Slip and fall accidents can happen anywhere at anytime, but when they occur they can cause serious personal injury. Most slip and falls happen in business settings, such as restaurants, grocery stores, drug stores, office buildings, construction sites, gas stations and malls, but they also happen on private property. Premises liability accidents can include toxic exposure, animal attacks such as dog bits, and swimming pool accidents . No matter where it happens there exist duties on the part of the property owners to maintain the property responsibly and avoid the existence of hazardous conditions.
Dangerous or defective conditions may be large or small, temporary or permanent. Therefore, investigation of the claim is essential to a successful case. Temporary conditions, such as water or oil on the floor of a restaurant or snow and ice on the stairs need to be investigated and documented quickly.
If you are injured you need to try to remember all the facts that surrounded the injury. Facts can make or break your case. One such example is the case of Edith L. Freemon v. Logan’s Roadhouse, Inc..that Attorney James Widrig successfully argued before the Tennessee Court of Appeals. http://www.tsc.state.tn.us/OPINIONS/TCA/PDF/091/Freemon%20v%20LogansOPN.pdf In this case Mrs. Feedmon slipped and fell in a Logan’s Restaurant in Antioch, Tennessee. The trial court dismissed the case, but the Court of Appeals reversed the trial court and the is currently going to trial.
Do you have to report the Slip and Fall Accident
Ideally, a slip and fall accident report should be completed at the time of the incident noting what happened, who witnessed both the accident and the conditions that caused the slip and fall, along with any other relevant information such as lighting and objects round the area. However, If you were physically hurt, have your injury checked out immediately to help substantiate your slip and fall injury lawsuit claim, but keep in mind that the requirement for a accident report is generally a store or business policy, rather than required by law. If a report is not completed at the business location or occurred at a private location or was not observed by others, a slip and fall attorney will ask you to compile a record of what happened yourself.
Choosing the Right Tennessee Slip and Fall Lawyer
Slip and fall cases are often challenging and difficult to prove. To prevail, a slip and fall attorney must establish not only the existence of a dangerous condition, but the property owner’s actual or constructive knowledge of that condition. An experienced Tennessee trip and fall attorney should initiate an immediate investigation, and:
- Conduct an inspection of the area to ascertain the dangerous condition that caused the slip and fall accident;
- Secure evidence of the dangerous condition before it “disappears”;
- Track down witnesses, if any, to the slip and fall accident or witnesses with knowledge of the dangerous condition;
- Locate proof of prior complaints about the dangerous condition, if any, or of prior slip and fall accidents at the same location.
A Nashville slip and fall attorney would then possibly hire the appropriate experts. .For example, if the slip and fall occurred on a faulty staircase, an expert, such as a structural engineer, maybe needed to show deviation in the height or width of the steps.
