Mississippi Slip and Fall Injury Lawyers
Recovering Fair Compensation for Injured Slip and Fall Victims
Most of us have tripped or slipped and fallen at some point, usually suffering only a bruise or two. While such accidents can be painful and embarrassing, some have much worse outcomes than a few minor injuries. Some slip and fall accident victims sustain severe or permanent injuries or, in the most tragic cases, loss of life. If this devastating scenario sounds familiar to you and your family, it may be time to seek legal assistance to recover compensation.
At Tannehill Carmean, PLLC, our slip and fall attorneys in Oxford, Mississippi, have experience handling serious, catastrophic, or fatal fall claims, representing victims and their families located throughout the state. If you or a loved one were seriously injured in a slip and fall accident in our city, please don’t hesitate to call our law firm directly for a consultation with attorneys who will provide the support you need. We can help you file a slip and fall claim and manage every aspect of your claim or lawsuit, so call our law office today.
What Are Some Common Causes of Slip and Fall Accidents in Mississippi?
Slip and fall injury cases are commonly caused by walking hazards or unsafe conditions on a property. While it’s possible to slip and fall on either a residential or commercial property, most slip and fall claims involve the latter type of property. Some of the most common places people might slip or trip and fall include:
- Grocery stores
- Restaurants
- Bars
- Movie theaters
- Shopping malls
- Gas stations
- Amusement parks
- Hotels
- Sports facilities
- Swimming pools
- Nursing homes
- Medical facilities
- Parking lots
- Escalators and elevators
- Apartment complexes
In general, any property that invites people to visit despite the possible existence of hazardous conditions may end up being the site of a slip and fall accident. Some common examples of dangerous conditions that can cause devastating slip and fall accidents include:
- Spills of food, drink, or other substances
- Wet and slippery walking surfaces
- Oil on walking surfaces
- Torn or uneven carpet
- Missing or broken handrails or railings
- Broken steps
- Broken elevators and escalators
- Depressions on walking surfaces
- Uneven walking surfaces
- Objects in walkways
- Falling objects
If you or a loved one was injured in a slip and fall accident due to a hazard on a property that should have been remedied promptly, please call our Oxford law firm to find out about filing a claim or lawsuit to seek compensation. When you hire our firm for your case, you’ll get legal guidance from a skilled slip and fall accident lawyer in Mississippi who can help gather evidence, calculate your losses, and negotiate a fair settlement for you and your family. So, if you want to seek justice after a serious fall accident and are unsure where to begin, please reach out to our law office for legal advice regarding your next steps.
What Are the Most Common Injuries in Slip and Fall Accidents?
Slip and fall accidents often cause very serious injuries, some of which can be life-altering or even fatal. Elderly adults are at exceptionally high risk, but people of any age can become fall accident victims and sustain catastrophic injuries. Common types of injuries from a Mississippi slip and fall can include the following:
- Traumatic brain injuries (TBI): A victim in a fall may hit their head with force, affecting the brain and leading to long-term consequences, including loss of cognition, abilities, or loss of life
- Broken bones: Fractured bones are a common injury sustained in a slip and fall accident
- Spinal cord injuries: When an individual slips and impacts the spinal cord, it can damage the nerves in the spine, leading to extreme pain or, in the worst cases, paralysis
- Back injuries: Ongoing back pain can result from a slip and fall, with the victim living with severe pain or disabilities
- Sprains and strains: When the ligaments and tendons have been damaged, the consequences can be severe, requiring extensive rehabilitation, surgeries, or other medical problems
- Internal injuries: An impact in a slip and fall can damage the internal organs or lead to internal bleeding, often requiring surgical intervention
- Joint injuries: Damage to the hips, wrist, elbow, shoulder, or other joint can require medical intervention, including surgery and physical therapy
- Death: In some tragic cases, the victim passes away due to the injuries sustained in the slip and fall
If you suffered these or other severe injuries, your priority should be getting emergency medical treatment. Otherwise, you risk the injury worsening or even becoming permanent without proper treatment. For example, failing to treat broken bones or sprained joints right away can lead to permanent damage in the affected bones and joints. Ignoring brain injuries, organ damage, and spinal cord injuries can lead to paralysis or even death, so be sure to seek medical treatment the same day as your accident to protect your well-being.
Some injured slip and fall victims may delay or refuse medical treatment due to concerns about the costs of care, but this can be a tragic mistake if it turns out a severe injury is life-threatening. If you’re concerned about medical bills, we recommend seeking the necessary care and then pursuing a personal injury case to recover compensation for your medical expenses. A slip and fall accident lawyer who is knowledgeable about premises liability law can help with this legal action, so call our law firm today to file a slip and fall lawsuit against the liable party.
What is a Premises Liability Claim?
Slip and fall cases are governed by premises liability law, which states that a property owner must maintain reasonably safe premises for visitors, employees, clients, customers, guests, or vendors. If they fail to do so, and someone sustains injuries from slipping and falling on the property as a result, then the property owner may be liable for all damages.
Of course, premises liability claims can be complicated, especially for injured victims who are still in physical pain from their fall accident and don’t have the time or energy to fully understand premises liability law. That’s why we encourage you to contact experienced Mississippi slip and fall lawyers with a thorough understanding of how to apply premises liability law to your slip and fall case, allowing you to get the full and fair financial compensation you deserve.
