- September 16, 2021
- Tucker Law
- Premises Accidents
An Attorney Can Evaluate Your Case to Determine Whether You Can Sue If You Fall on Private Property
Depending on the situation, you can sue a property owner who has been negligent if you have been injured from a fall on their property. Slip and fall accidents can result in serious injuries, including broken bones and head and neck injuries, and they can lead to paralysis or even death. Survivors may face long-term pain and suffering, need expensive continuing care, and be unable to work. Social and family life may be disrupted, and life may never be the same again.
Property owners have a duty of care duty to reasonably protect visitors on their property from undue harm. They must take action to fix hazards they know or should have known about, and must warn about these hazards and take steps to prevent injuries until the hazards are fixed.
If property owners are negligent and fail to do so and you fall and are injured as a result, you may be entitled to compensation for your injuries through insurance or a personal injury lawsuit. While no amount of money can make up for extreme suffering, proper compensation can alleviate your financial worries and pay for the care you need.
However, New York personal injury law is complicated, and insurance companies have high-powered lawyers who will try to get you to settle for the lowest amount possible or even claim the accident was your fault in order to avoid paying.
Fortunately, you do not have to fight this on your own. At this difficult time when you are trying to recover from your injuries, the lawyers for slip and fall accidents at Tucker Law can take the burden off you by handling all aspects of your legal claim.
Can You Sue Someone if You Fall on Their Property?
Winning Your Case Will Involve Many Steps
To learn whether you can sue someone if you fall on their property, several legal issues need to be determined. When you get legal help from Tucker Lawyers, our team will take several steps to build your case. We will…
- Meet with you to hear how the fall happened and evaluate your case to determine whether there was negligence, what the case may be worth, and who the liable parties may be
- Investigate the accident scene and gather evidence
- Interview witnesses, police officers, and first responders
- File all paperwork in accordance with New York court requirements and deadlines
- Hire experts to testify as to how the accident happened, who was liable, and how your injuries negatively impact your life
- Negotiate with insurance companies and their attorneys for a fair settlement
- Build your case and take it to trial if necessary.
Winning Your Case Requires Proving Negligence
To win your case, your attorney must prove that another party, the defendant in the case, was negligent or at fault for causing the injuries you received.
Dangerous conditions can exist on any type of property, and property owners or managers have a responsibility to maintain and fix these conditions to prevent injury to others. Our attorneys will look to prove negligence by showing:
- The defendant owed you a duty of care not to cause harm.
- The defendant breached and failed to fulfill the duty.
- This breach caused the fall that injured you.
- You suffered actual damages as a result.
Examples of premises negligence that can result in falls include:
- Defects in sidewalks, roadways, concrete, or uneven flooring
- Wet floors without warning signs
- Ice and snow on walkways
- Poor lighting in stairs, hallways, or parking areas
- Loose handrails on stairs or broken steps
- Loose rugs or mats.
There are situations where multiple parties are at fault for premises liability, such as when there are several owners of a property or there is a management company responsible for repairs that neglected to make them. Our attorneys would seek to locate them all as they all may have insurance and assets that may go toward a settlement.
Damages Our Premises Liability Attorneys Can Win for You
In a successful case, we can win a monetary award, called damages, as compensation for the injuries you sustained due to another party’s negligence. New York damage awards usually fall into two categories: compensatory damages, for economic and non-economic losses; and punitive damages, to punish someone for extreme wrongdoing.
Economic Damages are for monetary costs and expenses that result from the accident, such as:
- Medical and therapy bills
- Lost earnings
- Property damage.
Non-economic Damages are for damages that do not have a specific dollar value but negatively affect your life, such as:
- Pain and suffering
- Mental and emotional anguish
- Loss of consortium and enjoyment of life
- Permanent disability or disfigurement.
Punitive damages are awarded only in rare cases in order to punish a defendant who acted in an especially egregious manner and to deter such behaviors in the future.
Amounts of Damage Awards You May Recover if You Fall on Private Property
The amount of damages you may receive in a legal claim when you fall on someone’s private property can vary greatly, from thousands to millions of dollars. Your case depends on factors such as the severity and permanence of your injuries, your earning potential and ability to work in the future, the availability of insurance and assets of the defendants, and how well your attorney can negotiate a settlement or litigate your case.
Can Someone Sue Me for Falling in My House?
You have a duty to maintain your home and provide reasonable care to keep your property safe from dangers. If you fail to do so and someone falls and is injured in your house, they may be able to sue you.
Whether the lawsuit will be successful depends on how the person was injured and their status – whether they were invitees, licensees, or trespassers.
- An invitee is someone who enters the property for mutual benefit or to benefit the property owner.
- A licensee is a visitor on the property with the permission of the property owner.
- A trespasser is on the property without permission.
In general, you have a duty to warn invited guests of any hidden dangers to be found on your property. The duty is less for licensees, and even less for trespassers. However, the duty is higher for trespassing children, since children are not able to recognize inherent dangers.
Get Help from Our Slip and Fall Lawyers
When you hire Tucker Lawyers, Our New York personal injury lawyers will ensure that all legal matters and negotiations are done correctly and promptly, within the framework of the law. We will fight aggressively for the compensation you deserve and take the burden off you so you can concentrate on your recovery, your family, and moving forward with your life.
Don’t delay. New York has a statute of limitations (NY C.P.R. Section 214), a deadline for filing a lawsuit. Injured parties must get their lawsuit filed against the property owner within three years from the date of the incident that caused the injury.
Call the experienced team at Tucker Lawyers today for your free consultation at (516) 399-2364.
Managing Attorney John. J. Tucker, Esq.
John has personally handled thousands of clients who were victims of another’s negligence and fights relentlessly for their rights. John enjoys bringing closure to a client’s matter so that the injured party can move forward with their life. His background enables him to evaluate complex liability related claims and bring resolution to claims in a record time frame. [ Attorney Bio ]