Were you or a loved one severely injured in a trip and fall? Check out these 3 slip and fall tips, then call our Boise lawyers to get started.
1. Choosing the Best Slip and Fall Attorney
How do you choose the right slip and fall attorney in Idaho? It’s an important issue for any of you who have been in a situation where you’ve fell and you’re thinking about bringing a claim. It’s important that you have an attorney who has addressed these issues many times in the past because you’re going to want to know whether you have a case because, in a slip and fall case, that’s not a sure thing.
We talk to many slip and fall clients on calls every year. Together, we may decide that we don’t think we can prove that someone was negligent and caused the fall. For example, a person might be walking through a parking lot in Sun Valley during an icy snowstorm and they fall. The big question is are they at fault? Should they have made this walkway safer because if you’re on a sidewalk in front of a commercial building and they’re inviting customers in, that’s a little different than walking through an icy parking lot where you as the pedestrian know that it’s icy. There’s some expectation usually from a jury that you’re going to recognize that and you’re going to protect yourself.
Every slip and fall case is different. You need to hire an attorney who knows the difference and has some experience with how juries might respond to different situations because that’s also going to make a difference with how the insurance company’s going to respond to the situation. If you have any questions about slip and fall cases, please give us a call because we’re happy to talk to you.
2. Slip and Fall Case Timeline
How long does it typically take to resolve a slip and fall claim in Idaho? We can’t give you a definite answer on this question because we’ve represented lots of people in different kinds of fall cases. “It depends” is the answer. If a case is really solid, like the case we had in which a client fell on a run over a tethered line that was put across a sidewalk by a contractor and broke both wrists, then you might expect an earlier resolution.
In a case, though, where someone might have a traumatic brain injury or some injury that isn’t resolved and we need to wait and see, things can take time. We’re not going to resolve a case unless we know what their medical situation is at the end because some people do have permanent injuries. We need to know what that permanent injury is. Some people get better six months after their fall. We need to wait until that six months is up and to determine what we think the case is valued at.
The easy answer is that it depends, but it can take anywhere from say six months to say a couple of years because maybe you end up going through a trial to prove your case. The easy answer, the most obvious answer, is it can take any amount of time to resolve a slip-and-fall case. If you have any questions about slip and fall cases in Idaho, please give us a call because we want to talk to you about it.
3. Injured Due to a Faulty Handrail
What should you do in a slip and fall case due to a faulty handrail? We have recently represented someone in this exact case. He was walking down a new staircase, and the handrail fell, and he fell and needed shoulder surgery. He actually ended up needing two shoulder surgeries. The big question is did the company who put in the handrail, or did the owner of the handrail know, that it was faulty, or, in this case, did the people who had installed the handrail do it properly? In this case, it was a steel handrail, it was tack welded – tack welding is just a temporary fix – and it didn’t meet the OSHA and building code guidelines for the kind of weight a handrail needs to support.
In a handrail case, the question is did either the owner of the building know about it and not do anything about it? If so, the owner is probably at fault. Did the installer install the handrail properly, according to OSHA and building code guidelines? If they didn’t then they’re going to be responsible. If you have any questions about a handrail case or slip and fall case, please give us a call. We’re happy to talk to you about it.
Were you or a loved one severely injured in a trip and fall in Boise and have questions about our 3 slip and fall tips? Contact experienced Boise Slip and Fall Lawyers at Hepworth Holzer today for a free legal consultation and case evaluation.
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