Atlanta slip-and-fall attorney

Follow the right steps after a slip and fall accident so you have the best chance of making a full recovery from your injuries and so your Atlanta slip and fall lawyer can build the best case to get you the maximum settlement.

1. Seek medical attention

After a sudden fall, your body releases adrenaline, the fight-or-flight hormone. Adrenaline masks pain, which is why it’s so important to have a medical professional assess you for injuries.

2. Document the accident scene

Take pictures with your phone, including yourself and the place you fell. A video helps, too – it shows whether there was a warning sign or barrier to prevent people from falling.

3. Report the accident

Ask for the premises manager – like the grocery store supervisor or an office manager. Each facility has its own reporting procedure, but you must report the accident as soon as it happens so you can prove that you got hurt there.

4. Consult an Atlanta slip-and-fall attorney

You’ll get a lot of phone calls after a slip-and-fall accident, usually from the owner or the company’s legal department. Expect the premises’ insurance company to contact you too, since it’s responsible for paying any injury claims.

Before you reply to these calls, talk to an Atlanta slip-and-fall attorney. Your attorney works for you and wants to make sure that a careless property owner pays for your losses following your accident.

As your Atlanta slip-and-fall attorney, we communicate with the insurance company for you. It will use anything you say to deny or minimize your claim – we prevent this from happening.

Slip and fall accidents can happen anywhere, from an icy sidewalk to a freshly waxed floor inside an office building. Slick, dirty, or wet surfaces are dangerous no matter what shoes you’re wearing or how slowly you walk.

Stairway accidents

Falling down stairs carries a lot of risks. Building codes usually require handrails for stairs safety; if a staircase is old, rickety, or doesn’t have proper safety railings, the property owner could be responsible for your fall.

Flooring accidents

Poorly maintained flooring, a spill that isn’t cleaned up in time, or flooring too slick for safety is hazardous for anyone.

Trip-and-fall accidents

Tripping is similar to slip-and-fall, but you usually fall forward in these kinds of accidents, not backward. Most people hurt their wrists since they instinctively put their hands out to break their fall. You could trip over a rolled edge of carpet, a curb, cord, or debris left in the way.

Lighting-related accidents

Poor lighting makes a property owner liable for any accidents that happen. You can’t avoid a slip hazard if you can’t see where you’re going.

Slip and fall accidents happen so suddenly that you can’t really react in time to prevent the consequences of a hard fall. Some of the most common injuries after a slip and fall accident include:

• Broken bones and fractures
• Concussion or a brain injury
• Bruising
• Soft tissue injuries
• Broken or twisted ankles
• Broken or twisted wrists
• Facial damage, like missing teeth, a broken nose, or cracked occipital bone
• Neck, back, and spine injuries

Older people are more likely to suffer grievous injuries after a fall. Their bones are more brittle and likely to break, and they may not heal as quickly as a younger person.

The best time to file a claim is as soon as possible. There are a few good reasons to file right away:

• Your memory of the accident is fresh
• Your injuries are new and easily documented
• The witnesses to your fall have the incident fresh in their minds, too
• The longer you wait, the greater the chance the property owner will say you got hurt elsewhere
• Your slip and fall lawyer in Atlanta has plenty of time to investigate your fall and build your case

Perhaps the most important reason to act fast and talk to a slip-and-fall attorney in Midtown Atlanta is that Georgia has a deadline for filing a slip-and-fall suit – a statute of limitations of just two years from the date of your fall.

Slip and fall accident victims may receive two categories of damages:

Economic damages

These are objective damages- your actual financial losses – and include:

• Medical bills and emergency room care
• Medications and durable medical devices to help you get around after the accident
• Property damage – you might have dropped your phone and broken it when you fell, for example
• Missed wages because you had to take off work to recover from your injuries

Non-economic damages

Although it’s hard to put a dollar value on the pain and suffering you feel after a nasty slip and fall accident, Georgia courts still believe that victims may receive financial compensation for the pain of the injuries, emotional trauma, fear from the fall, consideration for any temporary or permanent disability, and a loss of enjoyment of life.

Non-economic damages are calculated as a factor of your economic damages and are higher for more severe accidents.

How do you deal with an insurance company after a slip and fall accident? You don’t! Let your Atlanta slip-and-fall attorney talk to the other party’s insurance company. If you must give a statement, be brief, explain where and how you were injured, and then refer all communications to your attorney.

Harrison Injury Law has reasonable rates for representation from a midtown Atlanta slip and fall lawyer – not a paralegal. We’re so sure you’ll be happy working with an attorney that we offer a 90-Day Challenge. If you aren’t satisfied with our aggressive investigation into your case and compassionate representation, you can drop us within 100 days at no cost to you. Check out our 100daytrial.com to learn about your chance to try our team out for 100 days for free.