe. Conversely, that same store owner would not have any duty to protect a person trespassing in their store, so long as they do not do anything to intentionally injure them.
In addition, various factors could compel a court to find a claimant partially liable for their slip and fall accident, in which case Chapter 33 of the Texas Civil Practice & Remedies Code allows the court to reduce the recoverable compensation by their percentage of fault. Representation from a Lewisville trip and fall attorney is often crucial to contesting comparative fault standards and avoiding restrictions on recoverable damages.
If they can establish defendant liability, a person injured in a slip and fall could seek compensation for a variety of different losses. While economic damages like medical expenses and missed work wages typically form the foundation of these types of lawsuits, particularly severe injuries may warrant recovery for non-economic damages as well, such as physical pain and loss of enjoyment of life.
However, claimants and their attorneys in Lewisville must file suit within a certain period of time after their accident if they want to avoid their case being time-barred. Under Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code §16.003, most slip and fall cases are beholden to a two-year statutory filing deadline, meaning people have a maximum of two years after discovering their injuries in which to start the civil litigation process.
While slips and falls can certainly be embarrassing, they can also result in severe harm and may be grounds for civil litigation if they stem from another party’s negligence. To successfully recover compensation after falling can be difficult without the guidance of a seasoned local attorney.
If you want to increase your odds of a positive outcome, do not wait to speak with a skilled Lewisville slip and fall lawyer. Call today to schedule a consultation and discuss your options.
McCraw Law Group