Pasco County Slip and Fall Lawyer
A significant number of people throughout the country suffer severe injuries from slip and fall accidents each year. Moreover, when the injury suffered is significant and happens to you or your loved one, it is significantly more serious than society suggest.
A slip and fall accident can leave you in pain and unable to work, personally impacting you and your family. The medical bills stemming from the injury can be significantly expensive. If you are uninsured, the bills alone can cause tremendous anxiety.
If you have suffered an injury following a slip and fall in a business, or residence, contact an experienced Pasco County slip and fall lawyer to have your case evaluated. Your knowledgeable attorney can inform you of your legal options and can help you move forward with your case.
Burden of Proof
In personal injury cases throughout Pasco County and Florida, injured victims must establish that the business was aware or should have been aware of the unsafe conditions that lead to the fall. Additionally, they must prove the business failed to take steps to remedy it. Thus, carelessness alone does not meet the burden.While meeting that burden can seem like a hurdle, there is no one set requirement that must be met to establish that a business was or should have been aware.
In many retail establishments, employees are often required as a part of the business’ standard operating procedure to clean specific areas of the store, such as restrooms, hourly. It is common for employees to be required to complete checklists when completing these tasks and this can usually be confirmed with security footage.
Accordingly, when a customer suffers a slip and fall in the store’s restroom entrance because of an unsafe condition, it can be established that the store should have been aware of the unsafe condition based on the cleaning schedule. While that does not mean that a customer will automatically be successful solely based on that argument, an injured victim should not assume that it is impossible to meet their burden of proof. A Pasco County slip and fall attorney can attempt to help an injured victim meet that burden of proof.
Comparative Negligence in Florida
Florida follows a pure comparative negligence standard in personal injury cases, which include slip and fall accidents. Under this standard, the compensation that an injured victim is permitted to recover is reduced by the percentage of fault that is attributed to them during the accident. Thus, having some fault in a slip and fall does not prohibit an injured victim from recovering, but does not hold the other party entirely liable for the injuries suffered.
Under this standard, if an individual is injured in a big box store by slipping on an empty clear container that commonly holds video games, the store could be liable for the injury. If, however, the injured victim was also watching a movie on their cell-phone and previously bumped into several people as a result of the lack of attention, the victim may also be found liable for the injury.
In this type of case, if a court determines the amount recovered, a percentage of fault for the accident would be applied to each party. The store may be found 85 percent responsible for the injury. If the financial award is $200,000, the financial award to the injured victim would be reduced to $170,000, which is the portion for which the big box store is responsible.
How a Pasco County Slip and Fall Attorney Can Help
If you have recently sustained a slip and fall injury and are seeking compensation, you should contact a dedicated and passionate Pasco County slip and fall lawyer to evaluate your case and help you strive for the best possible outcome.