Fort Lauderdale Slip and Fall Accident Lawyers

Knowledgeable Fort Lauderdale Slip and Fall Accident Lawyers Serving Clients Throughout Palm Beach County

Regardless of how graceful we like to believe that we are, every one of us has tripped before, and most of us have fallen flat on our faces at one time or another. If it was a minor fall, you might have just picked yourself up and laughed the incident off, but if the fall was more serious and caused injuries, it can be difficult to move on. Slip and fall accidents can result in serious and long-lasting injuries, especially for older adults who may break bones more easily and heal more slowly than younger people. Falls result in approximately 8.9 million emergency room visits each year, and in 2010 approximately 21,700 older adults died due to injuries sustained in a fall. If you or a loved one has sustained injuries in a slip and fall accident that was caused by the negligence of another, our Fort Lauderdale Slip and Fall Accident Lawyers are ready to help you collect the compensation you deserve for your injuries and damages.

After sustaining injuries in a slip and fall accident, the first thing you should do is seek proper medical attention—even if you do not appear to be seriously injured, because only a trained medical professional can properly evaluate your injuries. If you are physically able, it can also be useful to look around to see if you can determine the cause of the fall, which can help prevent other people from having a similar accident. If the accident was caused by the negligence of a third party property owner, that person may be held financially responsible for the cost of the treatment and rehabilitation made necessary by their negligence, as well as for the pain and suffering that you’ve been forced to endure.

At Lawlor, White & Murphey, our team of Fort Lauderdale personal injury lawyers have decades’ worth of combined experience helping Florida slip and fall accident victims recover compensatory damages for their injuries. We have recovered over $100 million in compensation for our clients, and have a proven track record of providing the smart and effective legal advocacy that our injured clients need to move forward with their lives.

Common Causes of Slip and Fall Accidents in Florida

In some cases, a slip and fall accident may occur in your own home or because of a misstep on an otherwise stable surface. However, in other cases, slip and fall accidents accident are caused because a property or building owner was negligent and failed to maintain the property in safe condition for visitors and guests. There are many different circumstances that can cause a slip and fall accident on someone else’s property, including:

• Poor lighting,
• Slippery floors,
• Liquids spilled on the floor,
• Uneven sidewalks, pathways, steps, or curbs,
• Unseen dangers, such as a hole covered by overgrown weeds,
• Electrical cords or other obstacles lying on a walkway,
• Loose rugs or mats,
• Open filing cabinets or desk drawers,
• Clutter on the floor,
• Parking lot potholes

Slip and fall accidents can happen anywhere, but common locations include:

• A friend’s home,
• Restaurants and bars,
• Office settings,
• Hotels,
• Shopping malls,
• Grocery stores,
• Parking garages,
• Swimming pools, whether public or private,
• Beach boardwalks,
• Common areas in an apartment complex,
• Within a rental home.

Of course, a property owner cannot be held responsible for slip and fall accidents in all cases, but they should be held liable if they have failed to keep their property in a reasonably safe condition and this lack of care leads to an accident.

Potential Lasting Consequences of a Slip and Fall Accident

While minor falls might just lead to some bruising, a serious slip and fall accident can cause much more severe injuries that can impact your quality of life for years to come, and can even increase the risk of an early death. Falls are also the most common cause of brain injuries, and serious brain injuries can lead to memory problems, personality changes, and difficulty in basic functioning. In addition to the possibility of sustaining traumatic brain injuries, slip and fall accidents can also lead to:

• Lacerations,
• Torn ligaments and muscles,
• Nerve damage,
• Fractured bones, including the arms, legs, and hands,
• Joint injuries, including to the hips, knees, ankles and wrists,
• Head trauma,
• Spinal cord damage,
• Long-term fear of falling,
• Long-term chronic pain.

Many of the injuries associated with a serious slip and fall accident can lead to expensive medical bills, and slip and fall accident victims often find themselves struggling both to recuperate from the accident and stay above water financially. Some injuries force accident victims to take time off of work or to leave their job permanently, which means that in addition to extensive and expensive medical bills, these accident victims may lose their primary source of income.

If you sustained injuries in a slip and fall accident caused by the negligence of a third party, it is essential that you seek the help of our experienced Fort Lauderdale Slip and Fall Accident Lawyers who can help you recover the compensation you need.

