Fort Lauderdale Slip and Fall Lawyer

Cowen Edwards Trial Lawyers help slip-and-fall accident victims earn financial support for the cost of their recoveries.

Our Fort Lauderdale slip-and-fall accident lawyers offer free, confidential consultations to all victims in Southern Florida. Contact our offices to find out what your case may be worth and how to hold a store owner or corporate owner fully responsible for a painful injury due to a fall.

DO I NEED A LAWYER AFTER A SLIP-AND-FALL ACCIDENT AT A FORT LAUDERDALE STORE?

If your fall only results in a bruise and some minor soreness and then goes away, a personal injury lawyer probably can’t help you earn a substantial amount for your mishap. But if you go to the emergency room and find out you have a serious injury, like a broken bone, or head trauma, it’s a good idea to discuss your options with an experienced lawyer.

If the negligence of a property owner, a store owner, or an employee contributed to your fall, you have the right to seek financial compensation for your injury. But when medical bills start to rise, liability insurance companies for stores like Walmart and Publix start to look for ways to question your injury and avoid taking responsibility.

You’ll want to have a skilled Fort Lauderdale slip-and-fall accident attorney fighting back when a giant supermarket chain tries to blame you for your injury.

WHO IS RESPONSIBLE IF I SLIP AND FALL AT A STORE?

Florida law allows slip-and-fall victims to hold negligent business owners, property owners, and corporate owners responsible for their recovery costs. This ability hinges on important premises liability laws.

Premises liability requires business owners and property owners who invite people in to be responsible for the safety of their visitors, clients, customers, and tenants. They must remove hazards their employees create. They must monitor for the spills other visitors leave behind and clean those obstacles up or make repairs before someone comes along and gets hurt. Landlords must keep the stairsteps at an apartment complex free of liquids and debris so renters can’t slip or trip and take a dangerous fall.

If there’s a hazard that appears, owners and operators must remove it in a reasonable amount of time or face full liability when someone gets hurt. A skilled slip-and-fall lawyer can hold those owners and corporate chains responsible for hospital bills, lost income at work, and much more.

Take advantage of a free consultation whenever you feel you aren’t being treated fairly after an accident you didn’t cause.

SLIP-AND-FALL ACCIDENT HAZARDS IN FORT LAUDERDALE

Other customers are the biggest contributors to slip-and-fall and trip-and-fall dangers at stores. They can dribble their sodas or ice on the shiny tile turning a Target aisle into a skating rink. And store managers and employees are responsible for inspecting their floorspace regularly, mopping up spills, and putting out “wet floor” signs until the floor is completely dry.

Other aisle hazards include boxes left below eye level, but in the perfect place to catch your foot and trip you. Home Depot employees can leave out displays or merchandise on aisles that can cause a trip that causes you to hit your head on a shelf or land on a kneecap. Businesses must also monitor their parking lots and sidewalks for potholes and broken pavement that can cause customers to trip before they are even in the store.

Government buildings like the DMV or the courthouse must also keep up with puddles and spilled food. A fall could leave the City of Fort Lauderdale fully liable for your physical therapy costs after you fracture your hip in a fall at a parking garage.

WHAT TO DO AFTER A SLIP-AND-FALL IN A PUBLIC PLACE

Slip-and-fall hazards, like a spilled drink, can suddenly appear. And just as fast, they can disappear after you’ve taken a scary fall and hit your head. It’s more than likely that an obstacle that sent you to the floor will be cleaned up or removed the moment you leave for the emergency room.

That’s why it’s so important to collect evidence on the scene of your slip-and-fall or trip-and-fall accident. If your injury allows you to move around, try to gather these details:

Contact 911 if you are hurt. Have paramedics give you a complete examination and go to the emergency room if necessary. If you must seek medical care, ask someone with you or a witness to collect evidence for you.
Take pictures. Take out your cell phone and get photos of the hazard that caused your fall. The hazards won’t be there long. The store will be cleaning up or repairing the obstacle as soon as you leave the scene and that evidence will be gone. Also, show any visible injuries. Snap photos of any “wet floor” signs or show that there weren’t any in sight.
Speak up about what happened. Make sure a manager knows about your slip-and-fall. The manager of a business will probably be required to fill out an incident report. Allow this, because that report can be used in your favor.
Keep evidence. Don’t throw away damaged personal property. And keep your shoes! Corporate lawyers for the business where you fell may try to claim that your shoes were worn out and that’s why you fell. Preserve your shoes and don’t wear them until you speak to a lawyer.
Speak to witnesses. Get contact information so your Fort Lauderdale personal injury lawyer can contact them for testimony.
See your doctor. Make an appointment with your physician, even if you’ve been to the emergency room. Pay attention to new pain that appears in the days after an accident. The shock of your fall can mask pain until the morning after. You might have a hairline fracture that can only be found by an X-ray. Get all injuries examined and follow the doctor’s instructions.

COMPENSATION AVAILABLE AFTER A FORT LAUDERDALE SLIP-AND-FALL

After a fall, you could need immediate help paying for ambulance fees and emergency room bills. However, your biggest costs may come later when you require surgery on a broken arm that doesn’t heal correctly. Physical therapy in the months ahead could cost you thousands of dollars.

Your Fort Lauderdale Trip-And-Fall Lawyer makes sure you earn a slip-and-fall settlement check that covers all of your recovery costs until you are fully healed. Your Cowen Edwards Trial Lawyer also demands support for some things you may not have thought could earn you additional compensation:

Totals on current medical bills and estimates on the cost of care in the future.
Long-term costs associated with a permanent physical disability.
Pain and suffering. This includes the physical pain you endure and the emotional trauma you are put through.
Loss of enjoyment of life as you must give up hobbies and family activities your injuries prevent you from participating in.
Travel costs as you must find ways to get to and from doctor appointments while you’re injured.
Money for property damage.
Income and benefits you’ve lost while missing work.

F.A.Q.

Will I have to go to court to earn slip-and-fall accident compensation?

Not usually. The vast majority of slip-and-fall cases result in a settlement before a trial is necessary. Businesses will offer fair injury settlements rather than face the costs and embarrassment of going to court.

How long do I have to file a slip-and-fall injury claim?

The Florida statute of limitations on filing a slip-and-fall accident injury claim is two years from the date of your injury. You shouldn’t wait years to file. Evidence can be harder to find the longer you delay.

What if I can’t afford to pay for an attorney after a trip-and-fall accident?

You won’t need to have any money on hand to hire a Cowen Edwards lawyer. We don’t get paid unless we win your case for you. Then our attorney fee comes out of the settlement money insurance companies provide to you.

CONTACT A FORT LAUDERDALE SLIP-AND-FALL ACCIDENT LAWYER

A slip-and-fall accident can leave you in pain and off your feet for weeks. When you suffer a trip-and-fall accident while out and about in Fort Lauderdale, there’s usually a store owner or property owner to blame for the hazard that caused your fall.

You may need major financial assistance to pay your medical bills and to keep up with your normal monthly bills while you are out of work. A skilled Fort Lauderdale slip-and-fall lawyer works to maximize your injury claim so you aren’t left paying for expensive medical bills months down the road.

Allow Cowen Edwards Trial Lawyers to handle the stress and frustration of battling insurance companies and corporate lawyers while you use that time to focus on healing. Contact us to schedule a free consultation and tell us what happened. Let us know about your biggest hardships since the accident and then let us go to work holding an insurer fully liable.