New York Slip, Trip, and Fall Accident Lawyers
Falls are not minor accidents. They are significant events that can cause serious, even fatal, injuries. If you are injured in a slip and fall accident through no fault of your own, it is vital that you understand your rights. You may be entitled to compensation for your medical expenses: compensation that can help you get your life back on track.
However, pursuing compensation after a slip and fall accident can be complicated. Property owners may try to shift the blame from themselves onto your shoulders to absolve themselves of financial responsibility. Insurers may take advantage of your vulnerable position and offer you less than what your claim is worth. If you are hurt in someone else’s home, and they’re your friend or relative, you may even have reservations about seeking the money you need.
At Harris Keenan & Goldfarb, we work hard to represent slip and fall accident victims and pursue the compensation they deserve. This hard work has paid off in the form of high-dollar settlements and verdicts in favor of our clients. We strive to achieve favorable results in every case.
If you are injured in a slip and fall accident, get in touch with a skilled New York slip and fall accident attorney from Harris Keenan & Goldfarb. At Harris Keenan & Goldfarb, our team can provide you with the legal advice you need to choose the best path forward for your circumstances. You can set up a confidential consultation with one of our premier attorneys by calling our New York office at 800-724-6529
How a Slip and Fall Attorney Can Help You
Slip and fall cases can be complex. Victims are expected to prove that a property owner was negligent in keeping their property safe for visitors and free from hazards. However, property owners and their insurers are seldom interested in taking the blame, even when their own neglect causes an accident. Slip and fall accident victims need aggressive legal representation to counter the arguments of negligent property owners and recover the compensation they need.
An attorney will begin the process of helping you by reviewing your case and conducting a complete investigation into the cause of the accident. During this investigation, your legal team will be collecting valuable evidence that can help substantiate and strengthen your claim. Your attorney will also be obtaining information about your medical condition and calculating the accurate value of your case.
Your attorney will also handle all communication between you and the insurer or property owner. Words are powerful. The wrong words can easily jeopardize a case and potentially cost you money. With an attorney on your side, you will never have to manage a tricky situation with the insurance company on your own.
Once your attorney has collected information through their investigation, they can begin negotiating on your behalf for the money you deserve. An aggressive attorney will fight for what is right and work to earn you the maximum compensation available. If negotiations stall or the insurance company doesn’t negotiate in good faith, your attorney can move forward with filing a personal injury lawsuit.
Throughout the process, your attorney is your advocate. They are someone you can trust to manage your claim efficiently and effectively while you focus on recovering from your slip and fall injuries.
Why Choose Harris Keenan & Goldfarb to Handle Your Case?
New York is a city filled with attorneys. Choosing the right one to handle your case can feel overwhelming. At Harris Keenan & Goldfarb, we have set out to make the process of choosing a slip and fall attorney easy. How have we managed that? Simple, with results. We have a strong track record of success in earning settlements and verdicts for our slip and fall clients. We treat each client with the respect and compassion they deserve while aggressively fighting to protect their rights.
Our legal team has over 82 years of combined legal experience. With this experience and our vast resources, we strive to achieve favorable outcomes for all our clients. Our hard work and determination have earned us a reputation for excellence among our clients and even our competition.
After a slip and fall accident, we know you may have a difficult time coping with your physical limitations and the financial strain of outstanding medical expenses. With our legal advice and compassionate guidance, we can help you navigate this challenging event and seek meaningful compensation for your injuries.
What Is Premises Liability, and Who Is Liable for a Slip and Fall Accident?
Slip and fall claims fall under a category of law called premises liability. Premises liability is an area of law that is meant to help victims hold negligent property owners accountable when an accident happens on their property. However, holding a negligent property owner responsible can be easier said than done.
All property owners have a responsibility to keep their property reasonably safe. Proving that a property owner was negligent when a slip and fall accident occurs can be challenging. In premises liability claims, it is up to the victim to establish that the property owner should have kept their property free of hazards, but they didn’t. Then the injured person must show that they were injured because of the property owner’s failure to keep their premises safe for visitors and that the injuries caused measurable losses.
