Every day, hundreds of thousands of individuals slip and fall somewhere, whether while out in public at the mall or at home on a loose piece of carpeting. The causes are varied, and there is no surefire way to prevent the accidents from happening except to advise being even more careful while walking. Slipping and falling in certain locations can yield more severe consequences than in others; for example, if you trip on a section of raised sidewalk, you may not be as injured as if you slipped near a stairwell and tumbled down it. People who have been injured in slip and fall accidents in elevators should be aware of the laws regarding premises liability and know that they can pursue compensation for their damages. Our Los Angeles law firm, Normandie Law Firm, is one of the top-rated legal groups in the city. Our lawyers have handled slip and fall cases for years, and we are no strangers to elevator accidents. Clients often call us with questions about how to proceed after sustaining injuries in accidents in elevators. Some examples of these questions include:
- Can I sue for a slip and fall injury because of wet floors in an elevator?
- Where can I find elevator injury lawyers to sue the building if I got hurt in an accident?
- If I fell in the lift at a company, can I sue?
- How do I file a lawsuit against the elevator company for slippery floors?
Elevator Accident Information
Elevators are present in almost any location that has multiple storied buildings. Offices, schools, hospitals, malls, hotels, and more all feature elevators that will transport individuals to the higher floors. These elevators need to be regularly maintained, however, or they will have issues that could lead to disastrous consequences. They must also remain clean; often, custodians will clean the elevators in a cursory manner, leaving the floors slick or slippery. Though these areas may not be large, they can still be ripe locations for injuries because of falls.
Commonly, a person will enter the elevator after a cleaning or a spill, only to slip and fall. Because of how small the elevators usually are, you may be more likely to hit your head on the way down, whether by colliding into the handrail or the wall. Fortunately, many of the worst cases, such as the elevator doors closing while someone is in between them, do not occur because of the motion sensors that force the doors open.
There can be over a dozen people in the elevator at once, and any number of factors could contribute to an accident. In addition to custodians and janitors cleaning the elevators, there could also be fluids leaked onto the floor from bags, slick materials tracked in on the bottom of shoes, and items dropped that could cause people to trip.
Some of the causes of these accidents include the following:
- A mechanism fails, such as a door not opening all the way, a cable breaking, or some other engineering issue; this can be the result of improper maintenance, faulty installation, or wear and tear
- Electrical problems and shorts, which may cause shorts and can lead to shocks, causing you to retract your hand and slip or fall
- Waxy floors, which happen to maintain a semblance of professionalism; a slippery elevator floor should always have a warning sign on it
- Poor design with the distance between the elevator box and the platform; a gap, for instance, can cause you to lodge your foot inside of it and fall
- The elevator speeds up or stops suddenly, which may not pass inspection; all issues should be quickly reported by the property owner to avoid anyone getting injured in elevators
Slipping and falling inside an elevator can cause you to sustain various injuries, including broken bones, hip fracture, broken leg, sprained ankle, brain injury, spinal cord injury, concussion, sprains, lacerations, broken teeth, bruises, hematoma, internal bleeding, and more. There may be lasting damages that take some time to heal, if they heal at all. For example, if you break a bone at an odd angle and the doctor is unable to properly set it, you may have a reduced range of motion in that region. You could also suffer nerve damage in the area that will permanently affect sensation and feeling. In some scenarios, CRPS, or complex regional pain syndrome, can affect you. It is crucial that you get adequate medical treatment as quickly possible after an incident in an elevator.
If you were injured in an elevator slip and fall accident, consult with a Los Angeles attorney to pursue a premises liability claim.
Premises Liability Laws
Premises liability works according to the status of the person who was injured. There are three classes that can be assigned to people depending on the circumstances of their presence at the location. If there is a lawful reason for the person to be on the property and there is a mutual benefit that will happen between the person and the property owner, the customer is an invitee. These are generally customers in stores, such as those in malls. Licensees are those who have no contractual obligations and are not entering for any exact monetary or mutual benefit, such as social guests. Lastly, there are trespassers, those who are not lawfully on the property and were not invited or given permission to be there by the property owner. However, trespassers still must be protected in some specific cases.
Because elevators are usually present in buildings that share many different renters, it can be hard to pinpoint who may be responsible. Essentially, the property owner, or the person who has possession of the building, is responsible for the upkeep of the premises. For example, if you were in an office building that housed different businesses and you were involved in an elevator slip and fall accident, you would not outright sue the business where the accident occurred unless there was reason to believe that the business was responsible (if it hired cleaners, for instance.) You would need to locate the building owners and claim that the elevator was unsafe.
More often than not, you will be able to sue the owners of the property or the property management company. You could potentially sue the elevator maintenance company, but they were hired as contractors by the building owners, in all likelihood. Property owners must take care to ensure that their properties are not hazardous; you can sue if there were no indication that the owner was going to fix the problem or if he were negligent in his duties. In order for your lawsuit to be successful, you must be able to show that you were owed a duty of care, that there was a problem with the property (as in a slippery floor in the elevator), that the problem led to an accident, and that the accident resulted in injuries.
As an invitee, you may be able to claim ample compensation for your damages with the assistance of an elevator slip and fall accident attorney. Do not hesitate to file a claim; although the statute of limitations for premises liability cases is two years from the date of the incident or injury, you may not notice your injuries until some time later. This can lead to a rushed process, and if you are not on time, the deadline will pass and you will be ineligible for any damages at all.
