SLIP AND FALL, TRIP AND FALL, AND FALLING MERCHANDISE INJURIES

Have you been injured by slipping or tripping on the floor, sidewalk or ramps at a restaurant, grocery store, office building, apartment complex or other commercial building?  What about a falling object at a hardware store or grocery store?  At Thomas & Wan, we have handled serious injuries such as a concussion, brain injury, broken limbs and back injuries from slips, trips and falls at stores, apartment complexes and office buildings.

You need to know your legal rights in finding out if the property owner is legally responsible for your injuries.  We can help.  At Thomas & Wan, we have represented numerous people with these types of injuries.  Whether you have a case or not depends on whether the property owner acted carefully so that slipping, tripping or falling merchandise was not likely to happen, and whether you were careless in not seeing or avoiding the condition that caused your fall or injury.

In order to show that you have a case, you have to prove the following:

• The owner/possessor created the condition;
• The owner/possessor knew the condition existed and negligently failed to fix it or warn you of the condition; or
• The condition existed for such a length of time that the owner/possessor should have discovered and fixed it or warn about it.

For example, if a water dispensing machine at a grocery store has been leaking all day and, one day later, the store has not noticed or cleaned up the spill, and someone slips in the water and is injured, it is foreseeable that the store was negligent in failing to inspect its aisles and clean up the spill.

Sometimes a slip, trip or falling merchandise can be caused by building code violations or violations of a store’s own policy.  For example, a handicap ramp must comply with ADA guidelines and not be at an angle that is too steep.  Or, a hardware store must make sure it doesn’t stack lumber in a manner which allows it to come crashing down on a customer’s head.

Five Steps You Can Take Right Now if You’ve Suffered a Slip, Trip or Falling Merchandise Injury:

1.  Get medical help immediately.  If you lost consciousness at all, you need to be seen immediately.

2.  Get the names and telephone numbers of any witnesses, store employees or store managers.

3.  Take photos and video of the area where your injury occurred.

4.  Take photos and video of your injuries.

5.  Call a lawyer to know your legal rights.  Thomas & Wan have over 30 years’ experience in slip, trip and falling merchandise cases.  Call them today at 713-529-1177 for a FREE consultation with an attorney to find out your legal rights.