Montgomery County Slip & Fall Accident Attorneys

Slip and Fall Attorneys Represent Premises Liability, Slip, Trip, and Fall Victims

Going through your day worrying about every conceivable danger is no way to live. With excessive worrying, you may miss out on the wonderful parts of life. Without always acknowledging it, we pass dangerous situations every day while assuming we’re safe. But, every now and then, someone gets caught—slipping and falling on a wet floor, sustaining a serious hand injury from a dog bite, or tripping on poorly maintained stairs.

At Rubin, Glickman, Steinberg & Gifford P.C., we help victims of slip and fall accidents secure the meaningful recovery to which they are entitled. Since 1952, our firm’s steadfast focus lies within our commitment to providing our clients with exceptional legal services. As a firm that exclusively represents residents throughout Southeastern Pennsylvania, we understand that traditionally large commercial law firms often disregard what clients genuinely need and deserve—attorneys who consistently deliver remarkable results and address all legal matters using a client-centered approach.

Rest assured that the slip and fall lawyers at Rubin, Glickman, Steinberg & Gifford have the skill, tenacity, and experience needed to obtain full and fair compensation in your personal injury case. Contact us to arrange a free consultation with a slip and fall attorney skilled in handling premises liability cases.

What Is Premises Liability?

Generally, business owners, property owners, and homeowners have both moral and legal obligations to provide a reasonably safe environment for guests or those who live on their property. However, when business owners, property owners, or homeowners fail to protect guests or residents from visibly recognizable or foreseeable harm, serious injuries can result, increasing the risk of opening themselves up to potential premises liability lawsuits.

The purpose of premises liability is to help injured accident victims hold those entities financially responsible for inadequately maintaining commercial or residential properties, whether public or private. However, not all falls are grounds for a claim. The key is proving that negligence was the root cause of your injuries and injury-related losses.

If you were injured on someone else’s property, you might try to make light of the situation. You may feel embarrassed and want to make it all go away. Perhaps you’re experiencing feelings of frustration or hesitation because you are unsure how to approach these unexpected circumstances. In moments of doubt, remember you are not the one at fault. You were hurt because of someone else’s negligence, and you have a right to seek compensation for medical expenses, time away from work, and the pain and suffering you’ve endured.

What Evidence is Needed to Prove Negligence in Slip and Fall Cases?

Although victims may be eligible for filing a slip and fall, premises liability lawsuit, the outcome of success is never guaranteed. Rather, for a property owner or the tenant/occupier to be held legally responsible for your injuries, four elements must be established to show that the defendant’s negligence is what brought you harm.

Duty of Care

You must be able to prove that the property owner owed a duty of care to keep their premises safe. Pennsylvania law provides that the degree of care a property owner must exhibit depends on the guest’s legal status. This status is separated into three classes:

• A business invitee is invited by the property owner for business reasons, such as a customer who’s purchasing goods from a supermarket. A property owner must keep the property in a reasonably safe condition and fix or notify invitees of any hazardous conditions on the property.
• A trespasser is someone who doesn’t have authorization from a property owner to be on their premises. A property owner is not responsible for providing a safe environment for those who enter illegally.
• A licensee is invited by the property owner for social motives such as a party or other gathering. A property owner must properly maintain premises to protect the licensee from known dangers on the property, not latent ones.

Breach of Duty

If a property owner fails to execute their respective duties, this is called a breach of duty. You must be able to show that the property owner failed to act in accordance with their duty based on your status. For instance, if you are a business invitee shopping at a local store, you would have to establish the relationship between you and the property owner and provide evidence showing the dereliction. Evidence may be constructed through video surveillance or employee and witness testimony.

Causation

The next step is showing that the defendant’s breach of duty was the direct cause of your injuries. For example, in many premises liability cases, defendants and their counsel try to push the “pre-existing injury” defense. To prove causation, you may give testimony on your account of the incident and present medical records that show the extent and nature of your injuries.

