Frederick County Slip and Fall Lawyer
Suddenly losing your footing hard surface can result in serious injuries that may leave you dealing with extensive medical bills, missed income due to time out of work, personal property damage, pain and suffering, and various other forms of economic and non-economic harm.
It is possible in many situations to hold a property owner accountable for the unsafe conditions on their land that led to this kind of incident, but you may have significant trouble doing so effectively without support from a Frederick County slip and fall lawyer. Once retained, your dedicated personal injury attorney could work on your behalf to gather evidence of civil liability by the defendant(s) in your claim, argue against assertions that you were at all at fault, and demand fair restitution for all your recoverable losses.
Landowner Liability and Contributory Fault
Perhaps the most important element of slip and fall litigation for prospective plaintiffs to understand is that property owners are not automatically liable for all injuries that occur on their land in all situations. Broadly speaking, property owners and managers must warn lawful visitors of hazardous conditions they know about and, for “invitees” like retail customers who are visiting for the owner’s benefit, to inspect their property regularly for hazards they are not yet aware of.
In practice, this means that property owners are only liable for slip and fall injuries caused by hazards they reasonably should have been aware of and had time to do something about. For example, someone slipping on a spill in a store aisle that occurred moments before they encountered it might not confer liability on the store’s management, while a fall caused by ice allowed to collect outside a store entrance for hours could be a different story.
However, thanks to Virginia’s harsh “pure contributory negligence” system, accident victims who bear any degree of fault whatsoever for their injuries cannot recover any compensation for their ensuing losses. A Frederick County slip and fall attorney’s help could be key to both proving defendant fault and disproving allegations of plaintiff fault.
Seeking Compensation Within Filing Deadlines
Assuming there are no issues with contributory negligence, a person injured in a slipping or tripping accident due to a property owner’s negligence may have grounds to recover for both economic and non-economic forms of harm. However, they may be unable to recover anything no matter how strong their case is if they wait too long to file it.
According to Code of Virginia §8.01-243, a statutory filing deadline of two years applies to virtually all personal injury claims, meaning accident victims generally have no more than 24 months to start the litigation process if they want to recover compensation. Once again, support from a trip and fall lawyer in Frederick County could prove essential to constructing a compelling case within this time limit.
Seek Help from a Frederick County Slip and Fall Attorney
Successfully recovering compensation after a slip or trip and fall accident can be a complicated and time-consuming endeavor. Without support from a legal professional who has handled cases like yours successfully in the past, you may have very little chance of securing the result you want from your lawsuit or settlement demand.
Fortunately, a Frederick County slip and fall lawyer is available to work on your behalf in pursuit of a favorable case resolution. Call today to learn more.
