You had a slip & fall accident, and it wasn’t because you’re clumsy or weren’t paying attention. Your accident could have been caused by a negligent property owner who knew about a problem and didn’t address it, potentially leaving you injured, out of work, and with medical bills.

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An Attorney Knows What Evidence to Gather

Let’s say you’ve just had a slip & fall accident. Maybe it was a wet and slippery spill on a grocery store floor, an un-noticeably broken step on a staircase that was never fixed, or some other condition that caused you harm through no fault of your own.

Those initial moments after the accident are crucial. If you need to, you should seek medical attention before you do anything else. If you’re able to, you should also take photos of the conditions that caused your injuries, because this could be helpful later on.

Considering you could end up with medical bills and other losses because of the accident, you might be thinking about filing a lawsuit. This is where it’s important to contact an attorney as soon as possible.

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’Reasonable Property Owners

In addition to dangerous conditions that went negligently unattended, a slip & fall case requires proving that the property owner didn’t act as a reasonable property owner would. A reasonable property owner would have a plan in place to efficiently and comprehensively address any and all dangerous conditions so that no one gets hurt. A negligent property owner, however, fails to do this and potentially creates conditions in which people hurt, leaving them saddled with medical bills, lost wages, and upended lives.

With all of that in mind, your attorney and his or her team will seek to answer the following questions as they investigate your slip & fall claim:

• Did the hazardous area exist long enough for the property owner to be aware of it?

• Is there a standard procedure in place for examining the premises, and did the owner have proof of this procedure?

• Was there a legitimate reason for the area to be hazardous, such as a slippery floor after being washed?

• If there is a reason for the area to be hazardous, was there any way to make it safer?

• If an object caused the slip, trip, or fall, was there anywhere else the object could have been stored to make the premises safer?

• Could a warning sign or barrier have been created to prevent injury?