Calabasas Slip and Fall Lawyer

At Drake Law Firm, our lawyers recognize the significant impact that a slip and fall accident can have on an individual's life. The victim of a slip and fall can suffer painful injuries, face high medical expenses for emergency and long-term treatment and be unable to work and earn income for an extended period.

However, if the accident resulted from the negligence of a property owner, a slip and fall victim might have legal options available to him or her. The individual might be eligible to pursue a legal claim that can lead to reimbursement of all medical expenses as well as compensation for the individual's lost wages, pain and suffering and even more.

If you or a loved one has been hurt in a slip, trip and fall in Calabasas or elsewhere in California, you can speak with a legal representative from Drake Law Firm today and learn more about the options available to you.

Should You Hire a Lawyer After a Slip and Fall Accident in Calabasas?

You might be stressed over your ability to afford an attorney to manage your slip and fall case. However, at Drake Law Firm, we will charge no legal fees or case expenses unless we secure a financial recuperation for you. We do not want cost concerns to keep you from obtaining the legal assistance you need.

Our team believes an attorney can play a vital role in your case, especially when dealing with insurance providers. The reality is that the insurance companies will try to pay as little compensation as possible for the physical, psychological and financial harm you have experienced. An attorney will be focused on protecting you as well as your interests.

A Calabasas premises liability attorney at Drake Law Firm, will:

• Extensively examine your slip and fall and develop the toughest case possible
• Consult with experts who will help us to understand why your slip and fall occurred, who should be held accountable and what medical care and treatment you will need to recover from your injuries.
• Submit all claims on your behalf in a prompt and proper manner.
• Aggressively seek a settlement that fully compensates you for your losses or take your case to court (if necessary).
• Structure any award you obtain so that it maximizes your compensation and guarantees you will get the medical care you need in the future.

We are a law firm that is passionate about pursuing outcomes that will genuinely make a difference in the lives of our clients in Calabasas and across California.

What Must You Prove in a Slip and Fall Claim in California?

A slip and fall accident is a kind of premises liability case. It can be brought against any type of property owner or inhabitant, including a private homeowner, store or other business or a local, state or federal government.

To recover damages in an California slip and fall case, you generally have to show:

• A condition on the property presented an unreasonable risk of injury to you. Hazards that could cause a person to slip, trip and fall include:

• Broken or uneven pavement on walkways or in parking lots
• Snowy, icy or wet floors and walkways
• Ripped, torn or loose rugs and carpeting
• Liquids spilled on floors
• Broken or uneven stairs
• Poor lighting in corridors, stairwells, or outside walkways
• Holes in the ground or objects sticking out of the ground
• Broken, missing or loose handrails
• Malfunctioning escalators or elevators

• The property owner knew or, in the exercise of normal care, should have known of both the condition and injury risk. In other words, the owner or inhabitant had "actual notice" based on seeing the slip and fall hazard or creating the hazard or "constructive notice" based on the risk being there long enough that the owner or occupier should have seen it.
• The property owner might have reasonably anticipated that you would not have discovered or recognized the danger or would fail to protect yourself against the risk. For instance, you would not have known that an office building lobby was slippery since it had recently been mopped.
• The property owner neglected to take sensible steps to protect you by either repairing the hazard or giving you an adequate warning about it.
• As a result of the property owner's negligence, you suffered injuries.

As you consider whether you have the ability to bring a slip and fall case, you will need to ask yourself several key questions, including:

• If you tripped or slipped, had the hazardous area been there long enough so that the owner should have known about it?
• If there once was a good reason for the object to be there however that reason no longer exists, could the object have been removed?
• Was there a more secure area the object could have been located without much more inconvenience or expense to the property owner?
• Could a basic barrier have been made or a caution offered to stop you from slipping or tripping?
• Did inadequate or broken lighting contribute to the accident?

What Compensation Can I Receive for a Slip and Fall Injury?

A slip and fall accident can lead to a wide variety of severe injuries, including bone fractures, soft-tissue damage, spinal cord injuries and traumatic brain injury (TBI). It is essential to consult with a law firm that will seek maximum compensation for the damage you have suffered, including:

• Past and future medical costs
• Lost wages and decreased earning ability
• Pain and suffering
• Loss of quality of life.

A property owner's insurance company might try to place blame on you for your slip and fall accident. For example, the insurer may allege that you tripped, slipped and fell because of an "open and obvious" hazard that you should have recognized or did something else that was negligent.

In California, you could be denied from recuperating anything if you were more than 50 percent responsible for your injury. Otherwise, your damages would be reduced by an amount that is proportional to the percentage of fault attributed to you.

Your lawyer from Drake Law Firm, will aggressively oppose any type of unfounded claims made by a property owner's insurance company and work diligently to defend your rights.

What is the Statute of Limitations on a Slip and Fall Case in California?

It is essential to get in touch with an attorney as soon as possible if you are injured in a slip and fall accident. A lawyer has to take steps immediately to preserve evidence and start the procedure of bringing a case against the property owner.

A slip and fall claim, like other personal injury claims in California, needs to be submitted within two years after an accident has taken place. This is called the statute of limitations. If you fail to meet that deadline, you could be barred from pursuing a claim.

A California slip and fall attorney at Drake Law Firm, will make sure your case is prompt and properly filed.