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Slip and Fall Injuries

Bad falls can severely injure you.

Premises liability cases are some of the toughest cases in Virginia. The law is stacked against injured people who fall on the property of another. You are required to prove that the property owner or occupier knew or reasonably should have known that a dangerous condition existed on the property. Beyond that, the evidence must show that the landowner or occupier failed to warn you or protect you from that defect. 

What makes these cases even more difficult, is that the insurance company will likely say that the defect was “open and obvious.” This is a legal buzzword in Virginia. It means that you should have seen the dangerous condition and you should have avoided it. It is a form of contributory negligence that would bar your recovery completely. Contributory negligence is a 100% bar of any recovery in Virginia. Many of these cases come down to this question: could you have seen and avoided the danger by exercising your own reasonable diligence. 

In many instances, grocery stores or big-box department stores have all of the information you need to prove your case. But they aren’t just going to give you that information. This makes it even more difficult to evaluate whether your case can be won.

Slip and fall accidents can injure normal people in one of many different ways

Injuries to the spine are typical in many fall situations. Depending on the motions made by your body during the fall, you can suffer injuries from a minor strain or a major fracture of the spinal column. Your joints in your spine can also suffer injuries requiring a great variety of treatments. The difficulty with your spine is you have hundreds of nerves going out of your spine into the rest of your body. So a spine injury could cause leg pain as well as back pain.
Falls lead to to nearly half of the traumatic brain injury hospitalizations in our country. The likely hood of suffering a concussion, or even a severe traumatic brain injury is great. The difficulty with brain injuries, however, is identifying the injury and then seeking and receiving the right treatment.
Internal shoulder injuries are common in slip and fall cases. When you find yourself falling toward the ground, the natural reaction is to attempt to brace yourself and break the fall with one or both of your arms. While this is normal to do, it also means that you can suffer a serious injury to your shoulder in the process.
Just like shoulder injuries, as you use your arms and hands to break your fall, we often see injuries to the wrists and the hands. Whether your injury is breaking a bone that must be surgically repaired, or tearing a ligament, these injuries seriously affect your every day life.
Torn ligaments and muscles in your knees can be debilitating. We don't realize how much we use our legs until we can't use one or both of our legs. These injuries usually require some form of surgery and a great deal of physical therapy before you can regain most of your function back. Sometimes, the doctors can get you back to 100%, other times they cannot.

If you’ve suffered one of these injuries, you may be wondering

What Damages May I Recover?

  • Medical Expense
  • Pain and Suffering
  • Inconvenience
  • Permanent Impairment or Disfigurement
  • Lost Wages
  • Lost Earning Capacity

Do you have a slip and fall case? 

Contacting a personal injury attorney in Lynchburg, Virginia can help you recover financially after an accident. Since there is a two-year window for you to be able to file a lawsuit, the sooner you contact an attorney, the better. When a property owner or occupier knows—or should know—of a dangerous condition on their property and doesn’t warn you, they are responsible for your injuries. You have rights under Virginia law and an attorney can help you preserve those rights.

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