If you are a visitor to another person’s home or a business, they must take reasonable steps to keep the premises safe for you. If you injure yourself due to a dangerous condition on someone else’s property, you may be able to seek compensation. A Hoboken slip-and-fall attorney from Glugeth & Pierguidi, P.C. can help you understand your options and fight for the compensation you deserve. Contact us today!
What Is a Slip and Fall?
A slip-and-fall accident occurs when a person slips, trips, or falls on someone else’s property due to a hazardous condition on the property. The dangerous situation could be anything unsafe on their property, such as:
- A wet floor,
- An uneven surface,
- Poorly labeled construction,
- Spilled food or liquids,
- Inadequate lighting,
- Snow and ice, or
- A broken handrail.
A slip and fall can occur at a business or on another person’s private property. A Hoboken slip-and-fall lawyer can assess your situation and determine whether you may be able to bring a potential lawsuit.
Is a Slip and Fall Different from Personal Injury?
A slip-and-fall case is a type of personal injury based on premises liability. You can reasonably expect to be safe when on another’s property. As with other personal injury cases, liability for a slip and fall is determined based on whether the person responsible for the premises was negligent. Negligence requires proof of four elements: duty, breach, causation, and damages.
Duty
When you visit someone else’s property in New Jersey or New York, the owner typically owes you a duty of care. This duty generally requires that they keep their property in a reasonably safe condition. However, owners owe different duties to different types of visitors. The duty also varies depending on whether your injury happened in New York or New Jersey. In most cases, owners owe the highest duty of care to business visitors.
Breach
To establish negligence, you must show that the person with a duty breached it through their action or inaction. A breach is evaluated based on how a reasonable person with the duty would be expected to act in the situation. For example, if someone has an unmarked hole in the backyard, they may breach their duty by not warning visitors about the spot before going outside. Or a store owner may breach their duty by not cleaning up a spill in a reasonable amount of time.
Causation
Additionally, the evidence must show that the breach of duty was the immediate cause of your injuries. For example, if there was a spill on the floor, you would have to show that the spill caused you to fall.
Damages
Finally, you must have suffered damages because of the slip and fall. If you slipped on a spill but were not injured, you would not be able to bring a personal injury claim. Contact an experienced New Jersey slip-and-fall attorney to help you prove the extent of your damages. As discussed below, damages can involve both economic and noneconomic losses.
What If I Am Partially Responsible?
You may wonder if you can recover if you were partly at fault. For example, you may have been talking on your cell phone and distracted when you fell. There was still an unsafe condition, but the fall might have been avoided if you were paying attention to your surroundings.
You can still recover in New Jersey or New York if this is the case. In New Jersey, you cannot be more than 50% negligent to recover damages. In New York, you can recover damages even if you are 99% negligent. However, the court will reduce your recovery proportionately based on your portion of the negligence.
What Types of Damages Are Covered?
You can get both economic and noneconomic damages for your slip and fall. Economic damages are out-of-pocket expenses, such as medical bills and lost wages. For example, you will likely have medical expenses from repeated doctor’s visits, surgeries, or physical therapy. You also may have lost time from work or, worse, be unable to work entirely in the future. You can receive compensation for lost wages, both past and future.
You can also recover noneconomic damages for the slip-and-fall accident. These consist of intangible damages, such as pain and suffering and loss of enjoyment in life. You also would be able to recover for any disfigurement or scarring that affects the quality of your life moving forward.
Is There a Time Limit on Bringing My Claims?
There is a time limit to bring your claims. Generally, it is two years in New Jersey and three years in New York. These typically run from the date of the accident. If you do not bring your clams within this time, the court may bar them entirely. If time-barred, you cannot collect any compensation for the injury. If you were injured, you should contact an attorney as soon as possible to ensure you do not get shut out of the courtroom.
What Is a Contingency Fee Arrangement?
A contingency fee arrangement compensates lawyers for their work on slip-and-fall cases. No money is due up front, and you owe no money if the lawyer does not win your case or secure a settlement. Instead, the attorney fees are taken from a portion of the settlement or verdict, ensuring your attorney gets paid only if and when you do.
Reach Out to a Hoboken Attorney Today
Injuries in a slip and fall can result in significant damages. A skilled lawyer for slip and fall in Hoboken, New Jersey, can help you to evaluate whether you have a legal claim. The attorneys at Glugeth & Pierguidi, P.C., are experienced in slip-and-fall cases. We helped one New Jersey resident recover almost $1 million in damages from a slip and fall that caused permanent ankle damage. We are skilled in all types of personal injury lawsuits and have recovered many multi-million dollar personal settlements and verdicts. Please contact us today to evaluate your slip-and-fall case.