Lafayette Slip and Fall Lawyer

Slip and Fall Attorney in Lafayette, LA

Slip and fall accidents can be devastating. Depending on the nature of the injuries you received, you could face a lengthy recovery period and expensive hospital bills. A Lafayette slip and fall lawyer can help you get the compensation you need to pay bills, make up for lost wages, and take some of the stress off you during this difficult time.

Trust Gauthier & Granger

The Gauthier & Granger legal team has what it takes to tackle even complex slip and fall cases. If you were seriously injured, you need to work with a Lafayette personal injury lawyer who knows the ins and outs of slip and fall laws and how they apply to your case. That’s just what you’ll find at our firm.

Reasons to Hire a Slip and Fall Lawyer

Falls are the leading cause of injury for older adults in America. Around the US, over eight million people visit emergency rooms seeking treatment for fall injuries each year. If you’re one of the many Louisiana residents who has experienced a slip and fall on another person’s property, you may be eligible to receive compensation.

You can hire a slip and fall lawyer to help you file a claim against the liable party at Lafayette, LA. Your slip and fall lawyer can:

• File paperwork and keep track of deadlines
• Help you identify who was liable for your fall
• Collect evidence that shows the person should have known about the hazard
• Prove the liable party’s negligence caused your fall
• Negotiate a fair settlement with the responsible party’s insurance company
• Litigate your case in court at the 15^th Judicial District Court, should it become necessary

The most effective way to improve your chances of getting fairly compensated for your injuries is to work with a personal injury lawyer who has experience handling slip and fall cases.

Common Slip and Trip Hazards

Dangerous conditions inside or outside a building can cause people to slip or trip and fall, sometimes leading to significant injuries. Some of the conditions that can lead to slips and falls include:

• Torn carpets
• Changes in flooring
• Poor lighting
• Narrow stairs
• Wet floors or walkways
• Broken or cracked sidewalks

Outdoor slip and falls can also be caused by issues such as adverse weather conditions, potholes, or other ground obstructions.

Unsafe conditions inside or outside a building can result in emergency room visits for anything from minor injuries like bone fractures to serious ones like TBIs.

Proving Fault in Slip and Fall Cases

Slip and fall cases are a type of premises liability claim. They follow a common formula of proving negligence, the legal term for carelessness. You can prove negligence by showing:

• Duty. You must show that the property owner had a duty to exercise a reasonable amount of care to prevent foreseeable injuries to visitors to the property.
• Breach. Failing to make the premises safe constitutes a breach of that duty.
• Causation. Your injuries must have been caused by the defendant’s failure to maintain safe conditions, not by your own negligence or an unrelated cause.
• Damages. You must have suffered compensable damages, typically in the form of medical bills or other evidence of injury.

Determining Liability in Slip and Fall Cases

It’s sometimes the case that slip and fall accident victims are determined to share fault with the property owner for causing their accidents. As a general rule, you have a valid claim if:

• The cause of the accident involved dangerous conditions on another person’s property.
• The property owner knew of the dangerous conditions but did not take steps to resolve them.

The dangerous condition must be a risk that the injured person should not have foreseen under the circumstances. People must be aware of and avoid obvious dangers, so you won’t be able to file a claim for a slip and fall caused by an issue you should have been aware of.

To show that the property owner was aware of the dangerous condition, you must prove that:

• The property owner created the condition
• The property owner knew it existed and failed to fix it
• The condition existed for a long enough period of time that the property owner should have discovered and corrected it before your slip and fall.

If one or several of these circumstances apply, you should have a valid claim.

Shared Liability for Slip and Fall Accidents

Louisiana has a modified comparative negligence rule in place that allows plaintiffs to seek damages even if they were partially to blame for their accidents. You can be up to 50% at fault for the accident and still recover compensation.

The amount of money you recover will be lowered accordingly. If you were going to get a $100,000 settlement, but you were determined to be 40% to blame, you would only receive $60,000.

Identifying the Liable Party

Typical defendants in slip and fall cases include:

• Landlords
• Property owners
• Tenants
• Businesses
• Property management companies

Homeowners and commercial property owners typically have liability policies in place from insurance companies that pay out on personal injury claims, including slip and falls. Your lawyer can negotiate a settlement deal with the insurance company.

Insurance companies are notorious for attempting to offer unreasonably low settlements to people who don’t have legal representation. Don’t make the common mistake of just taking what you think you can get. Consult with a premises liability lawyer who can help you determine whether the settlement being offered will cover 100% of your damages.

Accidents on Commercial Properties

Slip and fall accidents often happen at commercial properties, such as:

• Grocery stores
• Restaurants
• Hotels
• Retail stores

The most common situation for slip and fall accidents is one in which the defendant should have known about a slipping or tripping hazard but failed to fix it. It can be challenging to prove that someone should have known about the existence of a hazard. In these cases, the court determines whether the property’s owner or occupier was taking reasonable steps to keep the property safe.

Accidents on Residential Property

Landlords, tenants, and third parties like property management companies can also be held liable for slip and falls that occur on residential properties. To prove that a landlord was responsible for the injuries caused by the accident, you’ll have to show that they:

1. Had control over the conditions that caused the accident
2. Could have reasonably repaired the condition
3. Should have foreseen an injury as the potential consequence of failing to fix it
4. Directly caused your injuries by not fixing the dangerous condition

Homeowners and landlords typically have insurance policies that cover liability issues related to their properties, as well.

FAQs

Is It Worth Filing a Claim for Pain and Suffering?

It is worth filing a claim for pain and suffering incurred due to a serious injury. Pain and suffering are non-economic damages that can be claimed alongside economic damages such as hospital bills and lost wages. The amount your claim will be worth depends on the severity of your injuries and the amount of economic damages you are awarded.

How Much Compensation Do You Get for a Fall?

How much compensation you get for a fall depends on the severity of your injuries and your lawyer’s skill at negotiating with insurance companies. You’ll likely receive more compensation for catastrophic injuries that cause you ongoing problems in your daily life than for minor ones that require minimal medical intervention to resolve.

What Is the Most You Can Get for a Slip and Fall?

The most you can get for a slip and fall depends on the extent of your injuries and whether you were partially at fault for the accident that caused them. Louisiana uses a pure comparative fault rule that allows people determined to be partially at fault for their accidents to recover compensation. Still, the total amount of compensation you recover will be decreased commensurate with the amount of fault you are assigned.

How Likely Is Your Slip and Fall Claim to Be Successful?

Your slip and fall claim is most likely to be successful if you work with a skilled Lafayette slip and fall attorney to file it. Slip and fall claims are notoriously difficult when they go to court, but the vast majority of cases settle outside of court. The success of your claim will depend on whether you can prove that the property owner knew of the hazard but failed to act.

Your Lafayette Slip and Fall Lawyer

Having an experienced Lafayette slip and fall lawyer on your side is the most effective way to improve your chances of filing a successful claim. The Gauthier & Granger legal team can help you with every aspect of your slip and fall case, from filing the initial claim through pursuing compensation in court if we are unable to reach a fair settlement. Contact us to schedule an initial consultation today.