A slip and fall accident in Marietta, GA can leave you or a loved one with minor injuries or life-threatening wounds. If you’re invited or allowed on someone’s property, it is their legal responsibility to ensure a safe environment. At the very least, property owners or managers should warn you about a potential hazard or dangerous condition on their premises or property.
If you or a loved one was recently injured in a slip and fall accident due to the negligence of a property owner or manager, you need to hire a lawyer. Our experienced Marietta slip and fall lawyers at Diaz & Gaeta can work with you to help you recover maximum compensation for your injuries. Call us today at 678-503-2780 to schedule a free consultation with our personal injury lawyers in Marietta!
What Are the Most Common Slip and Fall Accidents?
The vast majority of slip and fall accidents are avoidable if only individuals and businesses take proper precautions to ensure that their property is safe for employees, guests, and customers. Still, slip and fall accidents are incredibly common and costly, which is why they are considered a public health problem.
Some of the most common slip and fall accidents include but aren’t limited to:
- Unlit hallways or walkways.
- Slick/wet floors, staircases, or walkways.
- Spills not cleaned up inside hospitals, nursing homes, stores, etc.
- Broken staircases.
- Hazardous debris such as tree branches, etc. that isn’t cleaned up.
- Not installing anti-slip devices, gutters, or storm drains leading to hazardous conditions during heavy snowfall or rainfall.
- Malfunctioning escalators.
- Structural defects or inadequate/improper maintenance leading to torn carpeting, broken floor tiles, uneven steps, cracked sidewalks, and potholes in parking lots/streets.
- Failure to place signs and/or restrict access to areas where hazardous conditions like any of the above exist.
How Can a Marietta Slip and Fall Lawyer Help Me With My Case?
A Marietta slip and fall lawyer such as those at Diaz & Gaeta can do several things to help with your case, which includes but isn’t limited to:
- Investigating the facts surrounding what happened and applying the necessary laws to the incident.
- Filing all the necessary paperwork and assembling the documents required to win the case.
- Writing up a demand letter outlining why you are entitled to compensation from the defendant.
- Engaging in settlement negotiation with the insurance company.
- Representing you in court and arguing on your behalf, and assembling expert witnesses to strengthen your case.
- Fighting for the maximum award or settlement available to you under the law.
- Keeping you informed each step of the way.
If you have been hurt in a Marietta slip and fall accident due to another party’s negligence, you are legally entitled to fight for justice. Call the experienced slip and fall lawyers at Diaz & Gaeta at 678-503-2780 today to schedule your free, no-obligation consultation and case evaluation.
What Steps Can Be Taken to Help a Slip and Fall Case?
If you suffer a slip and fall accident in a public place in Marietta, GA, you can be your best advocate by taking the following steps:
Take All the Photos You Can at the Time
If you can, take as many photos of the accident scene and your injuries as you can. It is important to do this since it will establish a record regarding the actual condition of the area in which you slipped and fell such as poor lighting, a wet floor, or any other hazardous or dangerous condition.
Report the Incident to a Manager
If you slipped and fell in a business establishment, you should report it to a supervisor or manager prior to leaving the property. The report creates a record of the accident and places the establishment on notice regarding any slip and fall accident case that you may bring forth.
Take Down the Names and Numbers of Witnesses
If you can, take down the names and contact information of any witnesses present at the time of the slip and fall accident. Witnesses can be invaluable when it comes to establishing liability. They can also help protect your legal rights by corroborating your version of the slip and fall accident story.
If You Need Medical Attention, Get It Immediately
Seeking immediate medical attention following the slip and fall accidents protects your health and legal rights. If you are evaluated by a medical professional, there will be an established record that can help strengthen your case when pursuing compensation for your injuries.
If You Can, See if the Problem Is Addressed Right Away
If you can, see to it that the problem is addressed immediately to ensure that nobody else suffers the same fate as yourself. However, you should only do so after taking photos of the accident scene before the hazardous or dangerous condition was addressed.
How Can a Slip and Fall Accident Be Proved?
To prove a slip and fall accident, you will likely have to show that the property owner, manager, or occupier was negligent regarding their duty to maintain the safety of their property. A successful slip and fall accident claim may show:
- The property owner, manager, or occupier created or knew about a physical hazard or dangerous condition on the property but didn’t address it, leading to the slip and fall.
- The property owner, manager, or occupier should have reasonably known about the physical hazard or dangerous condition and taken steps to address it.
- The injured victim wasn’t aware of the physical hazard or dangerous condition on the property because they either couldn’t see it in time or there were no signs posted.
You should note, however, that factors unique to each slip and fall case may affect the outcome of your case. Our slip and fall lawyers at Diaz & Gaeta in Marietta, GA can look at the specific details of your accident and advise you further on how the law applies to your case.
