Crockett Law Group | San Bernardino Slip and Fall Attorney
San Bernardino property owners owe their customers and visitors a duty to maintain a safe environment free of hazards. Unfortunately, slip and fall accidents still occur. Slip and fall accidents occur when a person trips or slips on a hazardous surface while on someone else’s property. If you or a loved one was recently injured in a slip and fall accident, you should contact the San Bernardino slip and fall lawyers at Crockett Law Group by dialing
(800) 900-9393. We can help you fight for the compensation you deserve. We offer our clients a free, initial no-obligation consultation.
What Are the Most Common Slip and Fall Accidents?
Slip and fall accidents can happen virtually anywhere, from someone else’s garden or home, to a pavement, or grocery store. At Crockett Law Group, we have successfully handled numerous cases relating to slip and falls and some of the most common causes we have identified include: – Unlit hallways or walkways. – Weather-related conditions such as ice or snow that isn’t salted and/or shoveled away. – Spills that are not cleaned up inside stores, nursing homes, hospitals, etc. – Malfunctioning escalators that start or stop abruptly. – Rotting, loose, or inadequately maintained steps, stairways, and handrails. – Wet/slick floors, staircases, or walkways. – Uncleared hazardous debris such as tree branches, etc. in driveways, parking lots, and storefronts. – Failure to install anti-slip devices, storm drains, or gutters, which lead to hazardous conditions during heavy snowfall or rainfall. – Newer structures with incorrectly tacked, or bunched carpet, installed recently. – Older structures with ripped or loose carpet, cracked hardwood, broken tiles, and other hazardous floor coverings. – Failure to put up signs and/or restrict access to areas when hazardous conditions such as any of the above exist.
How Can a San Bernardino Slip and Fall Attorney Help Me with My Case?
Our San Bernardino slip and fall attorneys at Crockett law Group know that being injured in a slip and fall accident can be an overwhelming physical, financial, and emotional burden. That’s why we help lessen your suffering by providing you with powerful representation and efficient, caring service. Our legal team can handle all the details of your slip and fall claim, including:
Evidence Collection and Preservation
Evidence is essential for proving your claim. You have the legal right to obtain any evidence available to use for your legal claim and will require help to navigate the process of discovery. Our lawyers will make evidence requests and build a solid case around your injury to help prove who was the at-fault party for your slip and fall accident. Some of the evidence we may use to support your claim includes: – Witness Statements – Photos of the Accident Scene – Medical Records Proving Liability and Fault Proving liability can be challenging without the help of our lawyers who have a good understanding of the process of proving negligence in a slip and fall injury claim. Once we have gathered all the relevant evidence, we will present it to the insurance company or court to establish the other party’s negligence. We will help you prove that proper care or responsibility wasn’t taken thus leading to the slip and fall accident.
Dealing with Insurance Adjusters
Insurance companies are never focused on looking out for your interest and will actually do everything in their power to pay out the least amount possible. Insurance adjusters have just one job, which is to fight for the best interests of the insurance company. If you hire our slip and fall lawyers to represent you, however, you can be sure that there’s someone looking out for your best interests and staying ahead of any attempts to either downplay or undermine your injuries or claims.
Settlement Negotiation
If you attempt to negotiate a settlement with the insurance company without involving our lawyers, you can expect to be offered significantly less compensation than you deserve. If you want to get the compensation that you are entitled to for your injuries and damages, you should have a good team of lawyers such as those at Crockett Law Group that will advocate on your behalf and negotiate with the insurance company.
Representing You in Court
If the settlement negotiations fail, as they sometimes do, your last option is filing a lawsuit that will have to be handled in court. If your slip and fall claim has taken this route, you will want our experienced lawyers on your side to argue your case. While you legally have the option of representing yourself, the defending party will most likely have an experienced lawyer working on their behalf. So, if you want to stand a chance at obtaining a favorable verdict, you need to hire our lawyers to represent you.
What Steps Can Be Taken to Help a Slip and Fall Case?
If you slip and fall in a public place, you can be your best advocate. Take the following steps to protect your claim: – Report the Accident: You should notify the property owner or manager that the accident occurred. You may be required to fill out a report form. However, be extremely cautious about signing paperwork of any kind since it could limit your ability to recover compensation. – Gather Evidence: If you can, take pictures of the defect that resulted in your injury. It is an important step since some conditions, such as a greasy or wet floor, may disappear if you wait to document it. – Witnesses: Get the names and contact details of any potential witnesses in the area where the accident occurred. If they actually witnessed you fall, that’s great, but even if they didn’t witness the actual accident they can still attest to the conditions of the area immediately after the accident. – Don’t Assign or Accept Blame: Establishing fault in slip and fall accidents requires an investigation to be conducted. Due to this reason, you should avoid assigning or accepting blame for the accident until your case has been thoroughly reviewed by experienced professionals. – See a Doctor: Even if you feel that your injuries are minor, it can be a good idea to go to your doctor’s office for an examination and an official record. Injuries sometimes fail to fully manifest for days after the accident. It is always advisable to rule out any serious back, neck, head, or internal injuries. – Hire a Lawyer: You need to hire a lawyer as soon as possible so that they can get to work. The property owner or manager may try to remedy the hazard before evidence is collected to minimize their liability. Fortunately, the lawyers at Crockett Law know how to hold property owners accountable for injuries caused by slip and fall accidents in their premises and will fight for the maximum compensation you deserve.
