A slip and fall injury occurs when a person falls and strikes the ground due to the dangerous condition of a walking surface. If you’ve suffered an injury due to a slip and fall on someone else’s property, you may be able to file a personal injury lawsuit and receive financial compensation. For a slip and fall lawsuit to be successful, you must prove the following elements:
- The property owner owed you a duty of care.
- The property owner breached his or her duty of care. A property owner breaches his or her duty of care when:
- He or she fails to take reasonable steps to ensure that his or her property is safe;
- He or she fails to warn visitors of known dangers; or
- His or her actions purposefully create a hazardous condition.
- Had the property owner not breached his or her duty of care, the visitor would not have suffered injury.
- The plaintiff suffered an injury resulting in damages.
Contributory negligence in slip and fall cases
If you are considering filing a slip and fall lawsuit in Alabama, you should be aware that Alabama is a contributory negligence state. Under contributory negligence, if a plaintiff is at all to blame for his or her injuries, then he or she cannot recover any damages at all. In other words, if a property owner can place even a small amount of the blame on an injured party, then the injured party will collect nothing. Therefore, it is much more difficult for a plaintiff in Alabama to meet the required burden of proof in a slip and fall case than in states operating under different systems. This makes legal representation imperative for those seeking recovery for their slip and fall injuries in Alabama.
Birmingham and Cullman Personal Injury Attorneys
At Cox, Stansberry & Kinsley, we understand that being injured in an accident can be overwhelming. The pain, suffering, expenses, and lost wages associated with personal injuries can often feel like an insurmountable burden. Luckily, our experienced Birmingham and Cullman personal injury attorneys firm can help ease this burden by offering you compassionate, knowledgeable, and aggressive legal representation in your personal injury case. At Cox, Stansberry & Kinsley, our Birmingham and Cullman, Alabama, legal team will take the time to understand the circumstances that led to your accident and advise you of all your options while leveraging our experience and skills to ensure you receive the full value of your claim. Therefore, if you or a loved one has been injured in an accident that was no fault of your own, please contact our office as soon as possible for a consultation with one of our compassionate and knowledgeable legal advocates. This consultation is free, and you will not pay any attorneys’ fees until our aggressive legal team wins your case. Remember, at Cox, Stansberry & Kinsley, we’ll fight for you.