Knowing what to do after a slip and fall accident enables you to obtain the medical treatment, records, and documentation required to build a robust claim against the responsible party. Key steps to take immediately after a slip and fall accident in Naperville, Illinois, include seeking medical assistance, documenting the site of the incident, filing an injury report, and preserving copies of medical bills and receipts for other related costs.
Hiring a personal injury attorney who understands Illinois slip and fall laws and has resolved cases identical to yours can increase the chances of a successful claim. Your attorney will offer you actionable slip and fall tips and answer your questions regarding your rights and legal options for financial recovery. The attorney will also work on your claim, allowing you to focus on treatment and recovery.
Chute, O’Malley, Knobloch, and Turcy, LLC is your go-to law firm if you or a loved one has been injured in a slip and fall incident. Call us today at 630-412-4747 for a free initial consultation.
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Steps to Take Immediately After a Slip and Fall Accident
The Illinois Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance Survey found that falls account for the highest number of injuries and accidental fatalities among older adults. However, anyone can get injured or even killed in a slip and fall accident due to environmental factors like slippery floors, missing surfaces to hold, loose carpets, and poor lighting.
Taking the right steps immediately after a slip and fall accident can help safeguard your health and your right to seek financial recovery. These steps include:
Get Immediate Medical Attention
You may sustain a serious injury after a slip and fall incident. The injury may be obvious, especially if it is a broken or fractured bone. However, the injury may not show obvious symptoms immediately.
Seeking medical attention immediately after a fall ensures early detection and treatment of your injuries. It also ensures documentation of those injuries, which is essential in supporting your claim.
Document the Scene of Your Fall Accident
You may feel confused and embarrassed after a slip and fall. You may also be in pain. You should, however, try your best to be calm and survey the area to identify what may have caused the accident.
Ensure you take pictures of anything you believe may have caused you to fall. Capture the site of your fall, injuries sustained, and damage to personal property. You are likelier to obtain a larger payout if you present visual evidence as opposed to just talking about your injuries.
Obtain contact information of people who saw you fall or provided first aid shortly after the incident. Survey the site of your fall for a security camera. If there is one, ask for footage of the accident. You can use a subpoena to obtain the footage if the property owner or manager refuses to give it to you voluntarily.
File an Accident Report With the Property Owner or Manager
Tell the owner or manager of the property where your fall happened about your accident. Request them to allow you to file an official accident report. The report should contain details of how the fall occurred and the resulting injuries.
Once you file the report, you can ask for a copy of it. A copy of the accident report serves as a record of your injury. It can also help prove liability against the person or entity in charge of the premises where your accident occurred.
Obtain and Preserve Your Medical Bills and Receipts for Other Related Expenses
Get copies of your emergency room (ER), doctor, and pharmacist bills and keep them in a safe place. These records will be instrumental in determining and proving the compensation amount that will be enough to pay bills and meet other financial obligations in your life after a slip and fall injury.
Hiring a Personal Injury Attorney
A personal injury attorney who has dedicated his or her practice to slip and fall cases can help you determine liability, prove all losses arising from the accident, and secure maximum financial compensation. Choosing the best slip and fall lawyer, however, requires meticulous research. The following tips can help you narrow down the best lawyer for your unique situation:
Seek Referrals
You can get attorney referrals from your relatives or friends who have worked with slip and fall lawyers before. Other types of lawyers you may have hired before may also connect you with reputable personal injury attorneys in their network.
Your state or local bar association is another source of referral. Visit the association’s website and search for slip and fall attorneys in Illinois. Be sure to include your location to narrow down your search.
Request an Initial Consultation
Most slip and fall lawyers in Illinois do not charge for the first appointment with their prospective clients. Schedule an initial consultation before you start working with a lawyer. This consultation allows the lawyer to evaluate your case and determine if you have sufficient grounds to seek compensation. It is also a chance to assess if a would-be lawyer has what it takes to handle your case.
Consider Experience
You may get referred to many slip and fall firms, but only a few of them have the required experience to win a slip and fall case. So, use the initial consultation to assess a prospective attorney’s experience. You can ask the lawyer how much of the practice the lawyer has dedicated to resolving slip and fall cases.
Ask the lawyer how long he or she has been representing fall accident victims. A lawyer who has handled slip and fall cases for at least five years has the right experience to obtain a positive outcome in your case.
Find out whether the lawyer has won a case that is the same or similar to yours. If the accident left you with a back injury, for instance, you can ask the lawyer if he or she has helped a victim with the same or a related injury recover compensation.
Evaluate the Communication Style
Slip and fall cases take a while to resolve. Most cases are resolved after several weeks or months through negotiations with the insurance company. A few cases are resolved through trial and may take a year or more.
Regardless of the course your case takes, you will need a lawyer with a communication style that suits your unique needs. Ask the lawyer about his or her preferred communication channel. Also, ask how often you should expect to get updates on the progress of your case.
Illinois Slip and Fall Laws
Under the Illinois Premises Liability Act, you have the right to sue for compensation if you get injured at a property or building owned or occupied by someone else. The two most important laws you should know as a victim of a slip and fall accident in Illinois include:
Statute of Limitations for Slip and Fall Injuries
A statute of limitations refers to a law that limits the amount of time you have to sue a party or entity in a civil court. The time limit for bringing a slip and fall case in court is two years. This time limit runs from the day of your fall accident or the day you discovered your injury, or should have used reasonable diligence to discover your injury.
If you file your lawsuit past the two-year statute of limitations, the defendant will raise this fact and request the court to dismiss your case. The court will grant this request unless you can convince the judge that your case qualifies for an exception to the filing deadline.
Comparative Negligence
Expect the defendant to deny or try to shift some liability to you after you file a slip and fall case in Illinois. Your recovery may drop if the defendant manages to shift some percentage of liability to you. That is why you should familiarize yourself with the comparative negligence rule in Illinois and how it may apply to your case if some blame for the accident lies on you.
The modified comparative negligence principle determines your recovery if the defendant successfully demonstrates you are partly to blame for your injuries. This rule cuts the compensation awarded to you proportionally to your degree of fault for the accident.
Chute, O’Malley, Knobloch, and Turcy, LLC offers personalized legal help and representation to slip-and-fall victims in Naperville, Illinois. Contact us online or call 630-412-4747 to arrange a free consultation with one of our experienced personal injury attorneys.