Birmingham Slip and Fall Lawyer
If you were recently injured in a slip-and-fall accident, your injuries may have been caused by the property owner’s negligence. A slip and fall lawyer in Birmingham, AL, may be able to help you pursue recovery for damages and negotiate a settlement with the at-fault party.
Collins Law, LLC provides comprehensive legal services to victims of slip-and-fall accidents. We can examine the facts of your case, help you file a claim against the insurance company, and negotiate a settlement to get you fair compensation.
To schedule a free case evaluation with a Birmingham personal injury lawyer, call Collins Law, LLC at (205) 588-1411.
Types of Slip and Fall Cases We Handle in Birmingham
Slip and fall accidents occur regularly in public places and businesses throughout Birmingham. As such, they can cause severe injuries that affect you for life. Therefore, you should not settle for a low offer from the insurance company. A Birmingham slip and fall attorney can help you get the maximum compensation for your losses.
Some of the slip-and-fall cases that Collins Law, LLC can represent you include:
- Slippery floors or surfaces.
- Structural damage.
- Potholes in the sidewalk or parking lot.
- Clutter throughout the building.
- Safety code violations.
- Walkways or steps without handrails.
- Lack of proper signage.
If you believe the property owner is at fault for your injuries, call us today at (205) 588-1411 for a free case review.
How Our Birmingham Slip and Fall Attorneys Can Help You
Our Birmingham slip and fall lawyer may be able to help with your case in the following ways:
- Handling Insurance Claims and Legal Proceedings: An injury attorney in Birmingham can help you file claims, retrieve documents, communicate with insurance companies, and manage the legal process.
- Gathering Critical Evidence to Prove Fault: A Birmingham slip and fall attorney may seek the following types of evidence that establish fault and liability:
- Consulting Experts to Strengthen Your Case: Medical experts and other witnesses can testify about the cause of your accident or the extent of your injuries.
- Negotiating a Maximum Settlement with Insurers: We can negotiate a settlement with the insurance company by presenting evidence of fault and liability.
- Filing a Lawsuit for Full Compensation: If you cannot reach a fair settlement with the insurance company, a lawyer may file a lawsuit to pursue compensation for your damages.
Compensation Available for Slip and Fall Victims
Damages you can claim in a slip and fall accident include:
- Medical Expenses and Ongoing Treatment: Medical expenses include a visit to the ER, disability, medication, surgical procedures, and follow-up visits to the doctor.
- Lost Wages and Future Earning Potential: You may recover lost wages and loss of future earning capacity, including loss of benefits and pension.
- Pain, Suffering, and Emotional Distress: You may also be eligible to claim noneconomic damages such as emotional distress, pain & suffering, loss of consortium, or reduced quality of life.
What are the most common causes of slip-and-fall injuries?
Falls happen in many ways, but certain factors appear again and again in slip-and-fall cases.
Problems with floors
Wet floors. Floors can be wet for many reasons: malfunctioning appliances, leaky roofs, dripping umbrellas on rainy days, and much more. A wet floor is a slippery floor – and a slippery floor is dangerous.
Slick floors. Freshly waxed and polished floors are also slippery.
Uneven floors. Small differences in a floor’s surface can cause falls. If a person’s shoe gets caught on a missing tile or a hole in a carpet, they could fall.
Loose flooring. Loose tiles, rickety floorboards, and unsecured rugs can all lead to falls.
Problems with objects
Objects on or around the floor can also create unsafe conditions. Some of the hazards include:
- Trash or debris on the floor,
- Leaves on a walkway or entrance,
- Loose cords, and
- Blocked aisles (usually caused by poorly stacked boxes or open desk or cabinet drawers).
Issues with lighting
Lighting is an important factor in slip-and-fall cases. Sometimes, poor lighting allows dangerous conditions to hide in the darkness. On the other hand, when bright lights bounce off of a shiny floor, the glare can make it harder to see fall hazards.
Issues with stairs
The majority of slips and falls happen on level ground. But because stairs add height to the equation, falling down a staircase can be especially dangerous.
Sometimes, the problem lies with the way the staircase was designed. A staircase that is too steep or has stairs that are too narrow is a falling hazard. Similarly, a staircase that lacks safety features like handrails or non-skid traction devices is also unsafe. And of course, stairs that are wet, damaged, covered with damaged carpet or tile, or littered with trash can also cause people to fall.
Common Slip and Fall Injuries
- Broken Bones: Broken bone injuries can range from minor fractures to potentially life-threatening breaks. Many cases of broken bones require long-term rehabilitation before they can heal properly. If your leg or arms are broken, this can prevent you from doing your job. When you combine these lost wages with expensive medical bills, it’s easy to see why people with broken bones often seek damages for them. Some say that if you can move your joint, your bone isn’t broken. However, this isn’t true. In many cases, broken bones can go undetected for weeks or months. The only way to determine if you have a broken bone from a slip and fall is to get an x-ray done.
