New York City Slip And Fall Lawyers
Injuries Suffered From Slip and Falls in New York City
Slip-and-fall accidents can result in painful injuries, requiring missed time from work and preventing the injured from performing everyday tasks. The vast majority of slip-and-fall injuries can be prevented by property owners taking steps to provide safe conditions for visitors and occupants.
The Orlow Firm represents people who have been injured by the negligence of property owners in NYC slip-and-fall accidents. At our law firm, you will always work with a partner. We believe you should expect that from any personal injury law firm you hire. Call (646) 647-3398 to schedule your free consultation. You can also submit a contact form and we will be in touch with you promptly.
In one of our successful cases, we represented a woman who suffered reflex sympathetic dystrophy after a slip-and-fall accident during a construction project at her housing unit. Her slip-and-fall settlement totaled $715,000. The woman’s case is just one of our many success stories.
How Do New York City Slip-and-Fall Accidents Happen?
Slip-and-fall accidents can occur due to:
- Unkempt walkways and steps
- Poorly lit hallways and staircases
- Cracked and damaged sidewalks
- Stores without displayed warning signs
- Loose or missing handrails
These accidents can happen at work, in stores, at other people’s homes and many other places. Those who are responsible for your injury should be held accountable. At The Orlow Firm, our NYC attorneys are ready to assist you with your injury claim today.
Helping Injured People Obtain Fair Compensation
Our attorneys offer experienced legal help to people who have been injured due to unsafe property conditions. We handle serious injuries such as:
In New York City, property owners, grocery store owners, retail store owners and even large corporations can be held liable for your injuries if negligence was the main cause of your slip-and-fall accident. It is just as unacceptable for a property owner to neglect the repair of cracked walkways and faulty railings on staircases as it is for a store owner to ignore standardized safety procedures by neglecting to place warning signs when the floor is wet or an item recently spilled on the floor.
Slip and Fall Resources
For more information, review our articles about slip-and-fall accidents:
- Slip-and-Fall: Examples of Cases, Verdicts and Settlements
- Slip-and-Fall Injuries: Where Do They Most Commonly Occur?
- Slip-and-Fall Injuries: Proving Your Case
Slips, Falls, and Other Premises Liability Claims
Our lawyers have helped victims who have been injured in by work-related knee injuries, traumatic brain injuries and other accidents throughout New York. We are dedicated to helping each client recover maximum compensation for their injuries.
Premises liability law involves the legal responsibilities of property owners and occupiers to prevent injuries to persons on their property. One of the most common causes of such injuries is a trip or slip and fall, such as on an icy sidewalk, a loose or uneven stair tread, or a piece of debris or spilled liquid on the floor. Property owner liability varies depending on the rules and principles adopted in the jurisdiction where the injury occurred. An experienced personal injury lawyer at The Orlow Firm in Flushing, New York, can evaluate the strength of your premises liability claim and help you recover damages for lost wages, medical bills, and pain and suffering.
Premises liability: general principles
Some states’ premises liability laws focus on the status of the visitor to the property. In such states, the injured person is generally defined as either an invitee, a licensee or a trespasser.
- Invitee. An invitee is someone who is expressly or impliedly invited onto the property of another. The owner owes the invitee the highest duty of care, which includes taking every reasonable precaution to ensure the invitee’s safety.
- Licensee. A licensee, by contrast, enters the property for his or her own purposes but is present at the consent of the owner. The owner is required to warn a licensee of hidden dangers, but is not necessarily required to fix them.
- Trespasser. A trespasser enters the property without any right whatsoever to do so. In the case of adult trespassers, the owner generally has no duty of care and need not take reasonable care of his property or warn of hidden dangers. Even if a person was trespassing at the time of his or her injury, he or she may still be able to recover, however, if he or she can show that the owner knew it was likely that trespassers would enter the property. Children are owed a higher duty of care, regardless of whether they are considered trespassers. A landowner’s duty to warn is also heightened with respect to children.
In states where consideration is given to the condition of the property and the activities of the owner and visitor, a uniform standard of care is applied to both invitees and licensees. This uniform standard requires the exercise of reasonable care for the safety of visitors other than trespassers. To satisfy the reasonableness standard owed to invitees and licensees, an owner has a continuing duty to inspect the property to identify dangerous conditions and either repair them or post warnings as appropriate.
Proving owners’ liability in premises liability cases
In proving a premises liability case, an injured person must show that the standard of reasonableness required by an owner has not been met. Perhaps the most difficult element an injured person must prove is the owner’s knowledge of the condition causing his or her injury. The injured person must prove that the owner knew or should have known the condition in order for liability to attach, which is often quite difficult to establish.
