Day: December 30, 2019

The very first thing you’ll want to do,immediately upon being involved in an accident,is first make sure that everyone is okay and that anyone that requires medical attention â including yourself â gets attention from emergency medical services as quickly as they can.

Secondly,you want to contact the authorities by dialing 911 directly and having officers and emergency services dispatched to your location. This is critical,regardless of whether or not you know who is at fault right now,as these representatives of the law are going to be able to begin documenting a chain of evidence that will help protect you â or vindicate you â as the personal injury situation moves forward.

Finally,you’ll want to be sure that you follow up with the on-scene officers,fill out a complete incident report,and request that an incident report copy be provided for you whenever it can be made available. Again,this is all about establishing that chain of evidence that will become so important later down the line.

Just How Quickly Should I Begin Searching For Personal Injury Lawyers?

There are obviously going to be a handful of things you need to take care of immediately following an accident,including:

• Contacting your insurance agency and starting the insurance claim process
• Figuring out if and how your vehicle can/will be repaired going forward
• Find alternate modes of transportation
• Get yourself medical attention,even if you didn’t require immediate medical attention on scene following the accident

â ¦ And that’s the tip of the iceberg.

After you take care of those critical fundamentals following an accident it’s time to begin searching for the right car accident attorney.

You’ll want to be sure that you are looking for someone that specializes in this field of law rather than a more generalist practice,and you also want to make sure that you are working with personal injury lawyers that have years of experience â and success â already under their belts dealing with car crash injuries.

Most of the top-tier personal-injury legal experts out there provide free consultation so that you can discuss your case with them,and it’s a good idea to take advantage of these opportunities. Not only will you get to meet legal experts that may be the ones you choose to hire for your situation moving forward,but you’ll also be able to get a lot more answers and a lot more information about your specific case that just isn’t possible without this “inside information” directly from personal-injury legal experts.

Depending upon where you live,a statute of limitations can stretch anywhere between six months and two years (and sometimes longer) for you to begin a personal injury legal case. The clock begins taking as soon as the accident occurs,however,and the closer you get started to the actual accident the easier it’s going to be to move things along â particularly when it comes time to gather evidence that can help your case significantly.

Slip and Fall Injuries

A “slip and fall” occurs when a person hurts themselves on another person’s property through a slip or a trip. This type of accident typically takes place on someone’s property or premises,which means that the property owner could be held liable for medical expenses related to any slip and fall injuries. You can experience a slip and trip due to many reasons. Some indoor reasons include slight floor elevation changes,slick floors,sidewalk cracks,or patches in worn-out carpeting. Some outdoor causes of slips and trips include rain,hard-to-spot holes in the ground,icy surfaces or rocks in a person’s path.

Preventing Slip and Falls

You should regularly change out light bulbs to keep areas well-lit. If you manage workers,you should recommend that they always come to wear work-appropriate,comfortable shoes. You or others should clean up spills as quickly as possible or place “wet floor” warning signage near the spill if it must be addressed at a later time. You should secure and cover wires,cables,and cords in walkways as they are an easy tripping hazard. Business owners should replace worn-out carpeting with new flooring. Generally,you should maintain situational awareness and walk comfortably during any of your business or personal tasks.

What Follows a Slip and Fall

What you choose to do after a slip and fall accident can be pivotal towards both your legal compensation and your physical and mental recovery. Your request for medical attention is the most effective way to get necessary injury treatment and to construct your legal case. The medical examiner can establish the time of the injury and administered medical care. Your hospital visit can also demonstrate the severity of your conditions. You should scan the scene of the injury and take detailed photographs of your surrounding area following the slip or trip. It’s also important to assemble any witnesses of the accident,to make an official report,and to reach out to a lawyer as soon as possible.

Premises Liability

This liability involves premises with defective or unsafe conditions that possibly caused the slip or trip incident. You generally have to prove that the property owner negligently maintained their property,which created the conditions that led to your slip and fall event. Additionally,you have to prove that the property owner knew or reasonably inferred that their property was unsafe and still failed to correct these unsafe factors. These are all things a good personal injury attorney will do when they take your case.