The best thing for a person to do after a premise liability accident is to contact an attorney who is experienced in handling those cases. The sooner the better. If you call a lawyer the day that you or your loved one were injured, that is the best-case scenario from my standpoint, because that means that I can go out, or send an investigator out, to gather the evidence necessary to win your case. In premises liability cases in particular, evidence tends to change or disappear. For example, if there is something dangerous about a business’s property, they are very likely to fix it after an accident. Sometimes, dangers are repaired within hours or days. If you wait to contact an attorney, then that evidence may be forever lost. If you do not retain an attorney immediately, then obviously you want to do things that will document the scene and the condition of that area if you are able to do so.
For example, if you have a camera in your phone, you should take some photographs of what caused your injury. If there are people present when it occurs, you should get their names and contact information from them so they can be interviewed as potential witnesses in your case. However, the best thing to do is contact an attorney so they can do these things for you and make sure that it is done properly. Second, if you have been injured, you should seek medical treatment right away. It is very common when someone falls in a public place, they are more embarrassed than anything else is even if they have suffered an injury. It is very common that people jump up right away and say, “I’m okay, I am not injured”, when it turns out that they actually have a serious injury.
People often are reluctant to seek medical treatment in such circumstances. Many times people figure they will get better in a few days, so they tough it out without treatment. However, if you delay in getting treatment, the insurance companies will use that delay against you. Moreover, your injuries may be more difficult to treat if you delay seeing a doctor. It is very, very common in my practice for me to see people who thought that they did not suffer a serious injury initially, but it turns out to be quite serious.
We often see clients with back, knee, or shoulder injuries who initially thought that they had a minor injury, and then it turns out to be much more serious than they anticipated. I tried a case where a man was injured while he was making a delivery for Federal Express, and he injured his shoulder. It was his birthday, so he finished out the day, went home, had dinner with his wife and waited another couple of days before he went to see a doctor. When the doctor examined him, she diagnosed the shoulder injury. He ended up having three surgeries on his shoulder. We tried the case and the verdict was $2.3 million. Obviously, he ended up having a very serious injury that was very debilitating for him, but in the initial forty-eight hours, he really did not think much of it. The defense tried, unsuccessfully, to claim that his injuries were not severe in light of the fact that he was able to keep working that day and then had a birthday dinner at home.
Therefore, I always tell people if you think you are injured, you need to be treated right away. Make sure the injury is not more severe than you might anticipate. Of course, the other issue is that sometimes doctors can treat injuries more effectively if they give you treatment earlier rather than later. Therefore, if you get treatment immediately, the treatment might be more effective than if you wait a week to see a doctor. For your own safety and your own wellbeing, get to a doctor right away if you believe you are injured.
How Do I Know If I Have A Viable Premises Liability Claim?
If you contact an attorney who is experienced in premises liability cases, he or she can advise you as to whether you have a valid case, and whether it is something that should be pursued. If you have not yet seen an attorney, you should ask yourself questions such as is there some chance that I was injured due to the negligence or carelessness of someone else, a property owner, a contractor, someone else who was on the property? So, the first question should be, “Is there some possibility there is another party that caused my injuries?” The second question is, “Do I have injuries, and are they sufficient to make it worthwhile to obtain an attorney to pursue the case?”
For more information on Steps To Take After Premises Liability, a free initial consultation is your next best step. Get the information and legal answers you are seeking by calling 1-844-334-6654 today.