Someone else may be responsible for paying your medical bills and covering other expenses from an accident if you fell because of their negligence. After confirming who that party is, we can prepare a lawsuit against them to seek compensation for all damages, tangible and intangible.
Initially, we will gather video and photo evidence relevant to your case, such as pictures you took at the scene and of your injuries and videos from onsite surveillance cameras. We will also prioritize talking to eyewitnesses who could testify about the accident’s events in court or give statements that aid us during settlement negotiations. To prepare for those negotiations, we will compute your total losses by reviewing medical bills, assessing your lost wages, and evaluating how your injury has impacted your quality of life and overall happiness. This can ensure our assessments of settlement offers are based on your actual damages, enabling us to identify poor offers from fair ones better.
Call Rice Law’s slip and fall lawyers for help with your case at (410) 694-7291.
Obtaining Evidence Commonly Used in Frostburg, MD Slip and Fall Cases
Of the ample evidence our lawyers may organize in preparation for your slip and fall case, some of the most useful include videos of the accident and photos from immediately afterward, statements from eyewitnesses interviewed soon after the incident so that they are as accurate as possible, and the medical records that accumulate as victims get the appropriate attention from physicians.
Videos and Photos
Before you leave the site of the accident, take photos. You can use your smartphone to capture the general area, as well as whatever hazard or obstruction made you fall, such as loose carpeting or a broken floorboard. Documenting the cause of injury right away is important, as the property owner will likely address it soon afterward.
In addition to photos showing the hazard, you can photograph any visible physical injuries to your person, like lacerations or contusions. If you are having difficulty documenting the scene with photographs, you can ask eyewitnesses for assistance or first responders if you call 911.
While photos are often useful, so are videos. Depending on the accident’s location, there may be security camera footage showing your slip and fall. We can work quickly to preserve this footage before it is potentially deleted by the property owner, who may be liable for your injuries and damages and who we name in your lawsuit.
Witness Statements
Slip and falls are often witnessed by others, yielding statements our lawyers can use as evidence to corroborate your claim and its facts. Eyewitnesses may confirm whether or not a hazard was properly designated as dangerous, whether with signs or by being roped off, and undermine any arguments that you intentionally caused your injuries or were hurt for an unrelated reason. Witnesses may also speak to a victim’s injuries at the scene and confirm that they were in pain or needed help from emergency medical services. Witnesses might talk about how they saw the property owner respond if they were present or staff, which could also help our slip and fall lawyers when preparing your case.
Medical Records
Medical records help prove you were injured and when you were hurt. If you slip and fall in a restaurant and suffer a fractured wrist, you should go to the hospital as soon as possible, preferably right away. Not all fractures or slip and fall injuries are immediately apparent, and victims might notice discomfort in the coming days. Prioritize documenting your injuries once you realize them by getting medical attention. Tell doctors how you were injured and allow them to evaluate you and run the appropriate tests, which might include X-rays and MRIs, depending on the location of the injury. For example, a head injury might require more extensive testing and lengthier evaluations until doctors can determine its exact severity.
Along with medical records showing your diagnosis and treatment plan, our attorneys will organize hospital bills. These bills will be used as proof of damages in your lawsuit, supporting the request for relief we make for financial losses.
Physical recovery from slipping and falling injuries may take many months, and victims must see their treatment plans through to completion. Otherwise, there could be gaps in medical records that, however minor, affect their lawsuits and what damages might be covered in them.
Preparing for Settlement Negotiations in Frostburg, MD Slip and Fall Lawsuits
To prepare for settlement negotiations, our lawyers will quantify your deserved damages, which should encompass all medical expenses incurred from an injury, major and minor. Furthermore, we will tally any lost wages you have sustained, as well as the intangible losses due to an injury.
Medical expenses are trackable via the bills you get from hospitals and providers throughout your treatment and before filing the lawsuit. We can handle this, also accounting for future medical damages by conferring with your physicians and confirming the upcoming treatments needed.
Initial settlement offers might fail to cover victims’ lost wages in their entirety. You should not have to deal with the consequences of missing time from work because of someone else’s failure to properly maintain their property. We can quantity these losses before filing so our request for relief is accurate and we can best represent your interests during settlement negotiations.
The same can be said for non-economic damages, which are often downplayed by liable parties. In reality, the physical pain and mental suffering of injuries, whether they are displaced fractures or traumatic brain injuries, can be just as trying as the financial consequences. After quantifying your pain and suffering, we can keep that in mind during settlement negotiations, refusing offers that require you to make too many concessions regarding your non-economic damages or other losses.
Call Rice Law About Your Slip and Fall Case in Frostburg, MD
Call Rice Law at (410) 694-7291 to discuss your case for free with our slip and fall lawyers.