You’re out shopping, walking around a store or mall and all of a sudden you slip and fall. Or you’re going into a store to run an errand and slip and fall on ice in front of the store. You’ve sustained a serious injury and have lost time from work due to your injury. What do you do?
If your slip and fall was due to the negligence of another, you may be able to recover for medical bills incurred, lost wages, out of pocket expenses, and pain and suffering. The first step is determining if someone else is a fault for your injury. For example, if you slipped and fell on ice, where was the ice located? Who was responsible for maintaining the area where the ice was? Did the responsible party have notice of the ice? If you slipped and fell on a banana peel at the grocery store, it would be important to determine how long the banana peel was on the floor and if the grocery store was aware of the unsafe condition. If the banana peel was brown and dirty it could be an indicator that the peel had been on the floor for an extended period of time without the store cleaning the area.
In Massachusetts, property owners have a duty to all lawful visitors to their property to use reasonable care to maintain their property in a reasonably safe condition in view of all the circumstances. If you fell on snow and ice was it in the middle of a snow storm? Or was it two days after a snowfall and the sidewalk remained covered in ice? If the snow and ice is fresh, the property owner may not have had a reasonable opportunity to remedy the problem. However, if it has been two days since the storm and the sidewalk is covered in ice, the owner likely has had notice of the unsafe conditions and a reasonable opportunity to remedy the icy sidewalk.
If you were injured in a slip and fall accident you may be able to recover for your injuries. Call us at Phillips Silver to review your case to determine if a third party may be liable for your injuries. Phillips Silver has helped many clients throughout Massachusetts seek recourse for their slip and fall injuries and is ready to discuss your case with you. Contact us for a free consultation. www.pstas.com
The information you obtain on this blog is not, nor is it intended to be, legal advice. You should consult a lawyer for advice regarding your individual situation. We invite you to contact Phillips Silver and welcome your calls, letters and electronic mail. Please note, contacting us does not create an attorney-client relationship. Please do not send any confidential information to us until such time as an attorney-client relationship has been established.
