paulineSlip Sliding Away
If you’ve been injured in a slip-and-fall accident, you may be entitled to compensation for your injuries, including medical expenses, time lost from work, pain, or other expenses that are directly or indirectly related to your accident.
Because those kind of accidents are often presumed to be fake by the parties responsible for them, you will probably need to find a good lawyer or law firm to help you pursue your slip compensation claim.
The first thing you need to do when you’ve been injured in a slip-and-fall accident is to report the accident to the owners, managers, or the building management of the place you were injured. For example, if you slip on wet flooring at a Safeway store, you would need to report the fall, the wet floor, and any injuries sustained in the slip-and-fall to the manager or the assistant manager of that specific Safeway store.
Your next step is to go to your doctor or to the emergency room to receive treatment for your injuries. It is important that you do this as soon as possible because if you delay treatment, the insurance company representing the other party will use that delay to try to prove that your injuries were minimal or that you weren’t even injured at all. It also does not matter if your injuries are covered by your own health insurance or not; you simply need proof that you went to the doctor or emergency room relatively quickly after reporting your slip-and fall accident and possible injuries to the building management.
Once you’ve received medical treatment, it’s time to start pursuing your compensation claim. You will need to find a good lawyer or law firm to help you pursue this claim, and the best way to do this is to ask other people for referrals. Simply ask your friends, family, acquaintances, co-workers, or employer (if you weren’t injured at work) if they’ve pursued compensation claims and what lawyer or law firm they used if they did. Ask for general details, such as did the firm return calls in a timely manner, were they successful in negotiating a fair settlement, and the like. Specific details are really none of your business unless the other party volunteers them.
Once you’ve got a short list of recommended lawyers or law firms, call or email them. Most law firms will set up a complementary (i.e. free) consultation to determine the validity of your case, discuss fee arrangements, and determine whether or not they would have a conflict of interest if they represented you.
