Fairfield County Slip and Fall Lawyer
Falling in public can be embarrassing, but that is the least of some people’s worries. A bad slip and fall accident can lead to disastrous injuries, high medical bills, and painful long-term complications. Others might dismiss your claims as silly or unnecessary, but do not be fooled. Your injuries deserve fair compensation, and our legal team is here to help.
You can sue the property owner if you believe dangerous conditions on the property were the direct cause of your accident. Property owners are often legally obligated to keep their premises safe for guests, although certain exceptions exist. The key to getting compensation is proving your damages in court. This may include steep economic costs of medical care and non-economic injuries like pain, suffering, and humiliation. Evidence might be varied, but we need something that shows the extent of the unsafe conditions of the premises. It is best to start your case soon, as you have only so much time to file.
Contact our slip and fall attorneys at Burriss Ridgeway Injury Lawyers for a free cass evaluation by calling our offices at (803)-451-4000.
Determining Responsibility for Slip and Fall Accidents in Fairfield County
Slip and fall accidents are often perceived as minor cases with minor injuries, but this is not always true. Not only are slip and fall accidents often quite complicated and painful, but proving liability is also challenging. Simply owning the property where the accident happened is only half the equation. Our slip and fall attorneys must show how the property owner’s negligence in maintaining the property caused the accident.
Duty of Care
Property owners may be held liable for slip and fall accidents because they owe guests on their properties a duty of care. This duty, which is a legal obligation, requires property owners to remove or repair known hazardous conditions on their property. For example, if a grocery store owner knows that the floor in the produce department is uneven and could cause someone to trip, they have a legal obligation to fix the floor. They also have a duty to make reasonable inspections for hazardous conditions they might not know about.
This duty applies to most people who are guests on someone’s property. However, not all people are owed a duty of care. Generally, property owners owe no duty of care to unknown trespassers. For example, if a burglar broke into the grocery store mentioned above and tripped on the uneven floor, the grocery store would not be liable because the burglar is a trespasser they could not have known about ahead of time.
Even when slip and fall victims are not trespassers, certain exceptions to the duty of care exist. Under S.C. Code Ann. § 27-3-30, no duty of care is owed toward those using another’s property for “recreational purposes.” Recreational purposes generally include outdoor activities like camping, hiking, swimming, boating, and more.
Comparative Negligence
The property owner might attempt to minimize their own liability by claiming that you are partially responsible for the accident. For example, if you slipped in a restaurant because the floor was slick, the restaurant owner might argue that you fell because you are clumsy or wearing shoes that were difficult to walk in.
According to § 15-35-15(A), if a plaintiff is determined to be partially responsible for causing their accident and injuries, their damages may be reduced according to their share of blame. If you are deemed 25% responsible for your slip and fall accident, your overall damages award may be diminished by 25%. However, if a plaintiff is more than 50% responsible, they may be barred from recovering any damages.
Evidence Needed to Prove Your Claims in a Fairfield County Slip and Fall Case
Photos of the accident scene are incredibly helpful, and you should try to take photos if you happen to have a camera with you during the accident. Many people can snap at least a few quick pictures on their phone cameras. We need photos of the area where you fell because the property owner might remove or repair the dangerous conditions that caused you to fall before we can return. Your photos might preserve the scene as it was when you fell, showing a court exactly why the area was unsafe for guests.
Depending on where your accident occurred, we might also need business records. If the area where you fell was part of a business (e.g., store, restaurant, office), business records might indicate how the premises had been maintained. If records indicate that maintenance is infrequent, irregular, or insufficient, we might have evidence we can use to build your case.
We should also try to find people who saw your accident happen so they can testify as witnesses. Even if the witnesses do not know where the dangerous conditions on the property came from, they can at least testify that you did not appear to cause your own accident and that the hazardous conditions are to blame. Alternatively, we might have employees on the property testify about the history of poor maintenance or some other lack of care demonstrated by the owners.
How Long After a Slip and Fall Can You File an Injury Case in Fairfield County?
Your time to take legal action after a slip and fall accident is shorter than you might think. You might need some time to recover before you seek help from a lawyer, but you should be careful about how much time you take. According to the statute of limitations under S.C. Code Ann. § 15-3-530(5), a plaintiff has only 3 years from the date of the accident to file a case in court. If you do not file your case before the limitation period ends, you might be barred from ever bringing the cause of action and never receive the fair compensation you deserve.
Speak to Our Fairfield County Slip and Fall Attorneys for Help Today
Contact our slip and fall attorneys at Burriss Ridgeway Injury Lawyers for a free cass evaluation by calling our offices at (803)-451-4000.
