Sometimes you can’t just pick yourself up, dust yourself off, and continue as usual after a slip and fall. If you were injured in a fall because of a dangerous condition on someone else’s property, you may be able to claim compensation if a responsible party failed to address the hazard or provide adequate warning. Consult our personal injury lawyer in Bellingham to discover your options.
With years of experience in cases like these, our slip and fall lawyer in Bellingham can examine the circumstances of your fall and may assist you with a claim to address your damages. At Siegfried & Jensen, our team has recovered over $1.2 billion in compensation for our clients. If we believe you have a viable claim, we may pursue compensation on your behalf.
Common Examples of Slip and Fall Accidents
Examples of slip and fall accidents and trip and fall accidents can help you determine whether your accident is typical of those our slip and fall accident lawyer in Bellingham typically encounters. Common types of slip, trip, and fall accidents include falls due to:
- Slippery surfaces: for example, wet floors, spills, or high-gloss surfaces
- Tripping hazards: cluttered walkways, damaged or uneven carpets or rugs, or uneven paving
- Maintenance issues: poor lighting, faulty or dangerous stairs, debris, unprotected excavations
- Unaddressed outdoor conditions: ice and snow, slippery dirt pathways, or grassy slopes that become slippery when wet
Simply having a fall due to one of these hazards does not necessarily mean someone else is liable. However, in certain circumstances, slip and fall accidents occur because of other people’s negligence. If you aren’t sure whether you have a case for a slip and fall injury claim, Siegfried & Jensen’s Bellingham slip and fall lawyer can advise you.
For a free legal consultation with a slip and fall accident lawyer serving Bellingham, call (801) 266-0999
Negligence in Bellingham Slip and Fall Accidents
Negligence is closely tied to what you need to know about liability in slip and fall accidents. To demonstrate negligence, your attorney must establish four key elements. They must show that the liable party had a duty to protect you, and that they failed to perform that duty. Their failure caused your accident, which led to your injuries.
In slip and fall accidents, your attorney must first identify who was responsible for the premises. They may seek evidence to show that the person in charge or their staff either knew or should have known about a dangerous condition.
If people responsible for the property knew about a danger, it would usually be their duty to either remedy it or warn people about it until the problem could be resolved. Naturally, they may need a reasonable amount of time to act before failure to do so may be seen as negligence. If you can establish negligence, the responsible party may be held liable for the resulting damages.
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Parties Who May Be at Fault in Slip and Fall Accidents
It would be an oversimplification to say that the property owner is usually the primary responsible party in slip and fall accident cases. Instead, people or entities responsible for visitor safety may be liable if there is reason to believe that negligence led to an accident. In some cases, more than one party is liable. Possible liable parties may include:
- A property owner
- Landlords or property managers
- A tenant (for example, a company renting space for their store)
- Contractors (such as cleaning crews or construction companies)
Of course, you may carry liability for your own accident, too. When you seek compensation for your injuries, defendants may be eager to show that you were at least partly to blame for your fall. They may even claim that you weren’t hurt on their premises. The degree to which this affects you may, in part, depend on what you do after a slip and fall accident.
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What Your Bellingham Slip and Fall Attorney Advises You to Do After a Slip and Fall Accident in Bellingham
Ideally, you want to have evidence showing the hazard and the area around it to demonstrate that it was present and there were no warning signs. If you were badly hurt, for example, you broke a bone or were concussed, you might not be able to take pictures of the scene.
If you can’t do so yourself, ask companions or bystanders to take pictures and share them with you, or ask friends, family members, or your slip and fall accident attorney in Bellingham to investigate the scene as soon as possible. Even if you are able to get up and walk away, you should still report the accident to the person in charge of the premises and seek medical attention immediately.
Surveillance camera footage may provide valuable evidence, but you may need to act quickly to prevent it from being destroyed. Your lawyer may send a formal letter requesting its preservation. If relevant evidence is destroyed after a preservation request, a court may consider whether spoliation occurred and may impose appropriate remedies or sanctions.
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What Happens if You Were Partly to Blame For Your Slip and Fall Accident
In Washington state, Wash. Rev. Code § 4.22.005 applies. It indicates that you can still claim compensation even if you were partly or mostly to blame for your fall. However, every percentage of fault reduces the potential value of your compensation. For instance, if you were 60% to blame, you may only receive 40% of your damages.
You may be considered partly at fault if you:
- Ignored clearly posted warning signs
- Entered a restricted area, like a construction site
- Failed to notice the obvious and open dangers
- Were distracted, for example, you were looking at your phone
- Were wearing inappropriate footwear
- Were acting recklessly, for instance, you were running when walking would have been appropriate
Your legal status on the property may also affect your case. Different legal duties may apply depending on whether you were a customer, a social guest, or someone who entered the property without permission. However, determining how these rules apply requires a careful review of the facts of your case.
Consult with a Slip and Fall Injury Attorney in Bellingham Today
Working with a lawyer as soon as you can may help to strengthen your case for compensation. Our slip and fall lawyer in Bellingham may consult maintenance records, surveillance footage, and other forms of evidence to support your case. If some time has passed, Siegfried & Jensen may still be able to help, but early involvement may benefit your claim.
If you’d like to know whether we may be able to help you with a slip and fall accident case, consult us today. Our initial free, no-obligation consultation. Reach out now.
Call or text (801) 266-0999 or complete a Free Case Evaluation form