Slip and fall accidents cause a large number of hospital visitors. Statistically speaking, these encounters cause injuries to nearly one million Americans every year. Depending on the severity of wounds, a slip and fall mishap can disrupt your life in numerous ways. For example, you may get advised by the doctor to take bed rest for an extensive period. It will not only balloon up medical bills but also keep you from earning wages.
From your office to a random grocery store, slip and fall accidents can take place anywhere. The law empowers an individual to hold the business owner accountable for financial compensation. In technical terms, the process is called settlement. It sets free the defendant from charges in return for a lump sum amount.
Every settlement is different regardless of how striking the similarities maybe like a wound or accident. However, there are some common factors to be considered while determining the worth of every settlement. Let’s get to the bottom of these key components without further ado:
- Competency Of The Attorney
Unfortunately, people do not spare due attention as far as hiring a lawyer is concerned. Mind you; an attorney can be a dealmaker or deal-breaker. Hence, you can’t set a foot wrong while selecting an attorney. Here is what you need to take into account to get hooked up with an ideal legal representative:
- Check reputation: No matter where you live, the odds are, your state would get peppered with lawyers who specialize in slip and fall jurisdiction. The best way to filter mediocre attorneys from the cluster is to tap into their reputation. Local and state bar associations may come in handy in providing you useful information about lawyers’ track records.
- Review ratings: Ratings are an impeccable indicator of a lawyer’s skills. There is no shortage of online resources that ensure credible attorney ratings without costing a dime.
- Dive into the website: Like other professions, the lawyer community has also taken giant leaps to enhance its online presence. You can find their websites in a breeze. For example, if you live in Tampa’s whereabouts or any incident that took place near Tampa, type slip and fall attorney Tampa, and the screen will get flooded with options. Make sure you go through the client reviews to improve the chances of engaging with a pitch-perfect attorney.
- Negligence
Negligence refers to the ignorance of taking proper safety measures. It would get assessed whether the defendant could do anything to prevent the accident. For instance, if you fall on the floor, you will have to prove that the floor was not appropriately well-mopped or obstructed your way. As a plaintiff, one will also have to argue that he/she could not assess the danger and subsequently avoid it.
Low lighting and failure to enforce the company policy typically emerge as deciding factors to highlight the negligence. At times, the defendant may come up with a valid reason to obstruct the route. But you must debate the construction was not justified by any means at the time of the accident.
Plaintiffs are obliged to bear the burden of proof. So set your facts straight as they will play a critical role in ascertaining the scale of neglect. Often, such cases eventually get decided based on witness statements and accident reports.
It could be challenging to expect a specific verdict from juries. Therefore, if you have got strong evidence, the defendant would be in a vulnerable position. And it may force him to settle the dispute in private rather than relying on a court-ordered settlement.
- The Seriousness Of The Injury
The magnitude of an injury heavily influences slip and fall settlements. Someone with minor injuries would get compensated for less than a person keeping up with a permanent disability. The equation is pretty straightforward; the gravity of an injury is directly proportional to the financial aid.
That said, sometimes cases related to permanent disability could be very tricky to pin down. It is because they involve a lot of money. For example, if you are a cricketer and the accident has damaged your wrist, it will affect your life quality. Worse yet, you might have to swap the profession to be able to earn. As a result, the plaintiff may ask for a higher settlement. The demand may trigger a long-lasting negotiation process between the attorneys of both parties. Usually, it boils down to taking references from past settlements and making an educated guess from them.
- Medical Costs
Medical expenses entail the money that is required to restore a plaintiff’s health. Calculating medical bills is a relatively straightforward procedure. The injured party may ask to get paid for surgeries, hospitalization, medical equipment, medications, and future medical expenditures necessary during the rehabilitation.
In case you are incurring a permanent disability, you may be liable to receive at-home healthcare services down the road.
- Where is the suit filed?
The county where a suit gets filed could impact the overall bounty a plaintiff might obtain. As a rule of thumb, the juries in urban areas settle the case for a lower amount than juries in rural areas. The law binds a plaintiff to file the claim in the place where the accident had transpired.
The Concluding Remarks
An overwhelming majority of slip and fall cases do not go for trial. They get generally settled between the plaintiffs and defendants. If you want to maximize the settlement amount, we recommend you follow the steps mentioned above religiously.
