Were you injured in a trip and fall in Arizona? Read our answers to commonly asked slip and fall questions, then contact us to get started.
How long is it going to take to resolve my slip and fall injury claim?
When it comes to a timeline, one of the key components in any case here in Phoenix, Arizona, and really anywhere across the country, is you. The speed of the case is up to you. Why do we say that? Well, because we have to make sure that you are whole and healthy before we move on a case. You never want to close a case down before the client is all the way recovered or recovered to the degree that they’re going to recover and done with their rehabilitation and getting back to health. There are medical records and medical bills that are still ongoing, so we want to make sure that we have all of the damages, costs and fees we need to come up with a holistic number and value your case.
How long does it take? Well, the wild card in that is you. How long is it going to take you to recover and get back up on your feet so that we can pursue those claims? After that, there’s the litigation process. If it does not settle before filing the lawsuit, the litigation process can take some time and, of course, the court affects that.
One thing that we try to make sure we do here at Smith and Green in our Arizona office and in our other areas of jurisdiction where we practice is we try to make sure, in a very positive manner and an affirmative manner, that we keep you, the client, abreast along the way of the process. Just a simple phone call to somebody in our office— to one of the lawyers or administrative assistants— will keep you up to date on your case and give you guidelines and time frames as to how long your case is going to take. It changes from time to time, but a part of our job is to communicate with you and keep you abreast of how long it will take to resolve your slip and fall claim.
How do a I determine the value of my slip and fall claim?
As with any personal injury case, the injuries, damages, and costs that have been sustained— the loss of consortium, loss of limb or whatever extent the injuries are— are going to be critical. A slip and fall case here in Arizona is no different. The medical bills, the records, all of those things – what’s happened at home, the impact that it has had on your employment – are all things that we look at when coming up with a value for your slip and fall case.
When you meet with one of our attorneys, you’ll need to gather all of that information together. We know some of it will be ongoing, especially if you’re still treating and still incurring costs as relates to medical bills or still suffering from the emotional impact and trauma of a slip and fall case. It’s important that you continue to give your lawyer the information so that we can adequately value your case; that value of the case may change from time to time as the injury goes on and as your treatment goes on.
Have a very candid talk with your lawyer. Keep your lawyer abreast of changes. They’ll ask you for things but, ultimately, it’s going to be the injury and the damages that are the driving force of valuing your slip and fall claim.
What are common mistakes after being injured in a slip and fall?
If you are a little older, you might remember when the first cell phone came out. One of the biggest mistakes we see people make is running to social media and posting things that are contrary to the injuries that they’re claiming in their slip and fall case. There are some things that you don’t need to put out there. We understand that we’re very social beings and we have all this multimedia stuff. But we often tell clients that are personal injury clients, specifically slip and fall clients here in Arizona, it’s not wise to say everything across social media. At some point, that’s going to come up against you. The insurance company is going to go scrub your social media accounts. They’re going to go talk to people. They’re going to go look at the pictures of you playing basketball two days after you slipped and fell or going to the convenience store. They’re going to pile all this stuff up against you to minimize the value of your case and say, “Well, you really weren’t that hurt,” or, “You really weren’t hurt at all.”
Another mistake we see is people trying to heal and get back too fast when they’re still injured without consulting with their lawyer to make sure that it’s okay to return to normal activity. They settle their case and then three months later they have injuries again. They make you sign a release and a claim of liability. You can’t go back and take a second bite of the apple. You have to be careful of all of these things.
Have that candid talk with your lawyer when you call. Whichever lawyer will be dealing with your case will go over the do’s and don’ts about your slip and fall case so that you’re not making some of the common mistakes that most folks here in Arizona make.
What is a slip and fall claim?
An important area of personal injury law deals with slip and falls. They are not as common as car accidents, which seem like they happen every day, but they are more common than people imagine. You’re walking through a grocery store. There’s spilled milk on the aisle where the cartons of milk are, and fifteen people have walked by and no one has made any effort to clean up this spilled milk. You walk on it, you slip and fall, and that could be a problem. Or, there’s a nail in the floor. They’ve known it’s been there for the last three weeks. They haven’t taken the time to fix it. You walk over it, the heel of your shoe gets caught on it, and you slip and fall and break an elbow or break your femur. These are slip and fall cases. They happen quite often, although they are not as pronounced as car accidents are.
You want to make sure that you select an attorney that understands the theory of liability under slip and fall cases, which defines how folks that own property are to maintain their property and make sure that there are no known present dangers. You want to talk to an attorney that can walk through that analysis with you because it very well may not have been an accident that’s your fault. It may have been something that this company or property owner was supposed to fix and did not fix. So, first and foremost, you want to sit and talk with a lawyer.
Call our office. We’ll sit down and go over the facts of your case. There could be something there. Certainly you didn’t fall on your own, didn’t fall on purpose. Talk with one of our lawyers. Let’s find out what the theories of liability are and what the damages are so that your claims can be adequately pursued.
Were you or a loved one severely injured in a trip and fall in Arizona and have questions? After reading our answers to commonly asked slip and fall questions, contact experienced Phoenix Slip and Fall Attorneys at Smith & Green today for a legal consultation.
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