Midland Slip and Fall Attorney

In early 2024, a trio of bandits barged into a Beaumont Popeyes with the intention of robbing the eatery. As reported by WSAZ, they ended up being dubbed “The Three Stooges” because of all their slipping, sliding, and falling on the wet floor. While the surveillance footage was initially hilarious, there is nothing funny about a severe fall that can leave someone significantly injured. This is the type of situation that can lead to mounting medical bills and arguments with insurance companies.

If you’ve been involved in a slip and fall accident and your recovery is being challenged by all the paperwork and hassles you have to deal with, you owe it to yourself to speak with the attorneys at Barrera Law Group LLC. We are the exact type of Midland slip and fall lawyer who understands the complicated premises liability laws. We also have years of experience dealing with insurance companies and achieving successful outcomes for our clients. You don’t have to take on this issue on your own. Get in touch with us so we can help you.

Should You Pursue a Claim?

If you take a fall at a store, restaurant, or other public building, you might chalk it up to “accidents happen.” However, you need to thoroughly consider all your options. Does your situation meet the following criteria for a slip and fall claim? It might if:

The Accident Took Place on Someone Else’s Property

The moment you step out of your home, you are making your way through a chain of properties, all owned by a variety of people and entities. Here are just a few of the properties you could potentially visit:

• Grocery store
• Retail store
• Movie theater
• Nightclub
• Restaurant
• Bar
• Sports venue
• Library
• Hospital
• Office building
• Courthouse
• Private home, apartment, or condominium

The Owner or Manager or the Property Owed You a Duty of Care

For every type of property, the owner or on-site managers have a legal responsibility for a visitor’s safety. That doesn’t mean each visitor needs a personal escort to keep them safe; it means the environment needs to be safe.

There Was an Unsafe Condition on the Property

An unsafe condition can be anything from a wet floor to a loose stair railing. That unsafe condition needs to have caused or contributed to your accident. This is a condition that the property owner either let happen through neglect or should have known about.

You Sustained Damages

When all three of the above elements are met, and you sustain damages such as medical expenses and lost wages due to the accident, you are entitled to seek compensation by filing a claim. That does not mean that the claim will be accepted. That is when your Midland slip and fall lawyer can make a big difference. If there are complications, such as denying the extent of your injuries or the owner’s liability, your attorney can help provide a defense.

Types of Visitors and Their Rights to Pursue a Slip and Fall Claim in West Texas

A property owner owes a level of care to the visitors to their property. How much of that obligation is owed depends on the type of visitor. For your claim, it must be established that you were either an invitee or a licensee. Here’s what they mean:

Invitee

An invitee is a visitor who is given either direct or implied permission to enter a property owner to conduct any type of business transaction. In the case of a store owner, that implied permission occurs every time they open for business. They don’t need to directly ask you to come and shop at their establishment.

When the property owner is aware of an unsafe condition and doesn’t take proactive steps to fix it or warn visitors, they can be held liable for any injuries that result from that hazardous condition. That responsibility extends to the manager of a business or the tenant who is renting the commercial space.

Licensee

A licensee is someone who enters a specific type of property for their own benefit. That applies to someone who goes to a private residence for a party or a visit. In these situations, the owner is responsible for warning the licensee about any potential dangers they are aware of. However, they aren’t obligated to create the same safe environment as the invitee. In other words, if they aren’t aware of an unsafe condition, they might not be liable for an accident that might occur.

What To Know About Trespassers

The other type of visitor to a property would be a trespasser. In that scenario, the owner doesn’t owe any obligation of safety to the trespasser. A good example would be the robbers mentioned in the opening of this post. If those robbers hurt themselves because of the wet floors, they could not turn around and sue the restaurant owner.

Common Injuries Stemming From Slips and Falls

A fall can happen on a flat surface, steps, or an incline. That can happen in stores, sidewalks, lobbies, or offices. No matter where or how the fall occurs, there can be a wide range of possible injuries you could experience.

Fractured Bones

Seniors are more susceptible to falls than the other demographics. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, one in four adults over 65 will take a fall, and those who do fall double their chances of falling again. However, the age of a slip and fall victim does not impact whether they are entitled to compensation. Fractures to a person’s hip, wrist, ankle, arm, or collarbones are common in these types of accidents.

Soft Tissue Injury

A soft tissue injury involves tears or strains to muscles, tendons, and ligaments. These can cause chronic pain and require extensive physical therapy to recover from. Remember that sometimes, the pain associated with these injuries might not always be apparent. Even if you don’t feel anything right after the accident, you’ll want to see your doctor to get the injury on the record.

