Slip and Fall FAQs

A case of slip and fall is a type of personal injury lawsuit in which the injured person tries to recover damages from a person, who was liable for the area where the slip or fall happened, and who owed a duty of care to them.

If the owner or manager of a property fails to maintain a reasonably-secure environment, or acts in any manner negligently, he or she may be held responsible for any accidents that arise in such a situation. In many slip, trip, and fall injuries, negligence is a significant contributor.

If you have slipped, tripped, and fallen on someone else's property, you should immediately report the accident to the owner or manager of the property. Seek medical treatment, even if you believe your injuries to be minor. It can take days or weeks after the accident for injuries such as internal organ damage, or brain injury, to become noticeable. A critical element of a competent slip and fall case in Massachusetts is to have the accident reported by both property owners and medical professionals.

Slip and fall accidents can happen everywhere and can be caused by several different factors. The type of a slip and fall accident can also help in deciding the party or parties responsible. A few of the more common forms of incidents involving slip and fall include:

• Snow and icefalls
• Slippery or wet sidewalks
• Unsafe workplaces
• The wet floor in supermarkets
• Less maintained walkways

Slip and fall accidents can cause a variety of severe and life-altering injuries, such as:

• Breakage of bones
• Muscle pain and breakage
• Injuries on neck
• Spinal injuries
• Traumatic brain injuries (TBI)

If you have been involved in a slip and fall accident, seek medical attention for your injuries as soon as possible. A doctor's appointment helps ensure that your injuries do not get worse, and offers evidence that will help insurance providers prove the seriousness of your injuries.

The biggest factors in determining the worth of a settlement are your injury(ies) and their impact on you. One of the most important factors that insurance providers will look into is your medical care. Insurance companies will determine whether the care was necessary and specific to your claimed injury. For example, if you have suffered from a broken leg, but have received a lot of treatment for unrelated things, this can pose a problem. Similarly, this could result in a reduced offer if you were already suffering from a very similar illness.

In the end, it is better to talk with an experienced attorney. An experienced attorney has handled many slip and fall cases, and they are able to provide you with a sense of clarity about your particular case, as well as its probable outcome.

Massachusetts law allows victims of injury to seek compensation from those liable for their injuries. However, these forms of compensation are dependent on the types of legal "damages" sustained. Three different categories of harm are recognized in the law:

• Economic – These types of losses are financial, meaning that they can be numerically measured. This includes: medical costs, lost wages at work, lost future earnings, future expenses for medical care, adaptive accommodation needs, out-of-pocket expenses, property damage, and so on. It covers the financial and monetary losses associated with your slip and fall accident.
• Non-economic – Often called “hedonic” damages, these are losses that are less subject to monetary measurement. They are more intimate and emotional, such as: emotional distress, anxiety, loss of life's pleasure, and suffering.
• Punitive – In the most serious cases of intentional or careless conduct, this final category is very rare and it is only used by the courts. Really, there is no harm at all. To prevent defendants from repeating grossly negligent conduct and punish wrongdoing, punitive awards are used. The best examples are when big businesses purposely damage people to make a profit, and they continue to do so until someone is catastrophically injured after repeated warning.

Injuries are an entirely different matter at work. While you would also have a right to seek compensation from the negligent company or property owner, a workers' compensation claim may well be your primary cause of action.

In Massachusetts, an injured worker, through the insurance carrier of their employer, will claim workers' compensation coverage. This can also help to cover much of the initial medical costs and treatments. However, if someone else, including a contractor or subcontractor, is directly responsible for the accident, the injured worker will be entitled to claim compensation from them.

Generally, with few exceptions, there is a three-year statute of limitations for bringing a case against the liable parties. This means that you will never be entitled to collect money for your injury from the liable party, or their insurance provider, if you do not file a complaint in court against the appropriate party within the three-year period of time.

That is why contacting us immediately after any slip and fall accident is important. Often, well before the statute of limitations expires, or before the filing of a lawsuit, we will resolve the claim with the insurance provider of the liable party.

To protect their best interests, insurance firms employ strong legal teams. At Bellotti Law Group, P.C., we are here to fight for you, not for corporate profits. In order to help create a strong case against the insurance provider and the negligent landowner, we will collect the medical documents, photographic evidence, and expert witness testimony required.

Contact our law office today if you have been involved in a slip and fall accident in Massachusetts.