Slip and fall accident victims need to demonstrate that the property owner knew the conditions on their property were unsafe and that the owner failed to take steps to remedy the dangerous situation. Collecting evidence that proves negligence can be challenging without the help of an experienced New York slip and fall accident attorney.
Property owners or insurers can use tactics to try to discredit a victim and imply that the victim was partially or wholly responsible for the fall. New York has a pure comparative negligence rule that means that your portion of responsibility for the accident is directly tied to how much compensation a court may award you. If it can be shown that a victim was 30 percent responsible for causing a slip and fall accident, that person’s compensation can be reduced by 30 percent. Strategically, it is in the best interests of the property owner or their insurer to try and pin the blame for the accident on the victim. It gives them room to wiggle out of paying maximum compensation.
In a pure comparative negligence system, even if you are predominately at fault, you may still be able to recover some compensation. However, maximizing your compensation can mean gathering evidence that establishes that the fault lies with the property owner. The pure comparative negligence rule binds all court decisions, but it also influences how an insurer will value a claim, meaning it is crucial to establish fault in any slip and fall case.
Common Causes of Slip and Fall Accidents
Slip and fall accidents can happen anywhere. There are numerous hazards that, if not addressed quickly by property owners, can cause significant accidents for visitors and passersby. Property owners must take reasonable steps to keep their premises safe. Ignoring crumbling infrastructure concerns, failing to warn customers of potential hazards, and not taking steps to clean spills are examples of how slip and fall accidents can happen. Some of the most common causes of New York slip and fall accidents include:
Wet floors
Spills
Uneven flooring
Cracks in flooring or pavement
Loose or torn carpeting
Loose floorboards
Poorly lit stairs
Lack of hand railing on stairs or steep inclines
Broken handrails
Poorly marked stairs or inclines
Loose cords or cables
Workplace hazards
Ice or slush
While these are some of the most common causes of slip and fall accidents, falls can happen in a variety of ways. If you have been injured in a slip and fall accident and are interested in finding out if you are entitled to compensation, contact a skilled New York slip and fall accident attorney.
Where Do Slip and Fall Accidents Happen in New York?
Technically, a slip and fall accident can happen anywhere. You may fall at a friend’s home, a grocery store, an apartment complex, or even at work. A wide range of property owners can be responsible for the conditions that lead to a slip and fall accidents. When an accident occurs in a place familiar to us, we may be reluctant to pursue compensation.
It is every property owner’s responsibility to keep their home or place of business reasonably safe. You have every right to pursue compensation for your injuries, no matter where an accident happens.
Some of the most common locations around New York for slip and fall accidents include:
Private homes
Apartment complexes
Hotels
Grocery stores
Malls
Theaters
Office buildings
Sidewalks
Places of employment
Job sites
Restaurants
Sports arenas
Do not be afraid of pursuing what is rightfully yours. A New York slip and fall accident attorney can review your situation and address your concerns about seeking compensation.
Injuries Associated with Slip and Fall Accidents
Falls aren’t always random and unavoidable acts of fate. Often, falls are caused by the negligent actions of others. Many people associate falls with minor injuries like strains or sprains. However, slip and fall accidents can cause significant physical injuries and health concerns.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention lists falling as the most common cause of traumatic brain injuries in the United States. A traumatic brain injury can alter the course of your life forever and result in enormous medical costs associated with care and treatment. Some of the injuries commonly associated with slip and fall accidents include:
Victims of serious falls may also experience anxiety, depression, and other mental health disorders. Do not discount any of your symptoms after a fall, be they physical or mental. Get medical help immediately, and then get in touch with a seasoned New York slip and fall accident attorney.
