If you’ve suffered an injury from a slip and fall accident on a wet floor, hiring a skilled lawyer is essential. At Michael LoGiudice, LLP, we understand how traumatic one of these accidents can be for injured individuals. Our legal team fights hard for our clients’ right to compensation for their slip and fall injuries. Founding attorney Michael LoGiudice has extensive courtroom experience and a successful track record of helping clients secure compensation for their injuries. Contact our Westchester personal injury law firm today to schedule your initial appointment.
Slip and fall accidents on a wet floor are all too frequent in the United States. Indeed, they account for over 1 million emergency room visits a year in the United States. Additionally, slip and fall accidents are the primary cause of worker’s compensation claims and the primary reason for missed days from work. Accidents specifically on a wet floor are not limited to the workplace. Half of all deaths that occur in people’s homes happen after slip and fall accidents. Elderly adults are more likely to experience a fall, with one out of every three adults over the age of 65 experiencing a fall.
What To Do Immediately After a Slip and Fall Accident
Experiencing an accident of this kind can be hugely distressing, especially when you are severely injured. Those who slip and fall are often in pain and slightly disoriented immediately after the fall, especially when they hit their head on the floor or another object. If you can document the scene of the accident, attempt to do so immediately after the accident, and take pictures on your phone of the accident scene, capturing multiple angles.
Photographic evidence is often extremely valuable in a personal injury lawsuit. For example, if you slipped and fell on leaking fluid in a grocery store, taking photos of the spill can be extremely useful. Many times, grocery stores and businesses will attempt to clean spills up immediately after the accident. Doing so makes it difficult to prove negligence unless you have evidence of the negligent condition if you slipped and fell on wet pavement. At the same time, outside, take pictures of the street, the nearest cross street, and the surrounding area.
Seek Medical Help After Your Slip and Fall Accident
If you are unable to document the slip and fall accident scene, call emergency services immediately. If you cannot reach your phone, ask someone nearby to call emergency services on your behalf. Sometimes, slip-and-fall victims don’t feel particularly severely injured immediately after the accident. Nonetheless, some injuries do not become apparent until hours or even days after the accident. Even if you do not think that you are severely injured, it is wise to seek medical attention.
A skilled medical doctor can help you thoroughly evaluate your condition. Medical doctors might discover that your injuries are more extensive than you immediately thought. For example, if you hit your head on the ground during your slip and fall accident, you may think you only have a painful headache. Further medical testing could reveal that you have a skull fracture or small brain hemorrhage. Similarly, many back and neck injuries are not immediately apparent after an accident. The adrenaline surging through your body afterward could mask the severity of your back or neck injury. Soft tissue injuries in the neck and back often become worse over time and require extensive medical care, including physical therapy.
Document Your Medical Treatment and Any Steps You Take Related to Your Injuries
Part of succeeding in a personal injury lawsuit requires individuals to provide evidence of their injuries. Should you decide to pursue litigation through a personal injury lawsuit, the defense will likely challenge your version of what happened. They may claim that you are not injured at all, or not as injured to the extent that you claim to be injured. Providing evidence that you sought medical treatment after your injury will help you prove that the slip and fall accident caused your injuries. Documentation will also help you establish which medical diagnoses you received after your slip and fall injury.
Hire an Experienced Personal Injury Lawyer
Do your research before hiring a personal injury lawyer for your case. At Michael LoGiudice, LLP. Attorney Michael LoGiudice offers aggressive legal representation for the seriously injured. He has successfully represented clients in a wide variety of personal injury lawsuits. He places a high priority on communication with clients, returning calls quickly, and keeping them updated. We will keep you updated throughout the process of your slip and fall case.
Slip and Fall On A Commercial Property
It’s essential to understand that businesses such as supermarkets, bars, hair salons, and sports arenas are obligated to inform patrons of potential dangers like slippery surfaces by displaying cautionary notices. This can be achieved through various means, such as:
- Placing yellow or orange cones around damp regions
- Assigning a staff member to stand close to the area of concern
- Cordoning off the risky section with tape
- Erecting signs that warn of “wet floors” in the vicinity
These measures help ensure customer safety by clearly communicating the presence of hazardous conditions.
What If The Establishment Denies Responsibility For The Slip and Fall Accident?
There are situations where a business might assert that it was unaware of a hazard like a wet floor. For instance, let’s say a child causes a spill in an aisle of a supermarket, and the store’s management claims it didn’t have adequate time to address or clean it before the incident. In this situation, Michael Logiudice will aim to show that the management should have recognized the risk by proving:
- The establishment did not maintain reasonable safety standards, such as conducting regular checks of the aisles through a floor manager to ensure the area was safe for shoppers.
- An employee or staff member was near the area of the spill, indicating that they should have been aware of the potential threat and responded to it by implementing appropriate safety measures.
Work with Your Attorney Throughout Your Slip and Fall Case
When you decide to go forward with a slip and fall on a wet floor lawsuit, you will be under intense scrutiny from the defense. Opposing counsel will try everything they can to get a judge to dismiss your case or to make sure you don’t receive compensation for your injuries. Your attorney will help you avoid any behavior that could put your case at risk while simultaneously building a case for a slip and fall accident claim. For example, avoid taking any actions that could prove that you had a pre-existing condition and did not suffer an injury because of a slip and fall case.
The best slip and fall cases are those in which the attorney and client work together, trust each other, and communicate well. Provide any information your attorney requests as quickly as possible. Keep notes about how you feel each day, including your pain level, and any doctor or physical therapy appointments you attend—the more information you can provide your attorney regarding your slip and fall in New York, the better.
Our Westchester Slip and Fall Lawyers Can Help
If you or a loved one suffered an injury in a slip and fall on a wet floor accident, contact Michael LoGiudice, LLP today. We are prepared to use our extensive trial experience to help you file a personal injury claim and recover the compensation you deserve. We fight hard for our clients to recover compensation for all damages, losses, and injuries resulting from your accident.
Representing slip and fall victims due to wet floors in the greater New York area including Westchester, Putnam County, Dutchess County, Orange County, Rockland County, and Brewster