Kansas City Slip and Fall Lawyer

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Sometimes a slip-and-fall is just a minor embarrassment and you dust yourself off and move on, but what about a slip-and-fall accident that causes serious injuries with temporary or permanent life-altering impacts? Falls are the second-leading cause of accident-related deaths worldwide and are responsible for over 37 million serious injuries every year. Falls are most common and deadly in elderly adults but can occur to an individual of any age, particularly when a safety hazard remains unaddressed by a property owner.

When a slip-and-fall accident results in a serious injury or the wrongful death of a loved one, the injury victim or their family members don’t have to be left with the burden of injury-related expenses as well as physical and emotional pain and anguish. Missouri offers slip-and-fall accident victims legal redress through a premises liability lawsuit based on the fact that property owners must take reasonable action to prevent injuries to those lawfully on their property.

Kansas City slip and fall lawyer

Why Choose Miller & Hine as Your Kansas City Slip and Fall Attorneys?

Getting the most out of a slip-and-fall claim is a challenging process. Compensation in these claims typically comes from the property owner’s liability insurance. Sadly, insurance companies exist to make profits and often dispute claims. After a bad fall, you need assertive legal advocacy working on your behalf while you focus on recovering from your injury. By hiring a Kansas City personal injury attorney from Miller & Hine Attorneys at Law, you’ll have all of the advantages of a large city law firm with the personalized attention and compassionate understanding of a small-town attorney. Our qualifications include the following:

Our track record of success includes large recent settlements such as $610,000 for a Kansas City injury victim. Our reputation and resources in Kansas City will generate strong negotiation power when working toward the settlement you deserve.

How Do Slip-and-Fall Accidents Occur?

When an individual experiences an interruption in their normal footfall, it causes an abrupt imbalance and can result in a sudden fall. Common causes of slip-and-fall accidents in Kansas City and throughout Missouri include the following safety hazards:

When a property owner fails to identify and quickly address slip-and-fall hazards and a fall occurs, their negligence leaves them liable for the consequences to the fall victim’s life—their “damages” in a slip-and-fall claim or lawsuit.

Where Do Slip-and-Fall Accidents Happen In Kansas City?

Most slip-and-fall accident claims are initiated by a fall on commercial property, where business owners actively invite consumers, clients, or patients to the property for business purposes, however, even private property owners have a responsibility to ensure those lawfully on their property don’t face unreasonable risks, including fall risks. Slip-and-fall accidents commonly occur in the following places:

When a person visits a store or walks through a bus station, they have a reasonable expectation of safety. When a property owner, manager, or leaseholder fails to identify and repair a slip-and-fall or trip-and-fall hazard, it puts others at risk of injuries ranging from mild and inconvenient, to life-altering or catastrophic.

What Type of Injuries Occur in Missouri Slip-and-Fall Accidents?

A slip-and-fall accident causes significant bodily trauma when the fall victim isn’t able to catch themselves or protect themselves from obstacles as they fall. The elderly have the highest risk of injuries in falls, including life-altering hip fractures; however, slip-and-fall injuries occur to those of all ages. Common injuries in Kansas City slip-and-fall cases include the following:

Falls are the second-leading cause of traumatic brain injuries and a leading cause of accidental death in the elderly. Slip-and-fall accidents are also the leading cause of workplace injuries.

What Damages Occur in Kansas City Slip-and-Fall Accident?

A serious fall injury requires emergency medical treatment. Depending on the severity of the injury, it may necessitate ongoing medical care such as corrective surgery and rehabilitation or physical therapy. Injury victims may miss one or two paychecks or could have disabling injuries that prevent them from returning to work in their previous capacity—or at all. Common damages in Kansas City slip-and-fall cases include the following:

If a loved one’s slip-and-fall accident results in their death, close family members may recover compensation in a wrongful death claim. Wrongful death claims in Missouri recover additional compensation such as funeral expenses and loss of income and benefits for the remaining working years a family provider would have had remaining to them had they survived their injury.

What Is a Premises Accident?

A slip-and-fall claim is a type of premises accident case against a property owner. When a property owner fails to uphold their duty to take reasonable measures to prevent injuries on their property, they are liable for an injury victim’s damages. Slip-and-fall cases are the most common premises accident claims, but injury victims may also bring premises accident claims under other circumstances of negligence such as for burns in an apartment fire if a landlord failed to properly maintain smoke detectors or for dog bite injury if a pet owner fails to protect visitors to their property from a vicious dog.

