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Bundza & Rodriguez, P.A. Proven Trial Attorneys
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Quickly Gather Evidence for Your Slip and Fall Case

SlipFall

After falling in a store or other residence, your primary focus should be on receiving medical treatment. Prompt medical care gives you the best chance of making a full recovery and returning to work or your hobbies as soon as possible. Nevertheless, you also must focus on gathering evidence to show what caused you to slip or trip.

Common Hazards

Even careful people fall. Many slips and falls are caused by the following hazards, which store owners should have fixed:

  • Worn tread on stairs or carpeting
  • Poor lighting
  • Liquid on the floor
  • Objects on a floor
  • Uneven floorboards
  • Loose tiles
  • Poorly designed staircases
  • Rickety railings

These are only some of the hazards that await unsuspecting customers and visitors whenever they enter a private residence or place of business, and each can send people tumbling.

Premises Liability

If you fall in a business or on private property, you might be able to sue for financial compensation. All premises owners have a duty to keep their property in reasonably safe condition for the benefit of visitors. In particular, owners must fix any hazards they know about or should have known about and warn visitors about any that cannot be fixed. If you slipped on a transitory foreign substance in a business, you must show the business owner had actual or constructive knowledge the substance was on the floor and had time to remove it.

To prove your case, you will need to present evidence that a hazard existed. You should collect evidence quickly, before the premises owner can either fix the hazard or put up a warning that wasn’t there when you slipped or tripped. For example, a disreputable store owner might quickly replace worn tread on stairs and then deny that anything was wrong when you bring a lawsuit.

Collect Evidence

As soon as possible, you should collect evidence that will help you establish that the landlord knew or should have known about the hazard that injured you. Collect the following:

  • Take pictures of the hazards. If you slipped on a puddle, ask someone to take a picture with their smartphone or give your phone to someone to take a picture. These spills are easy to clean up, and you want visual evidence that the puddle existed.

  • Get the names of bystanders. Ask anyone who saw you fall for their name and either phone number or email.

  • Write down your own memories as soon as possible. In particular, write down whether you saw any warnings or whether the store owner admitted fault after you became injured.

  • Take pictures of your injuries soon after receiving treatment. By the time you go to trial, your bruises will have faded and wounds will have healed. Get vivid, color pictures while your injuries are fresh.

It’s okay if you are too hurt to immediately collect this evidence. Our personal injury lawyers are skilled at investigating accident scenes and obtaining the evidence necessary to help you bring a successful claim.

Have You Been Injured After a Fall?

At Bundza & Rodriguez in Daytona, we fight to obtain badly-needed compensation for our slip-and-fall clients. We have won several favorable settlements or verdicts, and we are here to help you. Contact us today for your free consultation.

Resource:

leg.state.fl.us/Statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&URL=0700-0799/0768/Sections/0768.0755.html

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