New York City Lawyer for Slip and Fall Grocery Store Injuries
Grocery shopping is part of your routine. But if you slip and fall, a quick run to your favorite New York City grocery store can turn into a life-changing event. Slip and falls can cause serious injuries. If you go to a New York City grocery store, you can expect it to be crowded or for the aisles to be narrow, but you don’t expect to slip and fall and get seriously injured. Grocery store owners in New York have to keep the “premises” safe for everyone. Premises means areas transited or expected to be transited by patrons and employees. Most people who experience a slip and falls can end up with long term complications that can affect their lifetime income and job prospects, as their overall health over time. But with right legal representation, you can obtain compensation for all your losses.
If you or someone you love suffered a slip and fall injury due to the negligence of the New York grocery store, you need an experienced and skillful team of attorneys. The attorneys of Sullivan & Galleshaw are experienced slip and fall lawyers dedicated to representing people who suffer these injuries in New York City. To schedule a free legal consultation call (718) 843-0300.
Claiming Negligence in a New York Slip and Fall Accident
You are called a plaintiff when you file a lawsuit. Under New York law, there are four elements to establish liability in for negligence: (1) a duty of care; (2) the breach of the duty; (3) a causal connection between the conduct and the resulting injury; and (4) actual loss or damage resulting to the plaintiff. An attorney can explain at length the meaning and requirements of these three parts of proving negligence in a slip and fall lawsuit against a grocery store.
Oftentimes, there is no dispute as to the first two elements required for successful legal representation. For example, there is no question that the slip and fall accident occurred at the grocery store with a duty to care for the safety of customers. And there is no doubt that someone’s failure created unsafe conditions at the grocery store. However, questions about causal connections and actual losses are often challenged.
These large retail places will try to get away with liability using tricky legal concepts to shift the blame on the injured party. But experienced personal injury attorneys should be able to spot these tactics and, with their insight and skill, successfully challenge these arguments. Skilled attorneys representing the injured party should always be prepared to react and advocate on behalf of their client. An experienced slip and fall attorney can guide you through the process and fight for your rights. No one should be able to blame the victim of the injuries. The careless parties should be held responsible for the calamity brought to your life as a result of the injuries. The following examples are typical challenges confronted on causal connection and losses or damages.
Causation
The cause of the slip and fall can be highly contested. This is the part where the negligent party can try to blame the injuries on the injured party. For instance, their shoes, their demeanor, their reaction (if any) to signs can be probed. If a person slips on soapy floors or trips on the fallen object, they can say that the person was not wearing safe shoes or ignored signs. If there is a way to blame someone other than the retailer’s actions, they will try it. This can bring legal challenges, but with the right legal representation, the jury will be informed. Justifications patently driven by underhanded tactics are usually rejected.
Damages
Things can get technical and complicated at the point when damages are reviewed. Damages refer to the actual losses—medical expenses, loss of past and future wages, income potential, wrongful death when a person dies, pain and suffering. These losses have to be linked to the grocery store’s negligence in failing to provide safe premises. Therefore, if a person suffers a medical condition unrelated to the fall and slip, this health issue can be unfairly exploited or characterized.
For example, when someone falls and suffers a heart attack after the fall, the party responsible for the injury may try to say the death was a result of a heart condition, as opposed to the fall. This may be very upsetting for the family who lost their loved one. This line of argument can also be very upsetting for a client who is coping with the pain and complications of accident-related injuries. Experienced attorneys are usually prepared to rebut and can invalidate this type of legal argumentation. Talk to an attorney who can help you make educated decisions if you’re concerned this can happen in your case.
Common Causes of Slip and Falls in New York Grocery Stores
Legal representation in slip and fall cases can get very technical as to the ways the accident could have been prevented. This is a central aspect of legal representation for slip and falls. Showing what could have been to avoid the harm can be helpful to demonstrate that the grocery store failed to ensure the customers’ safety. For example, when a bottle of soda spills, there is a duty to take prompt measures to clean it safely and post notices in the area so that no one inadvertently falls. Unfortunately, grocery stores do not always adhere to well-established protocols. Here are four common reasons why slips and falls occur in a supermarket:
- Spills are not cleaned up promptly and adequately.
- Hazardous area is not zoned off with visible caution signs.
- Walkways are not blocked entirely to protect customers from missed spots if the spill is large.
- Employees responsible for cleaning are not wearing proper footwear around the site.
New York City Lawyer for Slip and Fall in Grocery Store Injuries
The highly accomplished legal team of Sullivan & Galleshaw has been serving New York City residents for decades. They are known for their commitment to representing victims of slip and fall accidents. We get paid if compensation is awarded to our clients. Call (718) 843-0300 to schedule a consultation.