Liability in Kansas City Slip-and-Fall Accidents

Proving liability for a slip-and-fall injury requires evidence that the property owner or manager was aware that a fall hazard existed on the property and that they failed to take the reasonable measures required to mitigate the danger to those lawfully on the property. Often, judges instruct juries in premises liability cases to ask themselves, “Would a reasonable property owner have acted differently under the same circumstances?” If the answer is yes, then the property owner is liable for the victim’s damages. Proving liability requires showing that the property owner knew there was a fall hazard, had a duty to address the hazard, breached that duty of care, the breach of duty caused the plaintiff’s injury, and the injury victim suffered damages from the injury.

Proving liability for an injury victim’s damages in a slip-and-fall case requires clear and compelling evidence of the property owner’s liability. For instance, if a convenience store owner knows their ice cream freezer has a leak and they fail to promptly correct the problem, they are liable for injury damages to a customer who slips on the wet floor.

What to Do After a Slip-and-Fall Accident

Suffering a sudden hard fall can result in loss of consciousness or having the wind knocked out of you, making it impossible to do anything except rely on others to help. However, for less severe injuries, a slip-and-fall victim may be able to use a cell phone to protect themselves physically and financially. After a fall, use your phone to take the following important steps:

Getting the contact name of one or more eyewitnesses to a slip-and-fall accident can be essential to your claim, particularly if the location of the fall does not have surveillance cameras. You should also ask the business owner or manager if they have an accident or incident report document that they can fill out with information about your fall.

Go straight to a hospital or urgent care center and ask for a complete medical evaluation. Obtaining a detailed medical report listing the extent of your injury, the medical treatment it requires, and your prognosis helps to calculate the damages in a compensation claim and proves that your injuries occurred in the fall.

Do I Have to Go to Court for a Kansas City Slip-and-Fall Case?

An estimated 95% of slip-and-fall accident claims end with a settlement from the property liability insurance company of the at-fault party. Only in about five percent of claims does the case require a lawsuit litigated in court. This happens when an insurance company denies a valid claim or offers an inadequate settlement. If your slip-and-fall case goes to court it might take longer than a settlement, but jury awards are often larger than the amount you’d recover in a settlement.

When a premises accident case becomes a lawsuit, the injury victim (plaintiff) must file the petition within the state’s deadline—the statute of limitations for personal injury cases.

What Is the Statute of Limitations for Slip-and-Fall Cases in Missouri?

Under Missouri Code section 516.120 Missouri allows injury victims up to five years from the date of an injury to file a claim. This is a uniquely generous time limit compared to most states which only allow two years. Despite the longer allowable period, the earlier a case goes into negotiations for a settlement or into court, the more reliable the eyewitness testimony and the more likely it is to have ample evidence available. It’s best to file a claim once you have clear data on the extent of your damages.

Claims against government entities like a city transit department or park service have different deadlines than claims against private property owners. The Missouri Tort Claims Act requires injury victims to file claims against state or city government entities within 90 days and must provide written notice to the government agency before the end of the 90-day period.

What Can I Expect From a Kansas City Slip-and-Fall Lawyer?

When you meet with an attorney from Miller & Hine for a free consultation, we will evaluate the merits of your case and let you know if you have a viable path to move forward. Once you hire a skilled lawyer they will provide dedicated advocacy and legal counsel throughout the process of your case. Your slip-and-fall accident attorney will investigate all aspects of your fall and develop a clear case to prove the property owner’s liability. They will carefully calculate your economic damages and use that as a base to determine the amount of compensation available to you for your pain and suffering and other non-economic damages. Then they send an evidence-backed demand letter to the appropriate insurance company and begin negotiations for the largest settlement possible in your case.
The experienced trial lawyers at Miller & Hine Attorneys at Law are also more than ready to take your case to court in well-executed litigation if necessary to secure the compensation you deserve.

Call The Kansas City Slip-and-Fall Lawyers Who Get Results

Insurance companies protect their profits at an injury victim’s expense whenever possible. Fortunately, an experienced injury lawyer makes it much more difficult for the insurer to dispute a valid claim, but instead, presents a strong, compelling case for full compensation.

While trying to recover from a serious injury, no one should have to also take on the legal hurdles of a complex slip-and-fall case which requires a skilled investigation and strong negotiating skills for the best possible outcome. Contact Miller & Hine Attorneys at Law today for prompt action on your behalf.