Longmont Slip and Fall Lawyer
Slip and fall accidents can be devastating for victims. Not only are these types of accidents physically painful, they can often be humiliating and lead to severe injuries or lifelong disabilities. You should not have to be stuck with the financial burden of medical expenses while also trying to heal from the emotional and physical impact of tripping and falling on someone else’s property because they failed to make the premises safe. An experienced Longmont slip and fall lawyer can help you recover the compensation you deserve.
Colorado Slip and Fall Law
Colorado’s Premises Liability Act governs slip and fall cases. Premises liability is a subset of personal injury law and pertains to injuries that occur on someone else’s property because of an unsafe or defective condition.
To have a successful premises liability case, your slip and fall accident lawyer will help you prove that the property owner was aware of or should have been aware of their property’s hazardous condition and failed to address it, thus causing the injury.
Falls are the most common type of premises liability claim. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), one in five falls causes a significant injury, such as a broken bone or a head injury. These injuries can have lasting consequences like limited mobility, inability to function without assistance, and impact on quality of life.
Who Is Liable for a Slip and Fall Accident?
Property owners in Colorado can be held liable for injuries that occur because of unsafe premises, as can any person who rents, leases, possesses, or works on the property. For example, if a person slips and falls on coffee at a coffee shop, the shopkeeper renting the space would be liable rather than the property owner because the shopkeeper was responsible for maintaining the property at the time of the accident. If a manager was responsible for ensuring the coffee shop floor was clean, they could also be liable. Multiple people or entities could sometimes share liability for your injuries. An experienced Longmont slip and fall attorney can help you determine who is legally responsible for your injury, given the facts of the case.
To obtain compensation, you must prove the following elements regarding the defendant’s failure to maintain a reasonably safe property.
Dangerous Conditions
A dangerous condition must exist on the property. For example, the entryway to a restaurant may have had a broken floorboard that was not repaired or blocked off to prevent injury. This would constitute a dangerous condition.
Knowledge of the Dangerous Condition
In the case of the floorboard, if it was not broken before the accident and did not indicate wear, the restaurant manager may not have been aware that it posed a danger. If it had been reported previously and not addressed, it is reasonable to infer that the restaurant knew about the issue.
Failure to Warn or Protect
The manager or responsible party on the property must have failed to warn or protect visitors from the dangerous condition. In the floorboard case, it should have been blocked off from public access and repaired as soon as reasonably possible.
Common Defenses to Slip and Fall Claims
It is unlikely that the negligent party, their insurance company, or legal counsel will give in to your requests without any contention. Though every situation is different, there are a handful of common defenses you can reasonably expect the negligent party to use, including the following:
- The injured person was trespassing on the property where the slip and fall accident occurred (property owners do not owe the same duty of care to trespassers);
- The injured person was acting carelessly or recklessly on the property when the slip and fall accident occurred; and
- A reasonable person should have been able to avoid the slip and fall accident because the hazard was marked or was obvious.
You do not have to and should not combat these defenses alone. Your Longmont slip and fall attorney can help you build a case that ensures you are prepared for these arguments and that the facts of the case are brought to light.
How Long Do You Have to File a Slip and Fall Lawsuit?
According to the Colorado statute of limitations for personal injury cases, you must file a claim two years from the date the injury occurred. If you try to file your lawsuit after that time, the property owner will likely ask the court to dismiss the case. If the dismissal is granted, you do not have any other legal right to recovery. In rare situations, there may be exceptions to the statute of limitations. Your Longmont slip and fall attorney can help you file your claim before the deadline or review your unique circumstances to determine if any exceptions apply.
Generally, the sooner you can file your case, the better. As time passes, acquiring meaningful evidence, such as images of the dangerous property condition and witness testimony, can become more challenging.
Contact a Longmont Slip and Fall Lawyer
Proving fault and obtaining maximum compensation in a slip and fall case takes skill and expertise. With over 30 years of experience, the personal injury attorneys at Sloat, Nicholson & Hoover, P.C., have succeeded in obtaining more than $100 million in verdicts or settlements for clients in Longmont and surrounding areas throughout Colorado.
Sustaining a serious injury after a slip and fall can be a traumatic experience, and it is essential to have access to compassionate and diligent legal representation. Contact us to schedule your free initial case consultation with a slip and fall accident lawyer.