Compensation Available for Slip and Fall Accident Cases
If you are injured in a slip and fall accident, you could be entitled to compensation for your injuries. Often, accident victims can pursue money to cover their economic and non-economic losses. “Damages” is a legal term for compensation. Economic damages will compensate a victim for their measurable losses. Measurable losses are generally things like medical bills or out-of-pocket expenses. These losses can be calculated by tabulating medical bills, estimating future medical costs, and adding up a person’s lost wages.
Non-economic damages are not as easy to calculate. Non-economic damages compensate an accident victim for quality-of-life changes caused by the accident and the mental distress the injured person experiences at the time of the accident and during the healing process. These are losses that cannot be measured by tabulating numbers on a bill or receipt. Non-economic losses are more subjective. New York is one of only a few states in the U.S. that does not cap the amount of money a victim can recover for non-economic losses.
The combination of economic and non-economic damages will make up your total compensation package. While all cases are unique, in general, a victim could recover money for the following:
Do not accept money from the property owner or insurer, and do not sign documents you haven’t allowed an attorney to review. You may be signing away your legal rights and accepting an offer that will not cover all your expenses. Consult with a skilled New York slip and fall accident attorney who can advise you of the best path forward for your situation.
What Is a Slip and Fall Claim Worth?
Money won’t magically make your injuries disappear. However, recovering the proper amount of compensation after an accident is important for managing your health and stabilizing your financial situation. Pursuing compensation after an accident doesn’t make you greedy. It is the right and fair thing to do when someone’s negligent actions cause you harm.
Every slip and fall case is unique. At Harris Keenan & Goldfarb, we don’t compare your case to anyone else’s. We take the time to evaluate the merits of your situation and calculate the value of your claim based on the whole picture. We consider your medical needs, the severity of your injury, how the accident was caused, and your prognosis. We will then assess the overall value of your claim and fight aggressively to get you the money you deserve.
An insurer may estimate the value of your claim, but can you be sure that they are giving you a fair assessment? Did they take the time to look at the big picture and factor in your lost wages and future medical needs? You need a skilled attorney on your side who can assess the full value of your case and negotiate for an amount that is fair.
If you need more information about what your slip and fall case may be worth, talk to an attorney with Harris Keenan & Goldfarb. Our legal team can estimate the value of your case and help you seek maximum compensation for your injuries.
Statute of Limitations for New York Slip and Fall Lawsuits
After being involved in a serious slip and fall accident, you may not have the strength or energy to fight for your rights. However, New York has a strict deadline that limits the amount of time you have to file a personal injury lawsuit against a negligent property owner. The state gives injured parties three years from the date of the accident to file a lawsuit. When this statute of limitations expires, you may have very little recourse left for recovering valuable compensation. If the accident is due to the negligence of a municipality, the statute of limitations is shorter. A Notice of Claim has to be filed within ninety days of the accident and a lawsuit needs to be filed within a year and ninety days of the accident.
Talking to an attorney as soon as possible is the best way to determine what your options are for recovering compensation in a timely fashion. It also allows an attorney to investigate and gather critical evidence before it can be lost or destroyed. The sooner you get in touch with an attorney, the better the chances that your attorney can build a strong case supporting your claim. An additional plus: your attorney won’t let any important deadlines pass.
Contact an Experienced New York Slip and Fall Accident Attorney
Harris Keenan & Goldfarb was founded in 1996 on the principles of ethics and justice. Our team prides itself on helping people injured in accidents in New York achieve justice and recover the money they deserve after an accident that was someone else’s fault. Negligent parties deserve to be held responsible for their actions. We firmly believe it is our duty to hold these parties accountable.
At Harris Keenan & Goldfarb, our goal is to provide you with effective legal representation so you can go back to living a normal life without the cloud of financial uncertainty hanging over you.
To discuss your potential case with a premier New York slip and fall accident attorney, set up a confidential consultation by calling 800-724-6529. You can also fill out our intake form and a member of our team will call you. Our team of experienced slip and fall attorneys is ready to help you get your life back on track.
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