Business Owners May Be Responsible for Sidewalk Slip or Fall Injuries

Business Owner’s Limited Responsibility for Slip and Fall Injuries

You may be one of 800,000 patients hospitalized every year in the United States after falling, or you may be one of the 3 million who only needed emergency medical treatment. A thoughtful merchant who takes responsibility and calls an ambulance for you after a fall may accept responsibility for your accident preferring to pay rather than engage in costly time-consuming civil litigation. The merchant or his insurance company may lavish you with payment for your ambulance, emergency room visit, lost wages, and pain and suffering, but they will also try to minimize their losses.

Injuries From Slip and Fall Accidents

Falls can be fatal. Truthfully, not all injuries are immediately apparent. If you slip and fall on a public sidewalk in New Jersey, you are responsible for the medical bills incurred while seeking treatment for your personal injuries. Medical bills from your fall can cost you hundreds of thousands of dollars. Your skull is only 0.25 inches thick and is easily fractured during an unexpected fall. You could suffer permanent brain damage or need a hip or knee replacement as a result of the accident. Studies show that people who have been hurt in a fall are twice as likely to fall again.

Contributory Negligence

To file a third-party premises injury lawsuit for financial compensation after slipping and falling on a public sidewalk, you must prove that someone’s negligence caused your injuries. You may be grappling with financial and legal problems because you fell, but a third-party is not responsible for your medical bills, lost wages, and emotional distress unless he or she caused or directly contributed to your fall. Your contributory negligence, not looking where you were going, having a related preexisting condition, or being grossly overweight could have also caused your injuries. While that may seem unfair, your osteoporosis, osteoarthritis, or obesity may be really why you fell and need shoulder, knee, or hip surgery and weren’t the merchant’s fault.

Workers’ Compensation

If you fell while you were traveling to or from work or while working for your employer, you may be eligible for New Jersey workers’ compensation that will pay your medical bills, $258 to $969 weekly for lost wages, and your transportation to and from your doctors’ appointments or physical therapy. You must notify your employer of your injury immediately, however. Workers’ compensation applications must be timely and correctly filed, preferably by an experienced personal injury attorney who is familiar with the forms and understands the process. Ideally, workers’ compensation is temporary partial disability until you can return to work. If you accept workers’ compensation, your employer has met his financial obligation to you and is not liable for your injuries that occurred on their property or on a jobsite.

Negotiations With Adverse Party

In discussions with the adverse party, your personal injury attorney will get an idea of what the business owner is willing to pay and why. Our attorney strives to negotiate the greatest possible financial compensation for damages in your case, but it may take some time to resolve all disputed issues.

Compensation for Your Premises Injuries

Typically, the business owner or merchant who is liable for your injuries hopes to resolve the personal injury accident as fast as possible. If both sides compromise on the amount they are willing to pay or accept, a settlement can be reached in your case. A settlement is preferred over a jury trial because you know exactly how much money you will receive to pay for medical bills and lost wages.

Rebemack, Aronow, and Mascolo, L.L.P. – RAM Law

We have extensive experience in representing clients in premises personal injury cases, and we want to help you. Call our New Brunswick, New Jersey, personal injury attorney at (732) 247-3600 for a free confidential initial consultation to discuss your premises injury case.