Should You Bear The Burdens of A Slip and Fall Accident That Was Someone Else’s Fault?
If you are wondering if you should sue after a slip and fall accident in Southern Colorado has left you with injuries, you are in the right place. This article will consider the factors that a personal injury lawyer looks at to determine whether or not suing the party responsible for your injuries is a good idea.
Immediately after a slip and fall accident, lawyers and lawsuits may not be the first things on your mind. Happening suddenly and without warning, your fall may have left you shaken and shocked at a minimum.
However, as is the case in many such instances, your fall may have caused injuries that need immediate medical attention. In turn, those injuries may cause tremendous pain, keep you from being able to work for weeks, months, or years, and require ongoing medical care and rehabilitation.
The consequences of a slip-and-fall accident can upend your life, and they may have been avoidable and caused by the property owner’s negligence. If your struggles are someone else’s fault, why should you bear the burden yourself? You shouldn’t.
The party responsible should be held accountable and on the hook for all the pain, losses, and damages you have to deal with. And if you want to obtain compensation from that party, you may need to sue after a slip and fall accident.
What You’ll Learn in This Post:
- If you suffered injuries and losses in a slip and fall accident, you may have the right to obtain compensation if someone else, such as a negligent property owner, was responsible for the conditions that led to the accident.
- If your injuries were relatively minor, like a scrape, sprain, or bruise, filing a personal injury suit may not be worth the time and effort. But if your injury was extremely painful, required extensive medical treatment, kept you out of work, or left you wholly or partially disabled, you should sue after a slip and fall.
- To obtain compensation for your injuries, you must prove they were caused by someone else and have the evidence to do so. An experienced personal injury lawyer can evaluate your case and tell you if you have a viable claim.
Table of Contents:
Should You Bear the Burdens of a Slip and Fall Accident That Was Someone Else’s Fault?
What You’ll Learn in This Post
Not All Slip and Falls Are Sue-Worthy
The Extent and Severity of Your Injuries
Trying to Figure Out Whether to Sue After a Slip and Fall?
Not All Slip and Falls Are Sue-Worthy
Not every injury and accident, slip and fall or otherwise, supports filing a personal injury lawsuit. Whether suing after a slip and fall is the right choice for you depends on the circumstances of your particular case. In deciding whether to sue after a slip and fall accident, you and your Colorado Springs personal injury and accident attorney will consider many factors. These include:
The Extent and Severity of Your Injuries
The CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) reports that over 800,000 Americans are hospitalized yearly because of a fall injury. But countless more falls do not lead to hospitalization or even medical treatment.
While the CDC estimates that one out of five falls causes a severe injury, including broken bones or traumatic brain injury, many other falls only result in relatively minor injuries, such as sprains, cuts, or bruises. Even if the property owner was extremely negligent in maintaining their property, you and your attorney may determine that your injuries do not warrant filing a lawsuit. Why?
Personal injury litigation can take months and often years to resolve. If your case gets that far, you will need to appear for a deposition and at trial. While you won’t pay anything in attorney’s fees unless your attorney recovers compensation, they will likely take a portion of any amount they obtain for you in settlement or at trial. They will also deduct any costs they incurred in pursuing your claims. If your losses were minor, such as ones you can treat with an Ace bandage, some ice and rest, it may not be worth the time and expense of a lawsuit.
On the other hand, an injury that requires extensive treatment, keeps you out of work for an extended period, or leaves you partially or entirely disabled certainly justifies the decision to sue after a slip and fall accident if your attorney believes that another party is at fault.
When you meet with an experienced Colorado Springs personal injury attorney at your free initial consultation, they will evaluate the scope and extent of your injuries and give you an honest assessment of whether it makes economic sense to pursue your claim.
Related: How To Choose the Best Personal Injury Attorney in Colorado Springs For Your Case
Ability To Prove Your Case
The fact that you had a slip and fall accident and suffered an injury as a result, even a serious one, is not by itself enough to support a personal injury lawsuit. As in all personal injury cases, to have grounds to sue after a slip and fall, you as the plaintiff must prove that the other party (the defendant) owed you a duty that they failed to perform. Furthermore, you must prove that as a result of that breach of duty, you were injured and suffered losses (and the amount of those losses).
What makes slip and fall cases more complicated than others is that Colorado’s personal injury law imposes different duties on landowners and property managers, depending on how and why the injury victim was on their property. This, in turn, determines what evidence is required to prove a breach of that duty and win a slip and fall case.
Your attorney will carefully consider the facts and circumstances of your fall, including where and how it happened, to determine whether you should sue after a slip and fall.
The reality is that, sometimes, a slip and fall is caused by the victim’s clumsiness or inattentiveness and is no one else’s fault. But even if you were partially to blame for your fall, you still may have a good case if the property owner also breached their legal duty to maintain their property. Because you likely do not know the in-and-outs of premises liability law, you need to consult an attorney who does.
A reliable and trustworthy lawyer will tell you if you don’t have the basis for a claim. They don’t want to spend their time and money pursuing a case with little chance of success.
On the other hand, if your injuries are the result of someone’s negligence, and the facts and law support your claim, you can rest assured that your lawyer will fight tirelessly to get you the compensation you deserve.
Related: What Evidence Do I Need to Win a Slip and Fall Case?
Time Is Running Out
Colorado’s statute of limitations sets forth the period within which you can sue after a slip and fall accident. Filing a lawsuit for any injury after the statute of limitations has run out will result in the judge promptly dismissing the claim. This means you will lose the opportunity to get any compensation whatsoever for your losses.
For this reason alone, you should meet with a personal injury attorney as soon as possible after your slip and fall.
In Colorado, the statute of limitations to sue after a slip and fall is two years from the date of the accident. This deadline can come up fast. This could be because a victim delayed speaking with a lawyer, or because the plaintiff’s lawyer is still negotiating with the other party’s insurance company as the cutoff date draws near.
In such cases, filing a slip and fall injury lawsuit is necessary to preserve a victim’s rights while further investigation or negotiations continue.
Trying To Figure Out Whether To Sue After a Slip and Fall Accident?
At the Colorado Springs personal injury law firm of King & Beaty, LLC, our premises liability and slip and fall attorneys help individuals seriously injured because of negligently maintained property. We are committed to getting victims the resources and compensation they need to recover, and we have a long track record of success.
If you’ve had a slip or trip and fall or otherwise suffered an injury on someone else’s property, please contact King & Beaty, LLC, to arrange a free assessment of your case. We look forward to assisting you.
Updated: March 11, 2024 | Originally Posted: July 19, 2018
