Trip and Fall vs. Slip and Fall

What are the differences between trip and fall and a slip and fall accident? How can you determine whether one is a case and one is not? There is a pretty clear distinction between a slip and fall and a trip and fall. The following article describes the two,

Differences Between Slip and Fall and Trip and Fall

They are often used interchangeably, but there are key distinctions and classic examples that separate the two.

A slip and fall is when someone is walking in an area and there is something slippery or wet. It could be from a leaking freezer, from grease left someplace. It can be from mold that has grown on an outside staircase that has not been kept up from the premises owner.

A Trip and fall, by distinction, would be where someone is walking and there is something that is obstructing the walkway, a curb is too high, a sidewalk where the roots of the trees brought the sidewalk paneling up and they trip on it because they can’t see because it is in the shade of the tree.

Do You Have A Case?

How would it be determined by a personal injury attorney as to whether or not you have a case? What is needed to be established is that the client was careful and either the land owner had notice or should have had notice that the premises he/she was providing for someone to walk upon was dangerous. When it’s said that they should have had notice, somebody might see that there curb is not level with the other panels and do nothing about it because they don’t want to go through the expense. If a lawyer can show that they have had notice, either by the length of time, or by actual notice from a prior accident, then you have a classic case of a trip and fall.

Challenges in a Slip, Trip and Fall Accident

The biggest challenge in this type of lawsuit is notice, as far as liability is concerned. The personal injury attorney will have to establish that the premises owner either had notice, or should have had notice, if they were trying to keep the premises up in its proper condition.

Why Hire a personal Injury Lawyer?

What is the main argument for hiring a lawyer to handle your lawsuit? One of the main reasons to hire legal representation is because of the experience most have in dealing with these types of lawsuits. Most of them have handles hundreds, if not thousands, of slip and fall, or trip and fall, cases. They are experienced at locating witnesses, gathering evidence to establish the most difficult parts of these cases, which is the legal notice issue.

What Kind of Damages Can One Expect?

First of all, there are medical damages in this type of scenario. When somebody slips and falls, they hurt themselves, they break an ankle, they injure there back. There are medical damages to get somebody better and there might be future medical damages as time goes on.

In addition to that, they could lose economic benefits such as work time, and they could lose business opportunities that they might have had, but for the fact they had been injured.

Necessity of Preserving Evidence

In a slip and fall or trip and fall case, again going back to the notice issue, you need to preserve evidence to establish that. That can include evidence like pictures, evidence such as an expert to come on the scene and test a coefficient of friction, because each surface that is provided in a commercial setting, and even in a residential setting, has to have a certain kind of surface to make it safe and not slippery. There might be examples of cases where there is painted concrete surfaces that might be not slippery when dry, but extremely slippery when wet. That’s when an expert is used to test things to make that determination. Another big thing these days is surveillance cameras. This can be a huge piece of evidence if the situation was caught on tape.