Morrilton, AR Slip & Fall Lawyer

When someone falls down and gets injured, it may feel like their own fault.  However, many situations have factors outside their control and directly in someone else’s control that led to their injury.  When this happens, the victims can sue the at-fault parties – often the property owners – for compensation for their injuries.

A slip and fall case – whether filed as a lawsuit property owner’s insurance claim – can often get you compensation for medical bills and other damages related to the accident, including pain and suffering.

For help with your case, call our slip and fall lawyers at (479) 316-0438 today and get a free case evaluation.

Who is at Fault for Slip and Fall Accidents in Morrilton, AR?

When you get hurt in an accident, it can be difficult at first to determine who was responsible.  Especially with slip and fall accidents, you might not see anyone else around or know who owns the property, making it harder to blame anyone but yourself.  Even so, the law can hold other parties responsible if our slip and fall lawyers can locate them and link their actions or inaction to the accident:

Property Owners

The most common target for a slip and fall lawsuit is going to be the owner of the property where the accident happened.  Owners are generally responsible for their property, and reasonable property ownership assumes that they will keep an eye on things.  This means cleaning up spills and repairing broken stairs as well as other general maintenance that a property needs.  If you were injured because they did not do this maintenance, then you could be entitled to a lawsuit against them.

Property Operators/Tenant

Things can get confusing when the property owner is not the one who controls the day-to-day events and condition of the property.  This comes up in any situation where a renter or tenant takes over the property, such as with rented homes, office spaces, commercial spaces (stores, restaurants, etc.), and apartments.  Inside the rented area/unit/building, the operator or tenant usually takes over responsibility for upkeep when it comes to cleaning and dealing with minor maintenance.  Think, for example, of a spill in a grocery store.  Although the store might rent the commercial space from a company that owns the property, the store is usually liable for your fall on their spill.

Landlords

Because of the way that duties are divided among renters and landlords, the landlord might still share some liability.  The lease agreement that the property’s tenant signs will usually specify when the renter is responsible for something and when the owner/landlord is responsible.  For example, injuries in a shopping center might be the landlord’s fault if they happen on the sidewalk outside a store, but the store’s fault if they happen inside the store.

When it comes to apartments and condos, there may be common areas like parking lots, sidewalks, laundry rooms, elevators, and staircases that are the landlord’s responsibility, but accidents inside the apartment might be the renter’s fault.  Additionally, some things inside the apartment – like a leaky pipe – might be the landlord’s responsibility if they were in a place the tenant might not have been able to access or clean up.

Bad Actors

Some slip and fall hazards are put in place by bad actors, such as people trying to pull a prank or cause a disturbance.  For example, if some teenagers put baby oil on the floor in a school hallway and a teacher slipped on it, that would likely be the student’s fault, although the school might share liability for failing to reasonably discover the danger and warn people of it.

Damages for Victims of Slip and Fall Accidents in Morrilton, AR

When you get hurt in a slip and fall accident, you may suffer serious injuries.  Although people think of slip and falls as “minor” accidents, the victims know that this is often far from the truth.  You may be left with head injuries, broken bones, strains and sprains, and even back injuries that affect you for months or years after the accident.  In these cases, you can claim damages in following main areas, along with other incidental costs:

Medical Expenses

Going to the hospital and getting care can be quite expensive.  Even if you have medical insurance that can cover some of the expenses, there is no reason that you should be the one to pay for your bills if you were not the one who caused them.

Our lawyers can seek to get these bills paid by the defendant’s insurance and, failing that, go to court to sue the property owner or other defendant directly for these bills.

Lost Earnings

If you miss work because of your injury – even if the accident was completely unrelated to your job – then that injury is what caused your lost earnings.  The wages during your recovery time as well as any wages in the future that the accident causes you should be paid back to you.  This could include the difference between your old and new wages if you have to do light-duty work, or it could include replacement wages for the rest of your life if the injury is totally disabling.

Pain and Suffering

Any injury comes with pain and some level of emotional distress.  More serious injuries come with more experiences, like mental anguish, fear of reinjury, hopelessness that you will be able to make a full recovery, and a lost ability to participate in activities and events that you love.  For example, if you slip and fall and hurt your back, you might not be able to pick up your children or play tennis anymore.  All of these experiences can be accounted for by claiming “non-economic” damages, a.k.a., “pain and suffering,” to pay victims back.

Call Our Morrilton, AR Slip and Fall Attorneys Today

If you were hurt in a slip and fall or other fall-down accident, call our slip and fall lawyers at (479) 316-0438 right away.