Slip & Fall Attorney in Baton Rouge

A slip and fall might not seem like the most serious injury, but in fact, around 30,000 people die every year from injuries sustained while falling, and millions more suffer pain, lost wages, and experience other problems. If your slip and fall happened on someone else’s property, they could be held liable for your damages via a concept called premises liability.

Property owners are obligated by law to keep their properties safe and free of danger. This requirement applies to owners of homes, apartment complexes, grocery stores, malls, offices, playgrounds, schools, libraries, and many more. If you’ve been injured on someone else’s property and can prove that the owner was negligent in preventing your injury, contact Gordon McKernan Injury Attorneys for a free consultation today.

How Does a Slip and Fall Happen?

A slip, trip, or fall accident can happen for a number of reasons. However, the common denominator for all of these is generally negligence, such as:

• A store owner, manager, or employee who neglects to erect a “Wet Floor” sign after mopping an area
• A property owner failed to fill in a hole in their yard, causing a visitor to fall and break their leg when they stepped in it.
• A restaurant patron leans against an improperly-braced deck railing, falling off the second-floor deck.
• A suddenly stopping mall escalator causes a customer to lurch forward, hitting their head on a step.

In all of these cases, the property owner or manager neglected their duty to maintain their property properly or to warn visitors of the risks that navigating their property presented. As a result, they could be held liable for the victim’s injuries and ordered to pay some or all of their damages.

Injuries Resulting from a Slip and Fall Accident

Injuries from a fall can range from relatively minor bruising to major complications and even death. Here are just a few of the possible complications you could suffer after a slip-and-fall accident:

• Bruises, cuts, or scrapes
• Dislocated joints
• Broken bones
• Torn ligaments, sprains, or strains
• Head trauma, such as concussion or traumatic brain injury (TBI)
• Neck or back injuries
• Long-term incapacitation
• Spinal cord injuries that could lead to paralysis
• Wrongful death

Slip and Fall Injury Statistics

All property owners have a duty of care to provide a reasonably safe environment for visitors. If they fail to do so, they can be held accountable for any injuries sustained by visitors to their property, usually by paying for damages sustained.

In order to establish liability, the plaintiff will need to prove the following points:

• The property owner, or a responsible party like a manager or employee, knew or should have known about the dangerous condition
• The owner or responsible party failed to address that condition properly (for example, by repairing a broken railing or mopping a wet floor)
• The victim, while exercising ordinary care, had no way of knowing about the hazardous condition
• The victim suffered an injury as a result of the owner’s negligence

Proving that your injuries were caused by the negligence of the owner of the property can be difficult. The condition—a slippery surface, weakened ceiling, rotting floorboard, or other danger—must be something the owner knew about or should have known about under ordinary circumstances and that an ordinary owner would have repaired.

In addition, you must prove that you weren’t acting negligently in the lead-up to your injury. A judge or jury would be less likely to award damages if the victim was running, horse-playing, breaking the rules, or otherwise acting unsafely before their accident.

Compensation After a Slip and Fall Injury

The kind and amount of compensation you’re eligible for collecting will depend on your injuries and other damages you’ve suffered. In general, there are three main types of damages awarded in personal injury cases:

• Economic damages, also known as special damages, are those that can be counted on a balance sheet. These include hospital bills and bills for ongoing therapy and equipment, the wages you’ve lost from an inability to work, and the economic cost of a permanent disability.
• Non-economic damages or general damages are those which aren’t so easily quantifiable. These damages include pain and suffering, a loss of the enjoyment of your life, mental anguish, and the like.
• Finally, punitive damages are rarely awarded in cases where the defendant acted extremely negligently. These damages are intended to dissuade the defendant from similar behavior in the future, as opposed to compensating the plaintiff for their losses.

How Can A Baton Rouge Slip and Fall Attorney Help?

If you have suffered injuries due to a slip and fall accident in Baton Rouge, it is crucial to seek the assistance of a Baton Rouge slip and fall lawyer. These legal professionals specialize in helping accident victims navigate the complexities of personal injury law and ensure they receive the compensation they deserve. A Baton Rouge slip and fall attorney can provide you with valuable legal advice and guidance throughout your case by:

1. Assessing the circumstances surrounding your accident and establishing negligence on the part of the property owner. 
2. Calculating all relevant damages you have incurred, including medical bills, ongoing treatment, lost wages, pain and suffering, and any other expenses related to your injuries.
3. Gathering evidence, interviewing witnesses, and building a strong case to present in front of a judge and jury. 

Representing you in court in the event that a fair settlement cannot be reached.

Dedicated Slip and Fall Lawyers in Baton Rouge

Because of how complicated slip and fall injury claims can be, you need a dedicated advocate on your side to help you recover the compensation you need to heal. Gordon McKernan Injury Attorneys have 679+ years of combined legal experience representing slip and fall victims in Baton Rouge (and all of Louisiana), and we’re confident we can help you, too.

Call Gordon McKernan Injury Attorneys at 225.888.8888 today for a free consultation. With 200+ Personal Injury Million+ verdicts and settlements and $3 Billion, we have the experience and knowledge to be the legal experts you need during this difficult time. A dedicated Baton Rouge slip and fall attorney will hear your side of the story and offer advice on the next steps. Our team will get started right away, and thanks to G Guarantee, you won’t be required to pay us a dime until we win.