Recently, Jim Hall & Associates was able to recover a substantial amount from a local retail grocery chain for our client who slipped and fell. Important steps were taken by the victim which led to a favorable outcome.
At Jim S. Hall & Associates we are contacted by many people who have sustained an injury as a result of a fall at a commercial establishment or an apartment complex or even at someone’s private residence. These injuries occur as a result of either a slip or trip on a foreign substance or object that is not readily visible. If you are a victim of a slip or trip and fall it is not enough to simply show that the incident occurred. In order to recover it is necessary to show that the slip or trip occurred as a result of a defect in or on the premises which the owner new or should have known about and failed to remedy or that the slip or trip resulted from a foreign substance on the walking surface, which once again, the owner knew or should have known about and failed to correct or warn customers of its presence.
To put it another way, in order to recover for your injuries, it is necessary to show that the owner was negligent and that negligence was a cause of your injury.
It is important to notify management if you slip and fall or trip and fall while in or near a commercial establishment. Often times there are security cameras that may document your accident on a video tape. Additionally, reporting the incident to management establishes a record with them documenting the occurrence of your accident, the condition which caused the accident and the extent of your injuries. The information that is recorded at that time, which may include photographs, is extremely helpful, should you need to pursue a personal injury claim against that establishment. Your lawyers can obtain copies of the information collected on the day of the accident, including copies of photographs and copies of any security video tape that may be available.
It is important that you promptly seek legal representation should be you injured in a trip and fall or slip and fall so your lawyer can take the necessary action to preserve all the evidence collected at the time of the injury. The lawyers at Jim S. Hall & Associates are experienced in the areas of slip and fall and trip and fall law and have successfully litigated claims against many large commercial retailers throughout the New Orleans area.
