Thousand Oaks Slip and Fall Attorney

At Drake Law Firm, our lawyers understand the serious effect that a slip and fall accident can have on a victim's life. The victim of a slip and fall can sustain painful injuries, face high medical bills 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 victim may be qualified to seek a legal claim that can result in payment of all medical costs as well as compensation for the individual's lost wages, pain and suffering and more.

If you or a loved one has been hurt in a slip, trip and fall in Thousand Oaks or elsewhere in California, you can talk with a lawyer from Drake Law Firm today and learn more about the choices available to you.

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

You might be stressed over your ability to pay for an attorney to handle your slip and fall case. However, at Drake Law Firm, we will charge no legal fees or case expenses unless we secure a financial recovery for you. We do not want cost concerns to prevent you from getting the legal aid you deserve.

We believe a lawyer can play a vital role in your claim, specifically when dealing with insurance providers. The truth is that the insurance companies will try to pay as little compensation as possible for the physical, psychological and financial damage you have suffered. An attorney will be focused on protecting you and your interests.

A Thousand Oaks premises liability attorney at Drake Law Firm, will:

• Extensively examine your slip and fall and build the strongest case possible
• Consult with professionals that will allow us to understand why your slip and fall took place, 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 timely and appropriate manner.
• Aggressively pursue a settlement that completely compensates you for your losses or take your case to court (if necessary).
• Structure any award you obtain to ensure that it maximizes your reimbursement and ensures you will receive 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 Thousand Oaks and throughout California.

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

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

To recoup damages in an California slip and fall case, you typically must show:

• A condition on the property presented an unreasonable threat of harm 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 carpets
• Liquids spilled on floors
• Broken or uneven stairways
• Poor lighting in hallways, stairwells, or outside walkways
• Holes in the ground or objects sticking out of the ground
• Broken, missing or loose handrails
• Faulty escalators or elevators

• The property owner knew or, in the exercise of ordinary care, should have known of both the condition and injury risk. Essentially, the owner or occupier had "actual notice" based on seeing the slip and fall hazard or creating the risk or "constructive notice" based on the hazard being there long enough that the owner or occupier should have seen it.
• The property owner could have reasonably expected that you would not have discovered or realized the danger or would fail to protect yourself against the danger. For example, you would not have known that an office building lobby was slippery since it had just been mopped.
• The property owner neglected to take reasonable steps to protect you by either fixing the hazard or providing 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 option to bring a slip and fall case, you will need to ask yourself a number of essential questions, including:

• If you tripped or slipped, had the dangerous spot 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 but that reason no longer exists, could the object have been removed?
• Was there a more secure place the object could have been located without much more inconvenience or expense to the property owner?
• Could a simple barrier have been created or a warning given to keep you from slipping or tripping?
• Did insufficient or damaged lighting contribute to the accident?

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

A slip and fall accident can result in a wide variety of severe injuries, including fractures, soft-tissue damage, spinal cord injuries as well as traumatic brain injury (TBI). It is important to work with a law firm that will pursue maximum reimbursement for the harm you have suffered, including:

• Past and also future medical expenses
• Lost wages and decreased earning capacity
• Pain and suffering
• Loss of quality of life

A property owner's insurance company may try to put blame on you for your slip and fall accident. For instance, the insurance company might assert 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 barred from recouping anything if you were more than 50 percent at fault for your injury. Otherwise, your damages would be reduced by a quantity that is proportionate to the percentage of fault credited to you.

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

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

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

A slip and fall case, like other personal injury cases in California, needs to be filed within two years after an accident has occurred. 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 claim is prompt and correctly filed.