Can Personal Injury Attorneys Help You If You Fall On An Icy Walkway?

As winter approaches, so does the potential for slip and fall cases. Personal injury attorneys around the country experience an increase in complaints from people who hurt themselves after falling on a slippery sidewalk on public or private property that was not maintained. In Wisconsin, where ice and snow are a fact of life for about five months of the year, people sometimes lose their footing and when they fall, suffer injuries that can range from minor sprains to serious head traumas, spinal cord injuries or death. If the accident can be linked to negligence of the owner to maintain the sidewalk, parking lot, or steps, the victim might have the grounds for a lawsuit.

What Is Slip And Fall?

“Slip and fall” is a general category that applies to many situations where injuries occur on someone else’s property. Loose or torn carpeting, uneven ground, holes in the floor, potholes in the street, wet floors, and poorly placed merchandise in a store are some of the other potential hazards that can pose a risk to others and result in a fall that can lead to a lawsuit. While property owners have a duty to maintain their property and keep it free of potential hazards, they do not always bear the blame for accidents that occur. People sometimes become involved in accidents that are not the fault of the property owner.

Common Claims Personal Injury Attorneys Use In Slip And Fall Cases

In the State of Wisconsin, personal injury attorneys utilize two avenues to gain compensation for victims in slip and fall cases:

  • Wisconsin Common Law Negligence. Under the law, every citizen is legally bound to act with reasonable care to another. For property owners, this means that their premises must not be “unreasonably dangerous” or pose a risk to visitors. A plaintiff who claims negligence must prove that the owners knew or should have known about the dangerous condition and did nothing about it.
  • Wisconsin Safe Place Law. The Wisconsin Safe Place law goes beyond negligence law and requires employers and property owners of public buildings to take “reasonable” steps to “protect the life, safety, or welfare” of employees or people that frequent the area. This standard applies to any place, store, business, etc., that is a place of employment regardless of whether the injured party is an employee.

To counter these claims, lawyers representing defendants in slip and fall cases often call upon the “duty of reasonable care,” which means that the injured person should have seen a potential danger and tried to avoid it. When a sidewalk is icy, a reasonable person should proceed carefully or avoid an obvious slippery spot.

Preparing For A Successful Slip And Fall Case

To successfully win a slip and fall case, your personal injury attorney has to establish that someone else is responsible for the injuries you sustain. After an accident occurs, here are a few things you should do to support a potential case.

  • Take pictures to document the hazard. This is extremely important.
  • Take witness information. Record the names and contact information for anybody who saw the fall or helped you on the scene. If the property owner observed the incident, take notes of anything they said.
  • Report the incident. Tell somebody connected with the property about what happened so that they can remove the hazard if possible.
  • See a doctor for an evaluation of your condition. Make sure to follow your doctor’s instructions to aid your recovery.
  • Call your personal injury attorney if your injury is serious. Only a knowledgeable lawyer can help you understand if you have a case.
  • Don’t say or do anything to jeopardize your case. What you say to others, including the property owner or his insurer, can be used against you.

Seeking Help In Slip And Fall Cases

If you have been injured in a slip and fall, the personal injury attorneys at Eisenberg Law Offices may be able to help you. We have years of experience successfully winning slip and fall cases, and we are glad to offer a free evaluation to determine whether the facts of your case might merit a financial award. Give us a call at (608) 200-3698 or fill out our website form.