Before filing a slip and fall lawsuit, you should know that you and your attorney will be required to prove the following elements to win your premises liability claim:
- The property owner owed the plaintiff a duty of care. Property owners have a legal duty to maintain their properties in a reasonably safe condition and to remedy any known hazards within a reasonable amount of time. This duty is extended to those who are lawfully on a property. Property owners owe no duties to trespassers other than to refrain from causing willful or wanton harm. If you were not lawfully on the property when your injury occurred, you may be unable to file a claim against the property owner for damages
- A hazardous condition existed on the property. The plaintiff must prove that a dangerous condition existed on the property. This condition could be broken stairs, uneven walking surfaces, objects in walkways, a spill in a grocery store aisle, or other unsafe conditions on the property
- The property owner was aware of or should have been aware of the hazard. This factor is one of the more challenging elements of a slip and fall claim. Producing evidence that the property owner knew or should have known of the hazard is necessary. Reviewing repair and maintenance logs and video footage of the property can assist in establishing this element of premises liability law
- The property owner failed to remedy the condition in a reasonable amount of time. It’s not enough to prove the property owner knew or should have known of the condition; you must also prove that they failed to remedy the condition in a reasonable amount of time. What’s reasonable is often situational. It may take 60 seconds to mop up spilled milk in a grocery store, but fixing a defective escalator or elevator could take a week or more
- The hazardous condition was the proximate cause of injury. Finally, in addition to proving that the property owner owed the victim a duty of care, that a dangerous condition existed on the property, that the property owner knew or should have known of the condition, and that the property owner failed to remedy the condition in a reasonable amount of time, the plaintiff must also prove that their accident and injuries would not have occurred but for the hazardous condition and the property owner’s failure to remedy it
Proving the above elements of a slip and fall case can be challenging. The most urgent issue is to focus on your health and recovery. When you hire experienced Oxford slip and fall injury lawyers from Tannehill Carmean, PLLC, you can count on our Mississippi law firm to handle your slip and fall injury claim with professionalism, dedication, and legal skill. Our legal team will advocate for a settlement that reflects the extent of your injuries and your other losses, whether physical, personal, or emotional.
What Damages Can Be Paid in a Slip and Fall Injury Claim in Mississippi?
Every case has unique facts and must be valued on an individual basis. If you or a loved one has suffered serious injuries in a slip and fall accident, our lawyer at Tannehill Carmean, PLLC, is here to help you seek justice and fair compensation. The types of damages that could be pursued include economic and non-economic damages.
We’ll be able to tell you which specific damages you’re entitled to pursue once we better understand the losses you and your family have suffered. In general, most slip and fall claims can lead to the following economic damages, which are the actual financial losses of the slip and fall accident:
- Medical bills for emergency treatment, including a hospital stay, surgery, and pain medication
- Ongoing medical interventions, including additional surgeries, prescription medication, home health care, and physical therapy
- Lost wages for any time you had to take away from work while recovering
- Property damage, assuming your clothing, cell phone, laptop, jewelry, or other valuables were damaged in the fall accident
- Reduced earning capacity if your injuries will prevent you from earning the same income in the future
Your slip and fall attorney will add up these and other losses to determine the amount of compensation to request in your insurance claim. They can also calculate non-economic damages, which are often paid to injured victims for more personal losses, such as:
- Pain and suffering
- Reduced quality of life
- Emotional anguish
- Loss of consortium, which describes the loss of companionship, affection, or support from a spouse or close family member
- Disfigurement
These damages are commonly requested in personal injury cases, so your lawyer will likely seek them on your behalf if you suffered serious injuries. If you lost a family member in a slip and fall accident, you can bring a wrongful death case against the property owner and their insurance company. In this type of case, you can request financial compensation for funeral and burial expenses, medical bills, and lost wages if you were dependent on your loved one’s income. Skilled slip and fall attorneys will let you know which damages apply to your case, so call our law firm to find out what kind of compensation to expect from your personal injury or wrongful death insurance claim.
While property owners are typically held liable for damages in slip and fall claims, victims are sometimes also found to be partly to blame for their injuries. If you’re worried that this may be the case for you, rest assured that you can likely still collect compensation, since this state relies on the pure comparative negligence system. This allows injured victims to pursue financial compensation even if they’re partly at fault for their slip and fall accident, such as if they weren’t paying attention when walking on a property where a dangerous condition existed.
So, if you’re found to be 20 percent to blame for your injuries, the pure comparative negligence model will reduce your settlement by that amount, meaning you’ll get 80 percent of the compensation you need to make up for your lost wages, medical expenses, and other losses. If you have questions about how comparative negligence might affect your slip and fall case, call our Mississippi law firm to get the answers you need.
How Can a Mississippi Slip and Fall Accident Attorney Benefit Your Personal Injury Claim?
If you’re unsure of whether you have a strong premises liability case or have questions about who could be held liable when it’s time to seek compensation, call Tannehill Carmean, PLLC, for answers. Our caring legal team is well-versed in premises liability law and committed to getting clients the maximum financial compensation from the liable party’s insurance company.
From the initial consultation, you’ll witness firsthand the support we offer our clients, including investigating the fall accident, contacting and interviewing any eyewitnesses to the fall, evaluating medical records, and calling on resources that include medical and financial experts. The burdens related to the legal issues surrounding the accident will be managed with professionalism, and you can rest assured that our goal is to seek the maximum possible compensation based on the facts of the case. We have over 20 years of experience serving the people of Oxford and the rest of Mississippi, and we’re recognized for legal excellence in personal injury claims of all types.
At Tannehill Carmean, PLLC, our personal injury cases, including slip and fall accidents, are represented on a contingency fee basis, meaning you will only pay our legal fees if we achieve a settlement or jury verdict. To learn more about your rights and how our lawyers can help you recover compensation after a slip and fall injury accident, please call us at 662-200-8734 to schedule a consultation.
