There is a troubling movement in the United States to view victims who sue companies responsible for their injuries as opportunists.
To view their attorneys as ambulance chasing sharks.
Make no mistake about it: this view has been propagated and reinforced by the very companies that want to avoid being responsible for civil negligence.
There are very few ways for the little guy to stand up to a corporation, but the courts-as they stand today-still remain one of the best.
If you've been injured as a result of an accident, a slip and fall lawyer can help you punish the company responsible and get the compensation you deserve.
Premises Liability Anyone who owns a business has a certain degree of premises liability under the law.
No, this doesn't mean that a business owner is responsible for every customer who happens to hurt themselves on the property, as reductive laymen sometimes think.
What it means is something much more reasonable and fair.
Put simply, the owner has a duty to those he invites to the premises (and customers would easily fall under this category) to keep the property safe and to correct any conditions that might be dangerous.
If he fails in either regard and someone is injured as a result, a slip and fall lawyer is going to be able to help the victim collect damages.
Causes While it is true that no one can expect a business owner to prepare for every eventuality, that scope of coverage is not called for under the law.
What is called for is some degree of care and thought to be put into keeping the area safe.
When torn carpeting, poorly maintained steps or escalators, spills, or items left out on the floor lead to injury, a jury might determine that the condition was unsafe and the owner was derelict in his duty to provide a safe environment.
Are there those who would take advantage of these laws to "get rich quick"? Of course, but the phenomenon is far less common than corporate American would like you to believe.
Damages A slip and fall lawyer will work on a client's behalf to prove that the owner was negligent in a way leading to the victim's injury.
If this can be proven, a jury may decide that the owner is responsible to pay for the medical treatment of the victim, cover any lost wages that might have accrued, and they may also determine that punitive damages are in order.
These are increasingly rare, but they can be appropriate in circumstances where gross negligence is involved.
Does a business owner deserve to be punished financially for failing to change a lightbulb, which somehow led to an accident? Perhaps not.
Do they deserve it for leaving an obvious and clear hazard on their property because removing it would be prohibitively expensive? Many juries have said yes.