Long Island Slip & Fall

Homeowners, businesses, tenants and land owners have a duty to maintain their property in a safe condition. If an accident is a result of a property owner's negligence and as a result someone suffers a serious injury, then that property owner may be legally liable to the victim. Slip and fall accidents are often the result of negligent supervision or maintenance of the property. Such accidents typically happen when the owner of property fails to keep the property free from hazards. Slip and fall accidents are one of the leading causes of severe injuries such as spinal cord injuries that lead to paraplegia and quadriplegia, trauma to the head that leads to brain injury, or broken bones. When severe injuries occur, the result is not only physical pain, but also financial distress since the victim will likely miss work while facing significant medical bills. If you slipped and fell on another person's property due to a hazardous condition, it is to have an experienced Long Island slip and fall lawyer on your team to ensure that your legal rights are protected and to help you receive the compensation to which you are entitled.

Causes of slip and fall accidents

A slip and fall accident occurs when some slip and falls on another person's property due to a hazardous condition. A slip and fall accident can occur inside or outside. Common hazards include wet floors, icy surfaces, negligently waxed floors, and oil on surfaces. A slip and fall can happen on a floor, sidewalk, parking lot, driveway or staircase.

When a victim falls it is not unusual for the head to violently slam against the floor, the pavement or against other hard object on the way down. This could me a head injury or a brain injury. In other cases the victim uses his or her arm to try to break the fall, resulting in a broken wrist or arm. The fall could also lead to an injured back.

Hypothetical

After having dinner at a friend's apartment, June walked out of the building and onto the sidewalk that led to the parking lot. It was around 8:00pm and the parking lot was dimly lit. After taking just a few steps on the sidewalk June slip and fell on black ice. June suffered a concussion and a back injury that left her with chronic pain, recurring migraines, and dizziness. June sued the building owner and management company. June has a good chance of prevailing since the icy sidewalk and dimly parking lots were hazards that the owner or management company had a duty to repair.

Pursuing a claim

If you suffered a head injury, a back injury, or some other serious injury after you slipped and fell on another person's property, you will face substantial medical expenses. You will also likely miss work while you recover. You may be entitled to compensation from the owner or manager of the dangerous property.

• Medical bills: Not only your doctor and hospital expenses, but all expenses related to your medical care such as medication, laboratory tests, MRIs, x-rays, CT scans, rehabilitation and counseling.
• Loss of income: Lost wages, lost benefits and loss of self-employment income. If your injury is permanent, you can demand compensation for loss of future earning capacity.
• Pain and suffering: Physical pain and mental suffering as evidenced by depression, irritability, inability to sleep, post-traumatic, stress disorder, and other mental health problems.

If the slip and fall accident occurred while you were working, you will likely be entitled to workers' compensation benefits. New York law requires that employers carry workers' compensation insurance to provide workers injured on the job with medical care and cash benefits. As a slip and fall attorney in Long Island will explain, while there are instances in which an injured worker may be eligible to file a personal injury lawsuit, in most cases the "exclusive benefit" provision of the workers' compensation statutes prevents injured workers from doing so.

Contact the Law Offices of Stephen Bilkis & Associates

To ensure you have the best chance of success in your slip and fall lawsuit, make sure that you document everything that you remember about the circumstances that lead to your fall. Consult a doctor immediately. Contact an experienced slip and fall attorney serving Long Island. The staff at the Law Offices of Stephen Bilkis & Associates is experienced in handling personal injury and wrongful death cases stemming from slip and fall accidents. Contact us at 800.696.9529 to schedule a free, no obligation consultation regarding your case. We represent clients in the following locations: the Bronx, Brooklyn, Long Island, Manhattan, Nassau County, Queens, Staten Island, Suffolk County and Westchester County.

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