Slip and fall injuries may be as simple as getting a mild sprain on your ankle to something a lot more serious, like a traumatic brain injury. With such a wide range of possibilities, when does an injury warrant a slip and fall injury lawsuit?
No hard and fast rule provides a definitive answer to when you should file a lawsuit. A Las Vegas personal injury attorney will advise you, though, to make a claim for compensation, especially if your injury has impacted your capacities or your ability to earn income.
The Severity of a Slip and Fall
The severity of the injuries will depend on how bad the fall is, as well as the other factors that further contribute to it.
Some injuries also don’t immediately present themselves to be as severe as they actually are. There are those that have delayed symptoms for as little as a few hours to as much as a few several days.
For example, head injuries from a slip and fall may not seem all that serious at first. Symptoms of head trauma or concussions take some time, but as soon as they do, it already means something serious.
Should you decide to sue for a slip and fall injury, you will need to include the timeline relating to the accident and when the symptoms of your injury progressed.
What Can You Sue Against the Liable Party?
In slip and fall cases, you can sue the liable party for the total amount of your losses, which can include several things. There are two types of damages you can sue for: economic and non-economic.
Economic damages refer to those damages you incurred financially as a result of the injury. It includes medical bills, wages lost, and even property damage.
Medical bills, most especially, can make a huge dent in your savings, especially if the procedure required isn’t going to be covered by your insurance. It’s not just the expenses in the hospital that you’ll have to deal with too, but even the cost of recovery and rehabilitation.
Of course, you are also prevented from working while you’re getting treatment or are in recovery. It means that you have also lost your income due to the injury. Property damage can include your work essentials, like a busted phone or laptop.
All of these have corresponding quantifiable costs, which you can compute to determine the compensation you’ll sue for.
Non-economic damages, on the other hand, are intangible but can be just as damaging. Pain and suffering is one such type of non-economic damage. In a slip and fall lawsuit, you’re likely to be awarded higher compensation the more severe or extensive your injuries are.
This is because the court takes into account how drastically changed your life has become because of your injury, which can be traced specifically to the negligence of the liable party. Some people lose their jobs permanently when their recovery takes a long time. There are also those who lose their mobility or any other physical capability, thus lowering their quality of life.
Slip and fall injuries can have such a dire impact on a person’s life that the least that can be done is to award them a hefty compensation to at least ease their pain and suffering.
How Can an Injury Attorney Help You?
Las Vegas Injury Attorneys can help you get the compensation you rightfully deserve. Proving liability is crucial to winning your claims. Your lawyer can help you gather evidence for this and present the most relevant and significant of them all to the court.
Expert witnesses like the first responders who came to your aid, as well as your own medical doctors, can also be called in to give their testimony about your condition.
In case the liable party would prefer to settle, your personal injury attorney can also be the one to facilitate the negotiation and stipulation of terms.
Don’t take your slip and fall injuries lightly. Speak to a personal injury attorney from the Dobberstein Law Group to help get you the compensation you deserve. Get in touch with us as soon as possible to get started on filing your claim and building your case.