Defenses to liability in premises liability cases
One of the commonly applied theories to limit an injured person’s recovery is comparative or contributory fault. A visitor has a duty, in most cases, to exercise reasonable care for his or her own safety, and when that degree of care is not exercised, an injured person’s recovery may be limited or reduced by an amount attributable to his or her own negligence.
In the cases where a person’s injuries are the result of slipping on an icy sidewalk in front of a business or on a grape, lettuce leaf, banana peel or other food item that has fallen on a grocery store floor, the property owner may or may not be liable for the person’s injuries. Although property owners have a duty to exercise reasonable care to maintain the premises in such a way to prevent injuries to lawful visitors, if a condition of the premises is noticed by a customer or other visitor or should be readily apparent, the property owner may avoid liability because the injured person has also a duty to protect himself or herself against the injury.
The property owner may also avoid liability by establishing that the debris had so recently fallen on the floor or that the ice had so recently accumulated that the responsible persons had no reasonable opportunity to correct the condition and avoid the hazard before the plaintiff fell. In other words, the plaintiff in a slip and fall case, whether it occurs in a grocery store or elsewhere, must show that the owner had a reasonable period of time in which to discover the dangerous condition and in which to remedy it. The determination of what constitutes a reasonable time will vary from case to case.
Contact a personal injury lawyer
Even common accidents such as slips and falls can present complex legal issues and complicated questions of both fact and law. Accordingly, if you have been injured in a premises-related accident, an experienced and knowledgeable personal injury attorney at The Orlow Firm in Flushing, New York, can advise you on your rights and work with you to pursue a favorable outcome.
Causes of outdoor slip and fall accidents
A slip and fall accident can be very serious, often leading to injuries such as broken bones and abrasions. This type of accident can occur at any time in New York City, both indoors and outdoors. Outdoor accidents are commonly caused by one or more of the following conditions:
Inadequate outdoor lighting. A slip and fall accident can result from poor lighting in a parking lot or other areas around a building. Without the necessary light, a person may not be able to see a curb, crack or uneven surface.
Snow or ice accumulation. If an unusual amount of snow or ice accumulates outside a building and the owner does not take care of it in an appropriate and timely manner, he or she could be liable for any accidents that occur from the accumulated precipitation.
Parking lots. The owner of a parking lost must maintain the area to ensure its safety. This includes patching holes and cracks that could act as a trip hazard.
Sidewalks. Just the same as parking lots, dangerous conditions on a sidewalk can result in a slip and fall accident.
As a pedestrian, it can be a challenge to pay attention to every step you take, especially when you expect an area, such as a parking lot or sidewalk, to be kept in good condition. For this reason, an accident can happen when you least expect it.
The cause of an outdoor slip and fall accident often determines whether or not a person or entity is negligent and responsible for your injuries. You may wish to speak with an attorney who is qualified to discuss the finer details of your accident.
Slip and fall accident causes and injuries
From New York City to Los Angeles and everywhere in between, slip and fall accidents occur on a regular basis. Nobody wants to slip, fall and get injured, but this does happen.
There are many causes of slip and fall accidents, with some of the most common including:
- Missing or loose handrails
- Damaged sidewalks, such as those that are cracked
- Poorly lit staircases and halls
- Improper maintenance of steps and walkways, such as not removing snow and ice
- Stores that neglect to use warning signs when necessary
A slip and fall accident can happen in stores, at work, in office buildings, in parking lots, at a residential property and in many other places.
Serious injuries can result from a slip and fall accident. These can include the following:
- Brain injuries
- Broken or fractured bones
- Spinal cord injuries
- Back and neck injuries
- Head injuries
Not every slip and fall accident results in an injury. There are times when a person is able to protect him or herself during the fall, helping them avoid injury. On the contrary, there are times when the person is not as lucky.
There are many causes of slip and fall accidents. On the same token, these incidents can result in a variety of moderate to severe injuries.
In the event that you or a loved one is injured in a slip and fall accident, regardless of the reason, you want to learn more about your rights. When the time comes, visit our webpage focused on “Injuries Suffered From Falling Down.”
Contact The Orlow Firm
If you or a loved one suffered an injury due to a slip-and-fall accident in NYC, our qualified and experienced lawyers will offer a confidential and honest assessment of your case. Our cases are handled on a contingent basis, which means that we are paid only when we recover money damages.
We will come to you if you cannot come to us. We will come to you if you cannot come to us. Se habla español.
Contact us online or call (646) 647-3398.