Barboursville Lawyer Represents Victims of Slip and Fall Injuries

West Virginia firm handles the full range of premises liability cases

Businesses and homeowners that refuse to take reasonable measures to keep their property safe put their visitors at risk. Spills that are allowed to linger, broken pavement and hard-to-see objects on the floor are capable of causing serious slip and fall injuries. Serving southern West Virginia clients from my offices in Barboursville and Beckley, I thoroughly review the facts to determine if you are entitled to legal relief. If so, I can take on property owners and any other liable parties to help you obtain payment for your medical bills, lost wages and other damages.   

What must be proven to win a slip and fall case

You could suffer a wide range of injuries in a slip and fall incident, including broken bones, ligament damage, traumatic brain injuries and spinal damage. The cost of healthcare makes it very important to retain a skillful attorney who has a track record of successful results in West Virginia personal injury cases. I have helped numerous victims in these types of cases and can explain if the following elements of a premises liability claim exist in your situation:

• Duty of care — Being a property owner means having a duty of care to guests who are lawfully on the premises. In certain situations, this legal responsibility can be transferred to tenants, property managers or others who have a level of control over the premises. My firm counters slip-and-fall defendants when they wrongly claim that the victim was not allowed to be on the property.

• Failure to take reasonable safety measures — A person or business that is responsible for a given area must reasonably inspect the premises to determine if safety measures need to be taken. Based on the specific circumstances, this could mean cleaning up an area, removing an impediment, placing a warning sign or preventing visitors from entering a certain space entirely.
• Proximate cause — Just because a property owner is careless, that does not guarantee that someone who fell on their premises will recover damages. The accident must be caused by the defendant’s negligence.

Whether the injury occurs in a store, public space, parking lot or someone’s home, it’s important to take action quickly to give yourself the best chance of a favorable resolution. You have two years to file a lawsuit, but locating witnesses and securing critical evidence becomes more difficult over time.

How West Virginia’s comparative fault rules affect injury damages

Even cases where the defendant was clearly negligent, they might try to avoid their legal responsibility by alleging that you were to blame for your injury. Slip and fall victims in West Virginia can still win damages in a personal injury lawsuit if they are partly liable for the incident as long as their share of the fault is not more than 50 percent. In cases where fault is shared, the plaintiff’s recovery is reduced in accordance with the percentage of blame assigned to them. So if you suffer $100,000 in damages after falling on a wet supermarket floor, but are held to be 20 percent at fault because your shoe was untied, you would receive $80,000.

Contact a Cabell County lawyer for a free consultation about your slip and fall injury

Herrenkohl Law Office handles West Virginia slip and fall cases as well as other premises liability matters. If you were hurt while on someone else’s property, please call 304-948-5860 or contact me online to set up a free consultation. My offices are in Barboursville and Beckley.