Establishing Fault in Florida Slip and Fall Accident Cases

To recover compensation for injuries sustained in a slip and fall accident in the state of Florida, the accident victim’s lawyer will seek to establish three primary elements in order to show that the property owner was negligent, as follows:

• Duty of care. We will first point to the property owner’s duty of care, which can be established based upon your reason for entering the property. For example, when an individual is walking through a store during business hours, or touring a house with a real estate agent, the property owner has a legal duty of care to make sure those areas are safe for visitors.
• Failure to exercise reasonable care. Next, our lawyers will investigate to prove that the property owner failed to exercise reasonable care in maintaining the property in safe condition for visitors, customers and other invited guests. For example, if an escalator was three years past its required inspection date or a business owner failed to fill in a hole in the parking lot even after multiple complaints from customers who tripped over it, that owner failed to exercise reasonable care, thus breaching the legal duty of care.
• The breach of care led to injury. Finally, we will work to prove that it was the property owner’s failure to maintain the property in safe condition that led to your injuries.

Establishing fault in a slip and fall accident case can become complicated because the court must see evidence proving that the property owner failed to act in a “reasonable” manner.

Example: if a grocery store employee spilled a gallon of milk and someone else almost immediately slipped on the resulting puddle, the grocery store owner would not necessarily be responsible—he or she is not expected to react instantly to remedy the unsafe condition. However, if an employee spilled that gallon of milk in the evening and the puddle was still there when the store opened the next morning, the owner is more likely to be held liable in a slip and fall case.

The property owner’s duty depends upon a number of factors, including why you were on the property in the first place. The following tiered system generally applies in establishing the degree of care the owner is required to exercise:

• Invitees. If you were invited onto public property (usually a business), the highest level of care must be exercised by the owner to ensure your safety. This includes a duty to inspect the premises to discover any dangerous conditions.
• Licensees. This category includes those who were invited onto the property for non-business reasons, for example, invited guests at a party. Although these property owners must maintain their property in reasonably safe condition, they are not required to inspect.
• Trespassers. Trespassers are on the property illegally, and so the property owner is usually only required to refrain from actively taking steps to harm the trespasser.

Experienced Fort Lauderdale Slip and Fall Accident Lawyers at Lawlor, White & Murphey Fight to Establish Your Right to Compensation from a Negligent Property Owner

Our experienced team of Fort Lauderdale Slip and Fall Accident Lawyers can help you determine whether a property owner was aware of a hazardous area, whether any reasonable efforts were taken to make the area safer, and whether a reasonable person would have made a greater effort to keep the property safe.

Once we establish that the property owner was, in fact, responsible for your slip and fall accident and injuries, we will fight to ensure that you receive the maximum compensation award possible in your case, including compensation for:

• Medical expenses,
• Rehabilitative and physical therapy costs,
• Loss of wages,
• Lost future earning capacity,
• Permanent disability,
• Decreased enjoyment of life.

Schedule a Free Initial Consultation to Discuss Your Slip and Fall Accident Claim With Our Experienced Fort Lauderdale Slip and Fall Accident Lawyers

If you or a loved one has sustained injuries in a slip and fall accident that was caused by the negligence of another, you deserve to be fairly compensated for your suffering and financial loss. However, it is important that you act quickly to retain legal help so that we can begin investigating to gather the evidence necessary to support your claim.

Call the law firm of Lawlor White & Murphey or fill out this short online contact form, and we will get back to you promptly to discuss your case. Our initial consultations are always free, and our Fort Lauderdale Slip and Fall Accident Lawyers work on a contingency basis, meaning we are not paid until you receive compensation. Even if you are still recovering from your accident and unable to come into our offices, our attorneys are available to travel to visit you in the hospital or your home to discuss your case if you prefer.

Areas Nearby:

• Fort Lauderdale Slip and Fall Accident Lawyers
• Hollywood Slip and Fall Accident Lawyers
• Miramar Slip and Fall Accident Lawyers
• Pembroke Pines Slip and Fall Accident Lawyers
• Plantation Slip and Fall Accident Lawyers
• West Palm Beach Slip and Fall Accident Lawyers

Lawlor, White and Murphey have office locations available by appointment located at:

• 2211 Davie Boulevard Fort Lauderdale, FL 33312
• 8362 Pines Boulevard, #410, Pembroke Pines, Florida 33024
• 3014 Indian Trace, #164, Weston, Florida 33326
• 6574 North State Road 7, #349, Coconut Creek, Florida 33073
• 43 South Pompano Parkway #228, Pompano Beach, Florida 33069
• 1802 N. University Dr., #212, Plantation, Florida 33322

Contact one of our offices today for a free consultation.