by Spencer Aronfeld | Oct 11, 2017 | Slip and Fall/Premises Liability
People slip, trip and fall at businesses, condominiums, hospitals, and schools every day across the country. In fact, according to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), slips, trips, and falls cause 15% of all accidental deaths, second only to motor vehicles as a cause of fatalities. Not all slip and fall accidents are viable legal claims- because the law requires that in order to hold a property owner or business responsible for one’s fall- the owner has to be negligent in the manner in which they inspect, maintain or repair their property. In other words, simply slipping and falling at a business is not enough- to have a claim. One has to first prove that the property owner or business operator is at fault (or at least partially, ie some percentage) at fault for the accident. To do this, the claimant needs to know or somehow find out- what caused the fall. It is not uncommon for our lawyers to investigate a slip and fall claim- and when speaking to our potential client- they have no idea how, or why they fell. Often times, they simply wake up in an ambulance or after having surgery with little to no recollection a to what occurred in the moments before their fall. NUMBER 1- GET WITNESSES NAMES AND ADDRESSES This is why, whenever possible we recommend that you get the names of any potential witnesses to your fall- some if not most people do not want to get involved- they are afraid they will be dragged into a lawsuit – and they are right. But if you don’t get the...
by Spencer Aronfeld | Sep 29, 2017 | Slip and Fall/Premises Liability
Walmart is a family-owned, multi-billion-dollar business with stores all over the world. In fact, last year Walmart reported nearly 500 billion dollars in sales and a net income of 16 billion, making it the largest company in history. Today, there are over 12,000 Walmart stores in 28 countries, including South Africa, Asia, Europe, South America, and Canada, along with its world headquarters in Bentonville, Arkansas. In the United States alone, over 5,000 Walmart stores employ 1.5 million people. In addition to Walmart itself, Walmart’s sub-brands include Sam’s Clubs and smaller stores such as Amigo, Walmart on Campus, and Super Ahorros. In Florida, Walmart employs 107,000 people in over 400 stores, including 299 Supercenters, 9 Discount Stores, 90 Neighborhood Markets, and 49 Sam’s Clubs. With numbers like those, it is very likely that you have already shopped or will soon shop at a Walmart store. INJURED AT A FLORIDA WALMART If you are injured or suffer an accident while in a Walmart in Florida, your claim against Walmart or Sam’s Club will be governed by Florida’s slip and fall premises laws. That means your lawsuit must be filed within four years of the date of the incident. It is important to understand and accept that simply because you have fallen and been injured, Walmart is not automatically legally liable to pay you any money. Instead, the injured person must obtain proof that the claimed injury is related to or was caused by the fall AND that the fall was in some part caused by the carelessness of Walmart. This can be extremely difficult to prove in some cases. Accordingly,...
by Spencer Aronfeld | Sep 21, 2017 | Slip and Fall/Premises Liability
Publix, like most sophisticated retailers, posts video surveillance cameras throughout their stores to collect and preserve evidence in the prosecution of criminal cases as well as the defense of civil claims made against it by shoppers who slip, trip, and fall in their stores. Since 1991, our Publix slip and fall lawyers have investigated thousands of injury claims that have occurred in grocery stores, parking lots, amusement parks, and other facilities. Publix has a particular way of handling personal injury claims made against it by people who have been hurt at one of its locations. First it will assign an adjuster who has experience in evaluating and negotiating slip and fall premise claims. The adjuster is responsible for obtaining relevant information and trying to settle a given claim for the least amount of money possible. HIRE A FLORIDA LAWYER SPECIALIZING IN PERSONAL INJURY CASES We have found that adjusters will treat claims differently when the injured person is represented by an experienced slip and fall lawyer who specializes in personal injury claims versus an unrepresented claimant or one represented by an out-of-state lawyer who may be unfamiliar with the local state laws. Since most Publix stores are located in Florida, it is important to hire a Florida lawyer, preferably one who is Board Certified by both the Florida Bar and the National Board of Trial Advocacy. Publix will evaluate your claim in part on the strength of your lawyer. FIND THE BEST DOCTORS FOR YOUR HEALTH AND FOR YOUR CASE While pain clinics are popular on the radio, most of these personal injury type clinics and pain management mills...
