Elevators are a safe mode of transport up and down many buildings including hotels, office building, malls, schools and hospitals in cities and towns across the state. However in some circumstances due to the negligence of property owners, managers and elevator safety operators, passengers accidents resulting in severe physical and psychological harm. Our law firm is dedicated to providing the legal representation needed in order to make sure that full and just compensation is received from all responsible parties. Below you will find important information regarding elevator accidents, establishing liability in such cases, your right to financial recovery for the losses you have incurred and the legal representation you may require. If you have any further questions contact our law offices.
Common Accidents in Elevators
- Equipment malfunction
- Malfunctioning sliding doors – resulting in passengers being stuck in elevators
- Loose carpeting and footing in the elevator
- Liquid on the floor of the elevator resulting in slip and fall accidents
- Electric shock injuries and deaths due to electrocution caused by wiring issues and defect
- Mis-leveling: Elevator floor uneven with the ground floor resulting in trip and fall accidents
- Falling elevators or elevators movie upwards ant an excessive speed
- Acts of assault, battery and sexual assault in elevators
- Being stuck in elevators for an extended period of time resulting in severe psychological damage
- Passengers who fall into elevator shafts
Establishing Liability – Can I Sue for an Elevator Accident
The vast majority of premises liability claims including elevator accidents are predicated on a negligence theory of liability. There are four elements which need to be established in order to prove a negligence based cause of action.
- Duty of care: Did the at fault party owe a duty of care to the injured party. Generally property owners owe individuals who enter their property a duty to inspect for defects, fix those defects immediately upon inspections and or warn individuals of known dangers associated the elevators.
- Breach of the duty of care: Breach of a duty of care can take place when the property owner fails to inspect the property for potential harm, fix the known dangers so that it will not pose harm to others, and or warn of associated dangers.
- Causation: The breach of the duty of care needs to have been the cause of the accident.
- Injuries: The victim needs to have suffered diagnosable and discernible injuries due to the accident.
California Common Carrier Laws and Elevator Accidents: Common carriers bear special duties for the protection of their passengers. Examples of common carriers include busses, trains, subways, and taxis. According to several state court decisions elevators are considered common carriers as well. As such they owe passengers the “utmost caution characteristic of very careful prudent men or the highest degree of vigilance, care, and precaution.”
Common Injuries Associated with Elevator Accidents: Some of the most common injuries resulting from accidents caused by malfunctioning elevators include the following…
- Spinal cord injuries – including bulging or ruptured discs, slipped discs and damage to the central nervous system.
- Facial injuries – including fractured facial bones, broken nose, fractured teeth, TMJ injuries to the jaw, and damage to the ear resulting in tinnitus (chronic ringing in the ear).
- Damage to the shoulder – separated shoulders and torn rotator cuff injuries.
- Trauma to the head – resulting in concussions and traumatic brain injuries.
- Bone fractures – particularly fractures hip bones tailbones, femur and ankle fractured.
- Knee injuries – shattered knee cap, ACL and MCL tears.
- Finger, hand and wrist injuries.
- Nerve damage – often resulting in chronic nerve pain and complex regional pain syndrome.
Right to Financial Restitution for Your Injuries
Victims of harm due to the wrongful actions of property owners and managers are owed full and just recovery for all damages suffered. The potential value or average cases settlement for a personal injury case is predicated on several factors unique to every case. Some of most important factors in determining a value for your cases if provide for below…
- The total medical and rehabilitation costs for the treatment of your injuries.
- The extent and severity of your injuries.
- How the injuries you suffered have altered your life and how long those injuries persist.
- Calculation of your loss of income and the future loss of earning are a result of injuries that last in duration.
- Non-economic damage compensation: The level of psychological damage sustained including pain and suffering and emotional distress, anxiety, nervousness, embarrassment etcetera.
- Availability for punitive damages: Court will award punitive damage in cases where the at fault party acted with the intent to cause harm or if the at fault property owner acted on gross negligence or recklessness towards the safety and well being of others. For example gross negligence can be established if the operators of the elevator knew for a extensive period of time of its defects but failed to fix the issue or warn passengers on board.
Cost of Attorney Consultation: Once of the most common reason why injured victims fail to pursue legal action against an at fault party is the seemingly high costs of legal representation. That is why our attorneys work strictly on a contingency fee basis. This means that our clients will not have to pay a single penny out of pocket for any of our costs or fees. We will be paid a percentage of the total recovery only when we have achieved a successful result. To learn more about our Zero Fee Guarantee see here…
Attorney Consultation at No Charge: If you have been injured due to a faulty elevator and have any further legal questions feel free to contact our law offices. All legal consultations, case reviews and second legal opinions are available free of charge.