Damages

The final step in winning a premises liability lawsuit is proving that your injuries led to actual damages. Proof of medical expenses and a medical expert’s account of what to expect treatment-wise can help calculate some of your losses. Missed time from work, loss of enjoyment in life, and physical incapacity are other pieces of evidence that will establish your suffering.

Critical Steps to Take after a Slip/Trip and Fall in Montgomery County and Bucks County

If you sustain severe injuries after a slip/trip and fall in Montgomery or Bucks County, seek medical attention from a qualified healthcare professional as soon as possible. Not only can delaying care endanger your life, but it may also impact your insurance or legal claim. Once you undergo a thorough evaluation, proceed with caution, and perform the following critical steps:

• Document all details of the accident, including names, phone numbers, location, date, time, and photographs of where the incident occurred.
• Report the accident to whoever oversees the property. Collect manager, owner, or landlord information and write a report.
• Exercise your right to remain silent. Don’t make any statements to insurance companies or property owners without consulting a slip and fall attorney.
• Speak to a trusted Montgomery County slip and fall accident attorney immediately.

5 Useful Questions to Ask Yourself

If you’ve slipped and fallen as a result of another person’s negligence, it’s vital that you not let the careless property owner off the hook. Every personal injury case of this nature is unique and involves specific case factors that come into play, but you can get a pretty good idea of how strong your case is by asking these five questions:

• Was someone else at fault for your injuries? In order to file a personal injury suit against another party and seek economic and non-economic damages, you must be able to prove that your injury and losses would not have occurred if for the actions of another party. This means that if your own negligence caused your accident, you probably don’t have a case.
• Could the accident have been prevented? It’s important to ask yourself if there is anything that could have been done to prevent the accident from happening. You must consider all factors, such as the circumstances that caused the slip and fall, whether someone had a responsibility to fix those circumstances, and whether negligence was involved.
• Did anyone see you fall? If passersby are in the immediate area, find out if one or more of them witnessed your fall. Unbiased witnesses rarely volunteer, so ask outright if anyone in the immediate vicinity saw what happened. If anyone saw any portion of the incident, ask for their names and contact information.
• Was the area closed to customers, and was there a warning posted? A property owner should do everything in their power to notify and protect those on the property, including barricading the hazardous area. If they cannot do so in a timely fashion, they should put up signs or caution tape. If they do so and someone still gets injured, that owner is less likely to be at fault.
• Were you showing ordinary care? Ordinary care is the term used to describe the attention that a reasonable person would exercise under the circumstances with which they are presented. In the case of a slip and fall injury, both parties are responsible for showing ordinary care to keep themselves and those on their property safe.

Speaking with a lawyer is a great way to address every concern you may have. Especially if you are unsure how to navigate the legal process, your attorney should have access to all the helpful strategies and resources necessary to obtain your success. Your lawyer may also be able to answer any of the questions you are struggling to answer.

Request a Free Consultation with Experienced Slip & Fall Accident Attorneys in PA

When Rubin, Glickman, Steinberg & Gifford, P.C., investigates a premises liability claim, we leave no stone unturned. We will conduct a comprehensive investigation to identify all prospective sources of liability. We may be able to file a lawsuit against a business, corporation, or homeowner who knew about or allowed the dangerous condition that caused your accident to happen.

Our effective slip and fall accident lawyers in Plymouth Meeting, PA, serve clients throughout Montgomery County in Lansdale, Norristown, Cheltenham, Upper Dublin, Abington, King of Prussia, and more. With two locations in Newtown, PA and Colmar, PA, you’ll feel comfortable knowing competent guidance is just around the corner.

Here at Rubin, Glickman, Steinberg & Gifford, P.C., our goal is to achieve a substantial financial recovery for any harm endured by you or your loved ones. To discuss how we can assist you, call 215-822-7575 or complete a contact form to schedule your free initial consultation. If you are unable to visit our office, we will happily come to you.