“Slip and fall” or “trip and fall” are types of personal injury case based on physical harm suffered as a result of slipping or tripping on someone else’s property. Tort law requires owners and possessors of property to keep their property reasonably safe for visitors. When a slip and fall incident happens on property owned or maintained by another person, the owner, manager or possessor of the property may be held legally responsible for the harm or injury.
Types of Slip-And-Fall Injuries
Swimming Pool Incidents
In Las Vegas where commercial establishments maintain swimming pools, thousands of slip-and-fall incidents occur in and around pools each year, causing injuries that range in severity.
Swimming pool incidents are often linked to faulty pool equipment and lack of supervision around the pool, factors that are within the control of owners or managers of pool premises.
Shuttle Service Injuries
Most Las Vegas hotels provide shuttle services to their patrons. Passengers have suffered from slips and falls while boarding and disembarking from these shuttles.
Falling in Bathtubs
Injuries arising from falls in slippery bathtubs are also common in hotels. In the hotel industry, the standard of care requires that atextured surface, rubber mat, or other friction device is provided or placed at the bottom of the tub, to prevent slips and falls.
Determining Fault for Slip and Fall
Anyone who is injured in a slip and fall must be concerned with determining or identifying the cause of the fall and whether the owner or the entiy knew or should have know about the dangerous condition and did not do anything to warn of it.
Knowledge of the property’s dangerous condition may be established by showing that:
- The defendant created the condition
- The defendant knew the condition existed and failed to correct the dangerous condition
- The dangerous condition existed for such a length of time that the owner should have been aware of it — and corrected the hazard — before the slip-and-fall incident
In slip-and-fall injury lawsuits, the crucial issue often hinges on whether the defendant knew or should have known of the dangerous condition (for example, a spill on the floor), and if they did, what they did to warn of the condition. In complicated slip-and-fall cases on commercial property, it is possible for more than one person or entity to be legally responsible for someone’s injuries. Talk to an experienced Las Vegas slip-and-fall attorney if you have sustained injuries in a commercial establishment.
Determining fault for a complicated fall will entail an extensive review of all available evidence such as incident reports, video footage, statements by witnesses, pictures of the scene eyewitness accounts, and other physical evidence.
A personal injury attorney can promptly send a written notice to the manager of the premises, directing them to preserve all evidence relating to the incident. Many times the premise owner or their insurance company will not turn over the information unless a lawsuit if filed and the case goes to litigation. If the case proceeds to litigation, your Las Vegas personal injury lawyer will request the evidence to aid in determining the cause of your injury as well as aid in identifying the party legally responsible for it.
Time Limit for Filing a Slip-And-Fall Lawsuit
Nevada requires an injured party to file the slip-and-fall injury lawsuit against the appropriate party within two years of the incident. Beyond this period, you may no longer be able to recover compensation even if you have strong evidence of the negligence of the premises owner or manager.
The same statute of limitations also applies when a slip and fall causes someone’s fatal injuries, entitling the decedent’s family or estate to bring a claim for wrongful death against the property owner or possessor.
Slip and Fall Compensation
If you have been injured as the result of a “slip-and-fall” due to the negligence or fault of the owner or manager of the premises, you may be entitled to compensation. At the personal injury law firm of Bertoldo Baker Carter & Smith, our slip and fall attorneys will work very hard to help you recover compensation for your medical expenses, lost income, and pain and suffering.
Our team of experienced and skilled Las Vegas slip and fall attorneys have helped clients to recover the full value of compensation that they deserve.
Call us today at (702) 505-8115 to arrange for your complimentary initial consultation with one of our approachable attorneys.
