Were you hurt in a slip and fall accident on someone else’s residential or commercial property in Lexington, Kentucky? Are you struggling to pay medical bills and other expenses due to your injuries and time missed from work?
If so, you could be owed compensation if your injuries were caused by negligence on the part of the property owner, occupier, or manager.
There are several crucial things that need to be established in a slip and fall claim, and it is vital to have an attorney with experience in these specific cases assist you.
The Lexington slip and fall lawyers at Morgan, Collins, Yeast, and Salyer have helped Kentuckians recover the full compensation they’re owed when they’ve been injured in slip and fall accidents.
Our attorneys have the Kentucky Courage required to stand up for people injured in falls on someone else’s dangerous property.
Contact us today by phone or reach out to us online to schedule a free consultation with one of our experienced slip and fall lawyers to learn more about your legal rights and options and about how our firm can help you get your life back on track if you’ve been hurt.
Common Causes of Slip and Fall Injuries
Although any hazardous or dangerous property condition may be capable of causing a slip and fall injury, some conditions are more dangerous than others.
Examples of common causes of these injuries include:
- Snow and ice left unsalted or sanded
- Cracked sidewalks
- Spilled grease, oil, or other liquids
- Trash or debris
- Unsecured cords, ropes, or wires across walkways
- Recently mopped or waxed floors
- Uneven surfaces
- Transitions between one type of surface to another, such as from carpet to hardwood flooring
- Loose flooring materials, rugs, or mats
- Poor lighting
Do You Have a Slip and Fall Case in Lexington?
A successful slip and fall claim will require proof that the owner or occupier of the property owed you a duty, that the property owner or occupier breached this duty, and that their breach of duty caused your accident from which you have suffered compensable damages.
A property owner or occupier generally owes a duty to keep the property reasonably safe and free of known dangers and hazards, or at the very least to warn of dangerous conditions that create an unreasonable risk of harm.
Many cases focus on proving whether the property owner or occupier had knowledge of danger or hazard and had an opportunity to fix it and failed to do so. The alternative is when the owner should have known of the danger or hazard by undertaking reasonable inspections of the premises but failed to do so.
How Can a Slip and Fall Attorney Help Me?
Following a slip, trip, or fall on someone else’s property, you are likely dealing with physical pain and financial stress that you were never prepared for.
You might also find yourself inundated with calls from the property owner and insurance company representatives. During this stressful time, it is crucial to have an experienced attorney on your side.
Your lawyer is bound by a strict code of ethics that requires them to represent you to the best of their ability. They have been charged with putting your best interests first, and they will provide you with the guidance, advice, and support that you need as you seek compensation for your injuries. No one else has your best interests at heart – certainly not the insurance company.
Keep in mind that the insurance company for the property owner will be looking to deny liability and shift as much of the blame onto you as possible.
Because Kentucky follows a comparative negligence doctrine, the defendant will save themselves money if they can demonstrate that you’re even partially to blame for your own injuries.
Your lawyer will discuss the facts of the case with you, investigate the incident and collect evidence, and will build a persuasive case for you. They’ll handle all of the negotiations with the insurance companies and if a fair settlement can’t be reached, they’ll file a lawsuit to seek damages in court.
Compensation After a Slip and Fall Accident
If you have been injured in a slip and fall accident, there are many different types of damages that you could be owed, including:
- Medical expenses, such as hospital bills, doctor’s office visits, surgeries, physical therapy, medication, and durable medical equipment
- Lost wages after missing work due to your injuries
- Loss of earning capacity, if your injuries temporarily or permanently disable you from returning to your pre-accident level of work
- Pain and suffering, which is the physical and mental anguish caused by your injuries
- Loss of quality of life, which provides compensation for disabilities caused by your injuries and difficulties or inability to accomplish tasks of daily living or participate in activities you enjoyed before the accident
- Loss of consortium or companionship, which compensates your spouse and your immediate loved one for disruption to your family life
Finally, if your property was damaged in a slip and fall accident – for example, if your cell phone breaks – you may be entitled to seek compensation to repair or replace your damaged property.
Protecting Your Rights If You’ve Been Hurt in a Slip and Fall Accident
After a trip-and-fall accident, there are steps you should take to protect your rights and to put yourself in the best position to obtain compensation to help you recover from your injuries.
Immediately after a slip and fall accident, inform the property owner, occupier, or manager of the accident. This will allow the property owner or occupier to remedy the dangerous or hazardous condition that caused your accident so that no one else is put at risk. This also puts them on notice of a potential claim.
If the accident occurs on business property, informing a manager or the business owner allows the business to notify its liability insurer.
Larger businesses may also complete an accident or incident report which can later be used to establish the facts of your accident. Be sure to obtain contact information for whoever is in charge, along with details about their liability insurer, if they have insurance.
In addition, try to take pictures or videos of the accident scene. Try to capture the hazard or condition, such as a patch of ice or liquid spill, that caused your fall, along with any obstructions hiding the hazard, the lighting conditions, the weather conditions, and any warning or hazard signs in the area.
You should also follow up with your doctor following the trip, slip and fall accident, even if you don’t feel like you were injured seriously. Injuries may take days or even weeks to begin displaying symptoms.
Seeking prompt medical attention will allow you to begin treatment sooner and improve your prognosis and potentially reduce your recovery time. It will also allow you to better establish that the accident directly caused your injuries especially if the responsible party tries to deny premises liability for any reason.
Refrain from giving or signing off on any statements about the accident, especially to insurance adjusters.
Don’t accept a settlement offer without first speaking with a Lexington slip and fall attorney. The property owner or its insurer may try to reduce or avoid liability by using your statements against you to argue that you were fully or partially at fault for what happened.
If the slip and fall or trip-and-fall are job-related, you may be entitled to workers’ compensation benefits. Our Lexington office can guide you through the often- complicated workers’ compensation process.
Kentucky Statute of Limitation on Slip and Fall Lawsuits
If you have been injured in a slip and fall accident on someone else’s property, you have a limited time to file a lawsuit to seek compensation for your injuries and financial losses. This window is known as the statute of limitations.
Under Kentucky law, the statute of limitations for a claim for personal injuries suffered in a slip and fall accident is one year from the date of the accident.
For personal property damage only (for example, you broke a cell phone or watch), you have two years from the date of your accident to file a lawsuit to obtain compensation.
If you plan on filing a lawsuit, missing the court filing deadline means that the court will be barred from hearing your case.
Limited exceptions may apply to the statute of limitations. For example, if an injured party is a minor, the statute of limitations does not begin to run until the minor turns 18 or marries. Never count on any exception apply to your case. Instead, contact a slip and fall law firm well before the statute of limitations becomes an issue.
Talk to a Lexington Slip and Fall Lawyer Now
If you have been injured in a slip and fall accident on someone else’s premises, act quickly to protect your legal rights and options so that you can obtain compensation from those responsible.
Contact the Lexington slip and fall lawyers at Morgan, Collins, Yeast & Salyer today to schedule a free consultation.
Call us or reach out online to learn more about how our attorneys can help you get justice for your injuries. Each slip and fall accident lawyer, and indeed our entire legal team, puts Kentucky Courage™ to work every day to get clients the resources they need to move on with their lives.