Traumatic Brain Injury

You might experience a minor bump or bruise if you fall and hit your head. That could also lead to a traumatic brain injury (TBI), such as a concussion, hematomas, and bleeding under the brain. In severe TBI injuries, the victim can suffer from seizures, reduced mobility, and impact on brain functions.

Cuts and Abrasions

Depending on what you fall on, you could experience a cut or abrasion that requires stitches. Those same cuts could also be part of a concussion or bone fracture.

Spinal Cord or Back Injury

A fall on a hard surface can directly impact your spinal cord. That can manifest as a fractured vertebrae or a slipped or herniated disc. That can lead to paralysis and neurological and sensory deficits.

Knee Damage

A forward fall can have you landing on your knee. That can compromise your medial collateral ligament (MCL) or anterior cruciate ligament (ACL). A damaged knee directly impacts your ability to move around and might require surgery to reconstruct damaged ligaments and patella.

How Your Midland Slip and Fall Lawyer Helps Prove Your Case

Getting into a slip and fall accident can be a shock to the system. In the moments following the incident, you’ll be focused on your injury and getting the required help. Even if you don’t feel any pain in the moment, there are two essential things you need to do: Take photos and report the incident.

It is vital that you try to take photos of the accident scene, especially if there was something on the floor that contributed to the accident.

Additionally, it is vital to report the incident to the staff at the property where it occurred. Be sure to get the name and contact information of the person you report to. If they write up the incident (and they should), you need to obtain a copy of the report.

Those two items are essential pieces of evidence that your Midland slip and fall lawyer will utilize to support your claim. The following are additional items that either your attorney will seek out or you’ll provide:

Property Inspection Records

The majority of businesses that welcome customers undergo some form of inspection, most notably those that serve food or have high-foot-traffic areas. If the unsafe item that caused your fall was on an inspection report, it would indicate that the property owner did not make the required repair. That is negligence.

Evidence of Safety Violations

The same inspections can yield safety violations by any number of local, city, or state agencies. Those would also establish a pattern of neglect on the part of the property owner or staff.

Security Video Footage

You might not be aware of surveillance cameras, but businesses have them everywhere. They can be helpful in proving your slip-and-fall accident and helping the business point out instances of fraud. Your attorney will be in a strong position to request that footage and ensure it is secure.

Eyewitness Statements

There could be eyewitness statements to your fall that can support your version of events. There might also be staff members who can speak about the lack of attention that management paid to the problem. In other words, a worker could have alerted their supervisor about loose flooring, but it would be considered negligent if the supervisor took no action.

Your Shoes

This might be something you wouldn’t automatically think about preserving, but you should take the shoes you wore at the moment of the accident and put them into a plastic bag. You shouldn’t wear them again until the case is resolved. Those shoes can demonstrate that you have good treads. There could also be residue of the item that caused the spill.

Medical Records

You need to provide copies of all your medical records. These will establish the time of your first contact with a medical practitioner regarding the accident. It will also detail your recommended course of treatment and all your associated expenses.

Compensation You Can Seek If You Are Hurt in a Slip and Fall Accident in Midland, TX

An accident that wasn’t your fault should not cost you anything. You might have to put out some initial out-of-pocket expenses, but those should be reimbursed as part of your claim compensation. The cost of your immediate and future medical treatment could exceed the benefits that your personal insurance could provide. Those should also be compensated for. Here is the list of damages you are entitled to seek:

• Emergency room or urgent care visit
• Doctor follow-up exams
• Surgical procedures
• A hospital stay
• Medical supplies
• Physical
• Special transportation costs (if applicable)
• Pain medication
• Lost wages
• Replacement income if you can’t return to work
• Pain and suffering
• Mental anguish

How Barrera Law Group LLC Can Help

If you’re involved in a slip and fall accident, our law office can help you file your initial insurance claim. When you file that claim, you will activate the insurance company representing the property owner. With Barrera Law Group LLC on your side, we will take over all the negotiations with the insurance company

The support you need begins with a free case evaluation. Your Midland slip and fall accident lawyer will be able to answer your questions about your accident and how best to proceed with a claim. We’ll also discuss how we can work together and what fees would be expected. In most cases, we work on a contingency plan. That means you won’t owe us anything unless we reach a fair settlement.

Call to schedule your consultation. You don’t have to go through this alone.