Not much. Legally, these incidents are identical. However, the circumstances of a slip-and-fall usually differ from the circumstances of a trip-and-fall.
Slip-and-fall injuries are very common at hospitality businesses, like restaurants and hotels, as well as other businesses, like grocery stores, that rely on foot traffic. In the summer, wet spots on floors, in restrooms for example, are the most common cause of slip-and-fall injuries. In the winter, ice causes most of these injuries. Victims quite simply lose their footing, slide, and fall.
Trip-and-fall injuries are common in nursing homes. Older people often shuffle their feet when they walk. As a result, they almost literally stumble over their own feet, especially when they negotiate stairs or ramps. Uneven walkways often cause these falls as well. Like slip-and-falls, trip-and-falls could occur outside or inside.
In both cases, a New York personal injury lawyer can obtain substantial compensation for victims. A lawyer must prove negligence, or a lack of care, by a preponderance of the evidence, or more likely than not.
Fall Injuries
Before we examine the legal aspects of fall injuries, we should examine the injuries themselves. These serious injuries include one or more kinds of head injuries, such as:
- sTBI: The motion of a fall often causes a severe Traumatic Brain Injury. When victims fall and land hard, their brains slam against the insides of their skulls. That violent impact causes brain bleeding and swelling. Only doctors who focus on head injuries can accurately diagnose and properly treat these conditions.
- mTBI: A moderate TBI is basically a concussion. Partial fall victims often sustain concussions. These victims fall but recover their balance before they faceplant on the floor. Individually, mTBIs may not seem serious. Cumulatively, they cause a brain disease which could be fatal. Maximum compensation is available even if a pre-existing condition, like a prior concussion, contributed to the risk and/or severity of injury.
- PTSD: A stress-induced chemical imbalance causes Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. The extreme stress of a life-threatening personal injury enlarges the amygdala and shrinks the cerebral cortex. As a result, people cannot react logically to additional stress. Instead, they experience symptoms like flashbacks and hypervigilance.
The average injury-related medical bill exceeds $40,000. Most health insurance companies exclude these expenses, and as mentioned, many doctors cannot accurately diagnose and treat head injuries.
A New York personal injury lawyer addresses both needs. Attorneys obtain compensation for economic losses, such as medical bills, and noneconomic losses, such as pain and suffering.
Negligence
To determine a lack of care, a lawyer usually begins with the standard of care. In New York, the standard of care in fall injury cases varies, usually based on the owner’s relationship with the victim.
- Invitee: Most premises liability victims (fall, swimming pool drowning, dog bite, etc.) are invited guests. That invitation could be general (and open sign) or specific (come to our Christmas party). Invitee status applies if the owner received any benefit, financially or non financially (i.e. the benefit of social interaction).
- Licensee: Business licensees are few and far between. Social licensees, like the guest of a hotel guest, are more common. Since the relationship is more distant, the legal responsibility is different. If the victim was an invitee, the owner had a duty of reasonable care. If the victim was a licensee, the owner had a duty to warn about latent (hidden) defects.
- Trespasser: This awful-sounding word simply means a visitor without permission to be on the property and who doesn’t benefit the owner. Usually, owners have no safety responsibilities in these situations. Stories of injured burglars who sued homeowners for damages are mostly urban legends.
These categories often shift. For example, if Sid enters a store during business hours, he’s an invitee, even if he doesn’t buy anything, because the foot traffic benefits the owner. However, if he shoplifts, he becomes a trespasser.
A Preponderance of the Evidence
The evidence in a fall injury case usually revolves around the owner’s knowledge, or lack thereof, of the injury-causing hazard.
Usually, a smoking gun, like a restroom cleaning report or a prior trip-and-fall, establishes actual knowledge. Since this evidence is the best evidence of knowledge, insurance companies usually hide it as long as they can. So, if a case settles too early, the best evidence, and therefore maximum compensation, is unavailable.
Circumstantial evidence is admissible as well. The longer the hazard existed, the more likely it is the owner knew about it and should have taken appropriate action to prevent injury.
All fall injury victims need and deserve substantial compensation. For a free consultation with an experienced personal injury lawyer in New York, contact Napoli Shkolnik.