Baytown Slip and Fall Lawyer

Tripping and falling on a wet floor or rickety staircase happens to everyone once in a while. In most instances, you dust yourself off and continue with your day. However, occasionally, a slip and fall can result in a much more significant injury.

Property owners and business operators must keep their premises safe for visitors.

If you were injured in a fall while on someone else’s property, you might have a right to file a legal action if they failed to warn of the danger. A Baytown slip and fall lawyer at Kirk Law Firm, PLLC could help you get compensation for all your losses, such as reduced income and medical costs. Our seasoned personal injury attorneys have experience with these types of cases and could fight to get you the fair settlement that you deserve.

Seek Medical Care Immediately After a Fall

When a person falls in public, sometimes they are reluctant to make a fuss. The property owner or store manager might offer to call an ambulance, and the individual might refuse. They may want to just get to the safety and comfort of their own home as soon as possible.

Although the sentiment is understandable, refusing medical care when offered is unwise. If an individual who falls does not want ambulance transport, they should go to a hospital emergency room, urgent care center, or a family doctor as soon as possible and they should not drive themselves.

Seeking immediate medical help ensures that any injuries are diagnosed and treated before complications develop. In addition, a medical record generated soon after an incident is valuable evidence that a fall caused an injury.

Property Owners and Managers Must Uphold Their Duty of Care

When an individual seeks damages for an injury, they must prove another party’s negligence caused the accident. Negligence occurs when a person acts in a careless or reckless manner, subsequently failing to uphold their duty of reasonable care. Our team of Baytown trip and fall attorneys could review a case to determine whether a property owner or business operator was negligent.

A business or property open to the public has a heightened duty of care toward invitees—customers and others who enter the premises for the opportunity to do business. The party who owns or leases the property must make regular inspections to identify hazards that might harm an invitee. Any dangerous condition must be remediated as quickly as possible, and in the meantime, the owner or lessee must warn invitees of the hazard.

Social hosts also owe a duty to their guests, but their obligations are not as stringent. They must warn people of any hidden hazards they are aware of that would not otherwise be obvious to a guest. Social hosts need not proactively inspect to uncover hidden dangers or make prompt repairs.

Negligent Parties Responsible for Damages

The money a negligent party pays for causing an injury is commonly referred to as the injured person’s damages. Damages cover all of a harmed individual’s out-of-pocket expenses related to the injury, including:

• Medical treatment
• Future injury-related medical care, if necessary
• Rehabilitation expenses, including costs insurance might not cover
• Psychological treatment for conditions related to the injury
• Home renovations, if necessary to accommodate an injured person’s disability
• Wages lost during recovery
• Value of fringe benefits used while recovering
• Payment to compensate for reduced earning opportunities if the injury has permanent impacts

All of the above are considered economic damages, but injuries also cause losses that are not easy to quantify. Damages could compensate a person who suffered harm for the emotional suffering, physical pain, inability to participate in activities they previously enjoyed, disfigurement, disability, humiliation, and other subjective effects of an injury. These kinds of damages, which do not have a set value, are considered non-economic.

Additionally, in a case where a property or business owner was grossly negligent and their egregious conduct led to an individual’s injury, Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code §41.003 allows an injured person to seek punitive damages. A court might award these exemplary damages to punish the property owner or manager for their egregious lack of care. While the law does cap punitive damage award amounts, our experienced slip and fall lawyers in Baytown could estimate a range of damages that might be available in a particular case.

Pursue Damages After an Injury with a Baytown Slip and Fall Attorney

Trip and fall accidents are common, but that does not mean they are insignificant. A bad fall could keep you home from work, prevent you from participating in activities you enjoy, and might even land you in the hospital. You deserve compensation for any losses you experience due to someone else’s negligence.

A Baytown slip and fall lawyer at Kirk Law Firm, PLLC knows the law and will not relent until you receive a fair settlement. Call now to schedule a consultation with our team of compassionate and dedicated attorneys.