by Spencer Aronfeld | Jun 27, 2017 | Personal Injury News and Safety Resources, Slip and Fall/Premises Liability
The Most Common Questions Slip and Fall Accident Clients Have After An Incident One the most common questions slip-and-fall or trip-and-fall clients will ask their personal injury lawyers is where and from whom they should seek medical care after their accidents. Personal injury lawyers like me typically work with a cadre of doctors and therapists, ranging from orthopedic surgeons to neurologists and anesthesiologists (for pain management), who they believe will provide excellent care for their clients–as well as be willing and able to come to court and testify about their opinions on the injuries and the future consequences for their clients. Such consultation is especially common when the injured person does not have health insurance or only limited coverage. Inevitably, if the cases must be litigated and the injured plaintiffs are questioned by the insurance company’s defense lawyers, the question arises as to how the plaintiffs found the doctors who treated them for their injuries. A significant issue arises if, as often happens in Florida personal-injury claims, the plaintiff’s lawyer made the “referral”; the very nature of the referral and the conversation that it must have been part of–as well as any other conversation between an attorney and the client–is privileged, meaning it is protected from discovery. One would think the question of forcing a personal injury plaintiff to disclose this information would have been the subject of well worked out arguments and dusty legal text books. However, Florida’s Supreme Court was only recently asked to decide once and for all what Florida law is on this issue.1HEATHER WORLEY, Petitioner, v. CENTRAL FLORIDA YOUNG MEN’S CHRISTIAN ASS’N, INC.,...
by Spencer Aronfeld | Jun 21, 2017 | Slip and Fall/Premises Liability
Slip and fall cases against supermarkets in Florida are governed by an area of the law known as torts–specifically, premise liability. When someone brings a claim against a grocery store, shopping mall, fast-food restaurant, or gas station for a personal injury and sues the defendant, several defenses are typically asserted to try to prevent the injured person from ever getting the case to a jury. FLORIDA LAW FOR BUSINESS OWNERS IN SLIP AND FALL CASES Under Florida law, businesses owe two “separate and distinct” duties to their customers: 1) to warn of concealed dangers which are or should be known to the owner and which are unknown to the customer; and 2) to use ordinary care to maintain the premises in a reasonably safe condition. More than a half-century ago, Florida’s Supreme Court recognized that a business invitee is entitled to expect that the owner will take “reasonable care to discover the actual condition of the premises and either make them safe or warn of dangerous conditions.” It is equally well settled that the business property owner has a right to assume that the invitee will perceive that which would be obvious to him upon the ordinary use of his own senses. This means that Winn-Dixie and other Florida business owners have no duty to warn against an “open and obvious condition which is not inherently dangerous.” Courts have gone on to clarify that the dangerous condition of an object–not simply the object itself–should be considered in either granting or denying a motion for summary judgment. The courts are likewise clear that a duty to warn is different than...
by Aronfeld Trial Lawyers | Jun 7, 2017 | Personal Injury News and Safety Resources, Slip and Fall/Premises Liability
Every plaintiff in every personal injury case in Florida needs evidence of the accident and injury. Sometimes it is clear that the defendant was negligent and that negligence caused particular injuries. In those instances, an insurance adjuster may require only cursory evidence to offer to settle a personal injury claim, and that evidence could be readily available. However, that is not always the case. Some personal injury lawsuits are highly contentious and fiercely contested by the defendant; this can be particularly true in slip and fall accidents where it is more difficult for a plaintiff to prove the defendant’s liability. Direct and circumstantial evidence becomes essential, and could be the difference in determining the amount of recovery, or if there is any recovery at all. As evidence is critical, plaintiffs need to know what evidence is required and how to collect it after a slip and fall accident in Florida. Types of Evidence There are two broad categories of evidence, direct evidence of liability and circumstantial evidence. In a slip and fall claim, the plaintiff is likely to collect both types of evidence, but direct evidence builds a stronger case. Direct evidence supports a claim that the defendant was negligent and that negligence caused personal injuries without any additional inferences needed. Often Florida personal injury lawyers say direct evidence speaks for itself in proving an aspect of the personal injury claim. Examples of direct evidence include photographs where the slip and fall took place, witness statements about the accident, medical reports on the resulting injuries, and even the plaintiff’s statement of events. If the slip and fall occurred in...
