Slip and fall accidents are common; they most often occur in stores and in businesses, but they can also occur on public property like streets and sidewalks. Of course, merely because these pieces of infrastructure are owned by the city, that does not automatically remove the onus of responsibility from the property manager directly adjacent to the sidewalk. Homeowners, for instance, have a responsibility to maintaining the sidewalks in front of their houses and keeping them free of hazards and harm. If you have suffered an injury due to an uneven sidewalk or a damaged sidewalk, call one of our Los Angeles attorneys at Normandie Law Firm for more assistance. We can help you file a lawsuit against the responsible party to secure you a fair settlement for your damages.
Damaged Sidewalk Information
Sidewalks that are damaged or defective in some way can easily cause injuries to pedestrians. There are many reasons for defective sidewalks, including construction workers who improperly laid the cement, roots from trees causing the sidewalk to rise, cars that drive up them to get into driveways, and damages resulting from consistent foot traffic by pedestrians. There may be potholes and cracks that can cause you to snag your feet as well.
Hazards on the sidewalk may also include dirt, debris, ice, water, grease, oil, leaves, and other things that can make walking slippery or problematic. If you can attribute your sidewalk injury to a specific source, call one of our sidewalk injury lawyers in Los Angeles.
Injuries from Sidewalk Accidents
Because of how sudden a fall on a sidewalk can be, the injuries can be severe – you were not expecting any kind of resistance and you may have had your arms loaded with goods or been preoccupied. In some cases, parents pushing their babies in carriages could see the carriage snag on a piece of raised sidewalk, causing the carriage to tumble forward, resulting in possible harm to the infant. You could fall downhill or land on s particularly hard section of the ground or onto a sharp object; in some instances, a trip on a busy sidewalk could lead to you tumbling into traffic.
Some of the damages you can sustain include:
- Concussions
- Broken bones
- Hip damage
- Neck injuries
- Spinal cord injuries
- Torn muscles
- Sprains
- Knee injuries
- Fractures
- Traumatic brain injuries
- Cuts, bruises, lacerations, abrasions, and more
Many people try to break their falls by putting their hands out in front of them, which can greatly damage their hands and wrists. Those who are more fragile or elderly can also suffer highly severe damages due to weaker bones and an inability to protect themselves upon falling.
Although the potential to suffer extreme damages like paralysis, coma, and death is uncommon, there are still chances depending on the circumstances. A fall that results in you hitting your head in a specific spot could very easily lead to brain damage.
Your damages could net you a fair amount of compensation. To garner the maximum settlement possible, make sure you speak to one of our attorneys in Los Angeles who have experience handling sidewalk injury lawsuits.
Assigning Responsibility
Some trip and fall accidents have no negligent actions by any party; you simply may have tripped on a section of the sidewalk and hurt yourself, but unless the sidewalk were egregiously defective and should have been fixed or addressed, you likely will not be able to file a claim.
Sidewalks are owned by the city, but are said to be a natural extension of the property owner’s land. Essentially, the property owner is responsible for the daily upkeep of the sidewalk and for reporting any possible problems to the city; the city must take care to fix any major issues, but it is not responsible for mundane activities like keeping it free of debris or cleaning it free of snow. If there is a major crack in the sidewalk, it is on the city to repair it, provided the property owner alerted the city.
In order to prove negligence, you must be able to show that the property owner or city knew or should have known about the status of the sidewalk and that it was defective. This can be difficult because of how quickly a repair can happen; therefore, it is crucial that you take photographs of the sidewalk as soon as you are injured. This evidence will likely be the most important factor in your claim – if you can show that the sidewalk was defective and should have been fixed at a previous point in time, you have a higher chance of winning a settlement.
The city may be able to deny its role in the accident and claim that the property owner should have fixed the sidewalk or alerted the city sooner. This kind of battle can stretch for a long period of time; it is recommended that you hire a Los Angeles attorney with experience in broken sidewalk injury cases to handle your claim so that your lawsuit will be filed against the liable party.
Statute of Limitations Info
Sidewalk injury lawsuits would be categorized as premises liability claims, meaning you would have a statute of limitations of two years from the date of the injury to take legal action. This deadline is put in place to ensure that the claim is filed in a swift manner; the longer you wait, the higher the chance that evidence will be corrupted or lost, that witnesses will misremember information, or that the damages will have already been fixed.
However, for any claims filed against government or public entities like the city or county, you only have a statute of limitations of 6 months. This can be confusing, especially if you cannot properly identify which party is responsible. You may find that the time limit has run out while trying to sort out who can be held liable. For this reason, it is important that you hire a sidewalk injury lawyer Los Angeles.
You may be able to have the statute of limitations temporarily suspended, or tolled, if you meet certain requirements. For instance, if you were underage at the time of the incident, the statute would not begin until you turned 18 years old. Further, if the damages you sustained caused you to become physically or mentally incapable of taking legal action, the time limit would not begin until you returned to functionality. In the event that the defendant leaves the state (only applicable to defendants who are individuals as opposed to government entities), the statute will be suspended until he returns.
Talk to a sidewalk trip and fall lawyer in Los Angeles to determine if you are eligible for any exceptions to the statute of limitations.
Restitution from a Lawsuit
With the assistance of a Los Angeles sidewalk injury attorney, you could earn different types of compensation for your damages. We will do all we can to bring you the maximum settlement available to you under the law by any means necessary. You may be able to earn coverage for the following:
- Medical bills (hospitalization, surgery costs, medication, physical therapy, and future medical procedures)
- Lost income (and future lost wages because of recovery time or additional medical treatments)
- Property damage
- Pain and suffering (fear, PTSD, anxiety, psychological stress, mental anguish, and more)
- Punitive damages (handed out in times of gross negligence, but they are often viewed as excessive, and thus difficult to win; a skilled lawyer will be necessary in order to acquire these)
- Wrongful death compensation (funeral expenses, loss of consortium, pre-death medical expenses and pain and suffering, and more)
You should not be expected to pay for your own expenses if you were hurt in an accident that was attributed to the fault of another party.
The Firm for You
Normandie Law Firm is one of the top-rated legal groups in the city. We are a Los Angeles law firm that handles sidewalk accident injury lawsuits and many other claims; if you are in need of an experienced attorney with a wide variety of capabilities, we are the firm for you. Our aggressive lawyers will relentlessly pursue your compensation, negotiating with insurance agents until you are given an offer that is acceptable. If we do not receive a satisfactory settlement, we will march into court to present your case and fight for your rights as a victim of an accident.
Call us today to schedule a free consultation with a slip and fall attorney for sidewalk slip and fall cases. All of our legal consultations are completely confidential, so none of your information will be shared elsewhere. You are encouraged to ask questions during the consultation, and we will be glad to look over your case and tell you what we believe it’s worth and what we can bring you.
We also will inform you of our zero fee guarantee, which promises that you will not have to spend any out of pocket expenses if you sign up for our legal representation. We will not get paid unless we win your case; the fees will be taken out of the settlement we bring you, so the responsible insurance agency will pay for your legal bills. If we lose, you will be off the hook completely and not owe us anything. We will eat the expenses we spent ourselves.
Contact an expert lawyer at Normandie Law Firm for more information on filing a sidewalk injury lawsuit.