To sue, you will need to take pictures of the elevator to show any defects, hazards, or problems. You can show how the floor was slippery, the gap between the box and the platform, and more. You will also need to take pictures of any injuries you suffered and damages you sustained.
Crucially, you must go to the doctor to get treatment. The longer you wait to get medical assistance, the more likely it is that your injuries will actually worsen. If you fall and get hurt in an elevator accident, it is important that you treat your health with the utmost priority. You could be permanently injured if you slipped and fell on an elevator, and treatment, surgery, physical therapy, and more will help you get back on track. Additionally, it is wise to act quickly in the interest of your claim. There are many Los Angeles elevator accidents, so you should make sure to properly identify the occurrence; the insurance agent will try to dismiss it if you do not act quickly. He will say that you were not seriously hurt or that you were hurt in another incident.
If there were any witnesses who saw the elevator slip and fall accident, you can ask them for their statements and testimonies. Your claim will be greatly bolstered if you have other supporting witnesses on your side. You may also be able to acquire security footage from the building.
You should file an incident report with the company if you were in an elevator trip and fall accident. This will alert them to the presence of the situation and will let them know that you plan to take legal action. You should not take any compensation from them ahead of time, such as a voucher or free merchandise. Many victims of elevator incidents end up unable to collect their proper compensation because they accepted something small and menial before weighing their options.
Finally, you should contact a lawyer experienced in elevator injury accident cases. You may have never filed a claim before, let alone an elevator slip and fall lawsuit. An elevator accident injury attorney can work on your claim while you focus on healing and recovering from your injuries.
Possible Compensation
A slip and fall accident inside an elevator can have disastrous consequences, and as a result, you should be covered by the property owners for any injuries you sustain. A fall from any height and onto any surface can cause severe damage; elevators are especially dangerous because of the confined area and hard metal floors and walls that they are often made of. With the help of a lawyer experienced in elevator slip and fall accidents in Los Angeles, you can earn various types of compensation for your damages. These include:
- Medical Expenses: Your medical bills from the accident can be covered by the property owner. These bills include surgery costs, hospitalization fees, medication costs, ambulatory transportation, physical therapy, and more. If you are required to undergo further medical procedures in the future, those expenses can be covered as well.
- Lost Wages: Your injury may sideline you from work for a lengthy amount of time. During that time, you can receive reimbursement for your lost income; further, if you are going to miss additional days because of recovery time or other medical treatments, your future wages can be covered as well. Further, if you were injured on the job in an elevator, you may be able to collect additional worker’s compensation.
- Property Damage: A slip and fall can lead to you dropping your property in the elevator and your personal items getting damaged or broken. You can have your personal items repaired or replaced, or the monetary value can be reimbursed.
- Pain and Suffering: The emotional damages that accompany physical injuries are usually worse than the injuries themselves. These damages affect the mind and psychological state. You can receive compensation for mental anguish, psychological trauma, fear, anxiety, PTSD, and more.
- Wrongful Death Damages: These damages are awarded in the event a loved one or family member dies in the incident. They can include pre-death medical bills and pain and suffering, funeral and burial fees, loss of consortium, loss of inheritance, and more.
- Punitive Damages: If there were any intentions to cause harm or if there were gross negligence on behalf of the property owner, you could collect punitive damages for your injuries. These are merely additional forms of monetary compensation that are meant to punish the defendant and dissuade him from committing the same action again in the future. However, many courts view these damages as excessive and are reluctant to award them. As a result, only the most experienced attorneys will be able to win them for your case.
Consult with one of our elevator accident lawyers in Los Angeles for more information on what you can possibly earn in a lawsuit. We will sue the company that maintains the elevator and ensure that you are paid what you deserve for your injuries.
Our Law Firm
Our attorneys at Normandie Law Firm in Los Angeles promise to aggressively work to bring you the settlement you deserve. Elevator slip and fall injuries are serious matters, and you should not be held responsible for your own expenses if there were negligent behavior on behalf of the property owner. We will do everything we can to make sure the owner covers your expenses, and we are willing to go all the way to court to fight for your rights if necessary. We will not stop until you are satisfied with the result.
Call us today for a free legal consultation with an expert attorney. You can ask questions about elevator accident cases and premises liability laws. We will give you all the information you need to know to make a knowledgeable decision concerning legal action. We believe that all of our clients should have the necessary information before they make any drastic choices.
If you choose us for legal representation, you will also receive a zero fee guarantee on your case. This means that you will pay no out of pocket expenses from start to finish – our lawyers will cover all expenses, and we only get paid if we win your case. The fees will come out of the settlement we bring you, ensuring that the property owner will cover your legal bills as well as your damages. If we lose, you will not have to pay us a dime; we will eat all the costs of the case ourselves.
To speak with a qualified elevator accident attorney to sue the management for your injuries, get in touch with our team at Normandie Law Firm.
Premises Verdicts and Settlements
Our experienced injury lawyers have successfully recovered millions of dollars in verdicts and settlements on behalf of our clients. Below, we present to you a brief list of our more recent slip and fall, and premises liability verdicts and settlements. If you have any questions regarding your slip and fall case, feel free to contact our law office.
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