Slip and fall accident claims occur when one is injured on another person’s premises. Should you trip over debris or slip on ice, you might want to consider talking to a legal professional who has experience proving fault in accidents occurring in homes in Virginia.
There are no fast and hard rules for proving fault in such accidents since every case will depend on whether (or not) the home owner allowed the dangerous condition in question to persist. Your legal counsel, therefore, will advise on the best way forward. In this section, we will cover the basics of slip and fall claims, including sections about the conditions that typically cause slip and fall injuries and accidents.
More About Slip and Fall Accidents
Slip and fall accidents will occur in any given location. From dangerous uneven sidewalks to wet floors in home, every situation might give rise to legal liability. Valid claims are filed and settled each year. Read on to find out more about what you should expect in the different types of slip and fall claims:
Proofs Required to Win Slip and Fall Accident Claims
To win such claims, your attorney must be able to help you establish that the home owner was solely responsible for the injuries you sustained as a result of slipping and falling. If the accident was caused by someone or something beyond your control, you should consider talking to a slip and fall attorney. With the right representation, you will be able to pursue a personal injury lawsuit or insurance settlement and get the wrongful party to pay for your injuries.
In most cases, the core liability questions in such cases are:
- Who is the potentially liable party?
- Was the liable party actually negligent by failing to prevent and thereby causing the accident?
As the injured party in a slip and fall accident claim, insurance claim or lawsuit, you should also consider hiring a Lawyer who will anticipate and defend against claims that your own carelessness or clumsiness somewhat contributed or caused the accident.
Liability Theories in Slip and Fall Accident Claims
Proving fault in accidents occurring in homes in Virginia requires one to show the elements listed below.
Recognition
First, one must be able to prove that the home owner ought to have recognized the dangerous condition and repaired or removed the potential danger but failed to do so. Here, the key question is whether any reasonable and lucid person would have recognized and identified the condition as being potentially hazardous. Similarly, it is important to think about whether or not the defendant had the opportunity and time to remedy the situation prior to the accident occurring.
Cause
The second instance would occur when the home owner was actually responsible for causing the dangerous condition that caused a slip and fall accident. This happens when the owner leaves hazardous obstacles carelessly about knowing that someone could trip, slip and fall as a result.
Proving Fault, Liability and Negligence
In most settlement negotiations, and at other core stages of filing slip and fall accident claims, the term reasonable will often come up. For a home/property owner to be held negligent and liable for damages, they must have failed to act the same way reasonable and prudent people would have in similar circumstance. Your slip and fall Lawyer will, therefore, consider whether:
- The hazardous obstacle and/or condition existed long enough that a more reasonable home owner would have taken the steps to eliminate the hazard.
- The home owner had a system for routinely checking and removing potential hazards, and has a record showing that the procedure was followed for a specific period of time before the accident occurred.
- There was a reasonable justification for creating the potential hazard and that this justification was still valid when the slip and/or fall happened.
- There were preventive measures that could have been taken to make the hazardous condition less dangerous, such as through relocation, setting up warning signage and/or preventing access to the area.
- Limited visibility and/or poor lighting was a factor in causing the accident.
Last but not least, as your legal counsel goes about proving fault in accidents occurring in homes in Virginia, they will also try to prove that you did not cause the accident yourself. The responsible party and his insurance carrier and Lawyers will certainly be compelled to argue that you were totally or partially responsible for the accident leading to the injuries.
Contact Professional Legal Assistance Today
Otherwise known as comparative fault, this argument has been codified in contributory and comparative negligence laws. To win a slip and fall accident claim, therefore, your attorney will have to prove that you were not responsible, directly or otherwise, for the injuries you sustained. This is why it is so important to get professional legal help immediately after being injured in Virginia through no fault of your own. For professional legal assistance, contact the experienced attorneys at The Brown Firm PLLC online or by calling our offices today.