- Head Injuries: If you hit your head in a slip-and-fall accident, it’s vital that you seek medical attention right away. This is especially true if you lose consciousness or if there is noticeable swelling and bruising around the head. Minor head injuries include things like concussions. While these typically clear up on their own, you should still get them checked out just to be safe. More severe slips and falls can cause traumatic brain injuries. These types of injuries can permanently change the way you function. They can also require extensive physical therapy to get back to a place once considered normal. If you suffered a serious head injury from your slip and fall, you should always consider legal action.
- Spinal Cord Injuries: If you fall a set of stairs, there’s a chance your spinal cord could become compressed or severed. These types of injuries are life-threatening, and if they’re serious enough, they can result in paralysis. The closer the injury occurs to your neck, the more extensive the damage will likely be. Dealing with the hospital bills and rehabilitation costs that come with being paralyzed can result in millions of dollars worth of debt.
- Soft Tissue Injuries: Soft tissue injuries include things like sprained ankles, torn tendons, and nasty sprains. Unfortunately, these types of injuries can be difficult to prove if you pursue personal injury settlement. That’s because they aren’t visible from the outside of the body. However, if left untreated, these types of injuries can cause chronic pain in people.
- Cuts, Abrasions, and Bruises: Cuts, abrasions, and bruises are typically the least serious slip and fall injuries. Most of the time, they’ll heal on their own. However, serious causes may require stitches to stop the bleeding. If a major vein or artery is severed in the fall, it can turn life-threatening if you don’t receive medical attention. However, there typically needs to be glass or sharp objects involved for this to happen.
Alabama Slip and Fall Laws: What You Need to Know
Alabama imposes a two-year statute of limitations for personal injury cases under Ala, including slip and fall accident cases. Code § 6-2-38. Therefore, it is important that you work with your slip-and-fall lawyer to file your lawsuit before the deadline
If you fail to file a lawsuit within two years, you may be unable to take legal action against the at-fault party. We can help you file your claim and manage your case to ensure you adhere to all legal guidelines.
What do I need to prove in a slip-and-fall case?
Slip-and-fall cases are a type of personal injury case. In nearly all personal injury cases, the plaintiff (the person who was hurt) has to prove that the other person (the defendant) was negligent. Negligence is a fancy way to say that a person was not being careful.
In all negligence cases, the injured person has to prove four things:
- That the defendant had a duty to be careful;
- That the defendant failed to perform that duty;
- That the plaintiff suffered injuries; and
- That the defendant’s failure to be careful was the cause of those injuries.
The good news is that duty is usually easy to prove. When you enter someone’s property, you are an invitee, a licensee, or a trespasser. Property owners owe different duties to each of these groups.
Invitees. An invitee is a person who is on someone’s property with permission for business reasons, such as a person shopping at a grocery store. Owners must protect invitees from all known dangerous conditions as well as hazards that the owner knew or should have known about.
Licensees. A licensee is a person who is on the property with permission for social or recreational purposes (e.g. a party guest). Property owners must protect licensees from any known dangers.
Trespassers. A trespasser is someone who comes onto the property without permission from the owner. Property owners need only prevent intentional injury to trespassers.
So, the first step in your slip-and-fall case will be deciding which category best describes you. (Your Alabama slip-and-fall attorney can help you with this.) Once you and your injury attorney figure out what the owner was supposed to do to protect you, you can gather evidence to show that the owner did not do those things and that the failure to do so caused your injuries.
How can I prove my slip-and-fall case?
When you meet with your slip-and-fall attorney for the first time, they will probably ask you questions about why you were on the property to establish what the owner was supposed to do to protect you. To help your attorney prove that the property owner did not protect you, you should take as many pictures as possible of the fall scene as soon as you are able. You should take pictures – or videos – of things like:
- The area where you fell,
- The hazard itself (puddles, loose floorboards, missing handrails, etc.),
- Any signs that were posted,
- The fact that signs were not posted,
- The lighting conditions, and
- The weather conditions, if applicable.
You should also take pictures of your clothing and especially your shoes. (This will help your Birmingham slip-and-fall lawyer if the other side tries to argue that your shoes were not safe for the conditions.)
Be prepared to give your attorney information about how the accident hurt you. Information about your emotional and physical injuries as well as your financial losses will be especially helpful. This information can include items such as medical bills and proof of lost wages.
Contact a Birmingham Slip and Fall Lawyer Today
If you or a loved one suffered injuries in a slip and fall accident, Collins Law, LLC is here to help you with your case. We will fight for your legal rights so that you can get a fair settlement from the insurance company.
To get a free, no-obligation consultation with an Alabama injury lawyer, call (205) 588-1411.