How Can a Slip and Fall Accident be Proved?
If you sustain a serious injury after a slip and fall accident on someone else’s premises, you won’t be automatically entitled to claim compensation for your injuries and losses. You must first prove that the property owner or manager was liable for the accident through either deliberately dangerous actions or negligence. It will include proving that: – The property owner or manager knew about the hazardous condition or should have reasonably known about it. – If the hazardous condition was known, sufficient time had lapsed in which the property owner or manager could have taken steps to fix it but failed to take reasonable steps to remedy it. – The injured victim (you) was not aware of the existence of the hazardous conditions since either there weren’t any signs posted or couldn’t see it in time. Proving a slip and fall accident can be incredibly difficult to do without relevant legal experience, and it could end up costing you both financially and emotionally if you attempt to handle matters yourself. To find out how a skilled San Bernardino slip and fall lawyer could help you prove a slip and fall accident and successfully recover the compensation you deserve, schedule your free, initial, no-obligation consultation and case evaluation today by calling us at
(800) 900-9393.
How Is Liability Determined in a San Bernardino Slip and Fall Case?
Property owners or managers in California owe a duty of care to protect the people that enter their premises from harm. To recover damages for a slip and fall accident in San Bernardino, you will be required to establish 4 things: – The defendant leased, owned, controlled, or occupied the property – There was negligence on the defendant’s part in the property’s maintenance or use – The slip and fall accident on the property controlled, owned, leased, or occupied by the defendant cause you (the plaintiff) harm. – The defendant’s negligence was a substantial factor in causing the plaintiff harm.
Comparative Negligence Doctrine
California recognizes the doctrine of comparative negligence. Property owners, managers, or occupiers aren’t responsible for damages caused by your own negligence. If you are found to be partly to blame for the slip and fall accident, you may still recover damages, but they will be reduced in proportion to your share of fault. You can expect property owners and their insurance companies to raise arguments shifting part or all the blame for the slip and fall accidents on you. During the process of filing a slip and fall accident injury claim, you may be asked questions such as: – Did you have good reason to be on the property at the time of the accident? – Did the property owner or manager give warning of the hazardous condition that led to the slip and fall accident? – Would a person of reasonable caution (if there weren’t any distractions) in a similar situation have noticed and avoided the dangerous condition? – Were you engaging in any activities that contributed to your slip and fall injury? If the case goes to trial, it will be up to the jury to determine what percentage of fault each party bears for the accident and reduce your damages in proportion to your responsibility. For instance, if you bear 25% of the blame and your damages total $100,000, your award will be reduced to $75,000.
How Much Is My Slip and Fall Case Worth?
If you prevail in your slip and fall accident claim, the amount of compensation you can receive varies significantly. While some victims of slip and fall accidents collect hundreds or thousands of dollars in damages, others collect millions. Every accident is different, which means that averages never apply in such types of cases. Here are some of the factors likely to impact the value of your case: – The severity of your injuries – Your level of patience during settlement negotiations – Your income at the time of the accident – How much insurance the at-fault party has – Whether or not you have an experienced attorney representing you. Our experienced San Bernardino slip and fall accident lawyers at Crockett Law Group will evaluate your case, compare it to past cases, call upon experts, and use other tools to place a monetary value on your slip and fall accident claim.
Are there any Time Limits for Filing a Slip and Fall Lawsuit?
Yes. The deadline or time limit for filing a slip and fall lawsuit in California is generally 2 years from the date of the accident. If the lawsuit is against a government entity, however, you have just 6 months from the date of the accident. It is quite evident that the sooner you file the stronger your case is likely to be due to the relative freshness of the evidence that can be gathered to support your lawsuit. Furthermore, you will be permanently barred from ever filing a lawsuit if you fail to do it within the set timeline.
Suffered a Slip and Fall in San Bernardino? We Can Help!
Slip and fall accidents in San Bernardino usually leave victims suffering from serious injuries and sometimes even death. If you have suffered a serious injury or lost your loved one in a slip and fall accident on someone else’s property, you should talk to one of our lawyers at Crockett Law Group. Call us today at
(800) 900-9393 to schedule your free consultation and case evaluation.