How Is Liability Determined in a Marietta, GA Slip and Fall Case?
You aren’t automatically entitled to compensation if you’re injured in a slip and fall accident on someone else’s property. To recover compensation for your injuries, you need to prove that one or more parties are directly negligent or legally liable for your injuries.
Proving negligence in a slip and fall accident case is a very complex process. That’s why you need to speak with a knowledgeable lawyer after a slip and fall accident. In most instances, proving negligence involves proving the following elements:
Duty of Care
Property owners, managers, or occupiers have a “duty of care” to their visitors, employees, and other guests on their premises. Fulfilling their duty of care involves keeping their property free of hazards or dangers that may result in injury. For instance, business owners have a duty to keep their floors clean and free of debris to keep their customers and visitors reasonably safe.
Breach of Duty
To prove that a negligent action took place, you will need to prove that the at-fault party failed to fulfill their duty of care. For instance, suppose a Marietta store owner failed to post signage indicating a slip on the floor. If a customer slipped and fell, sustaining a serious injury in the process, he/or she would have grounds for a slip and fall accident claim.
Causation
The next thing you have to prove in your slip and fall claim is that the at-fault party’s actions had a causal relationship to the resulting injury. Proving negligence involves providing evidence that the at-fault party’s negligent behavior is solely responsible for your injuries and losses. A slip and fall lawyer can help you with this.
Damages
Finally, you need to also prove that you suffered actual harm. Even if the property owner, manager, or occupier failed to fulfill their duty of care, a negligence lawsuit against them would not be valid unless you suffered some harm. If no physical, financial or emotional harm resulted from your slip and fall accident, you would be unable to pursue a successful legal claim.
Duty of Care in Slip and Fall Accident Cases
Slip and fall cases can be categorized under “premises liability” cases where the central question is usually whether someone in charge of the premises breached a duty. A property owner, manager, or occupier has a legal duty to protect against, repair, or give warning of dangers that they knew about or should have reasonably known about.
During the process of filing a slip and fall accident case, you may be asked the following questions by the property owner, manager, or occupier’s legal team or insurance company looking to absolve the client of their legal duty to provide a safe environment for visitors, employees, or customers:
- Did you have a good reason to be on the premises at the time of the accident?
- Would a person of reasonable caution (if they were not distracted in any way) in the same situation have noticed and avoided the hazardous or dangerous condition?
- Did the property owner, manager, or occupier give a warning about the dangerous condition that led to the slip and fall accident?
- Were you engaging in any activities that could have contributed to your slip and fall accident and the resulting injuries?
Dealing With the Allegations of Comparative Negligence
Property owners, managers, and occupiers along with their legal teams and insurance companies will often try to argue that the victim’s own carelessness played a role in their slip and fall accident. It is referred to as the comparative negligence defense.
Georgia law doesn’t completely bar recovery if you were partly responsible for your injuries with the threshold set at 49% for you to still be eligible for compensation. Still, allegations of comparative fault in a slip and fall accident may limit your recovery to damages you would have otherwise been entitled to.
Experienced slip and fall lawyers in Marietta, GA such as those at Diaz & Gaeta, however, will be prepared for the defense to argue that your negligence played a role in your slip and fall accident. Our lawyers will assess the evidence, dispute the allegations of partial fault, and pursue full recovery for all your losses.
How Much Is My Slip and Fall Case Worth?
If you or a loved one was injured in a Marietta, GA slip and fall accident, you may be wondering how much the case is worth. However, there are many different factors that have to be considered and analyzed when making this determination.
The slip and fall lawyers at Diaz & Gaeta in Marietta are highly experienced in dealing with such cases. We will ask you several precise questions to give you a full case evaluation at no cost to you. You won’t even have to pay us anything unless we make a successful recovery for you.
Are There Any Time Limits for Filing a Slip and Fall Lawsuit?
Yes. The time limit for filing a slip and fall lawsuit in Georgia is 2 years from the date of the accident.
That said, if you were injured on a property owned by a government entity, you must file an administrative claim before filing a lawsuit. The deadline to file an administrative claim is 6 months for cases involving a municipality like the city of Marietta. The deadline is one year for claims involving the county or state government.
Injured in a Marietta, GA Slip and Fall Accident? We Can Help You Recover Compensation!
If you had a slip and fall accident on someone else’s property and suffered injuries and/or property damage, you may be entitled to compensation. However, the time to act is now and the slip and fall lawyers at Diaz & Gaeta are here to help.
Our lawyers have extensive experience handling premises liability claims, including those that involve slip and fall accidents in Marietta. We investigate thoroughly and gather all evidence of the property owner, manager, or occupiers’ negligence, and then pursue the full compensation you are rightfully entitled to.
Call us today at 678-503-2780 to schedule your free consultation with our experienced Marietta slip and fall lawyers.
