We all travel to property that is owned and maintained by other people. Grocery stores, parking lots, sidewalks, hotels, apartment complexes, etc. There is no way to avoid interacting with locations that are supposed to be kept safe by businesses, government, or other people. We rely on others to keep these areas safe. What happens when you are injured from a slip on ice, a trip on a cracked sidewalk, or a fall caused by an empty pallet at a grocery store? We call these types of injuries “premises liability” claims, and you must know a few things so that you can get the compensation you deserve.
First, you must act quickly. Unlike other claims, premises liability cases require almost immediate attention. Evidence regarding your injury will begin to disappear very quickly. For example, most businesses destroy or erase closed circuit video within days after an incident. Similarly, witness memories begin to fade and injury-causing situations may be repaired. So, you should act very quickly in order to properly ensure evidence can be gathered and preserved.
Second, you will be blamed. Defendant businesses or government entities will almost always blame an injured person in a premises liability claim. For example, if you trip on an empty pallet in a grocery store, the grocery store will certainly allege you should have seen the pallet. This allegation will be brought despite the fact that the merchandising in a grocery store is designed to attract your attention to the shelves and the grocery store put the pallet on the floor in the first place. You should have an advocate working on your behalf to fight any allegation that you are the cause of your injury.
If you have been injured in a slip and fall or a trip and fall incident, or any other injury on property owned and maintained by someone else, contact an attorney about your case as soon as possible. At Russell & Hill, we pledge to conduct an immediate investigation into your injury and do everything we can to preserve crucial evidence so that we can secure all the compensation you are entitled to. If you need a premises liability attorney, you can contact us for a free consultation of your case by clicking here or calling 800-529-0842.