You may qualify for filing a personal injury lawsuit if you have suffered a knee injury in a slip and fall accident because of the careless and negligent actions (or inactions) of another person. An overriding question most plaintiffs have is what their knee injury settlement is worth. While there is no standard answer to this question, understanding the basic parameters involved in the settlement calculation can help you plan for the future in a better manner.
Knee injuries from slip and fall accidents can sometimes be minor. Based on this, if you had a severe fall, you may end up with a possible lifelong injury, which can impair your quality of life, and even prevent you from working to your full capacity in future. In such situations, a financial settlement can not only help you pay your medical bills, but also allow you to recover from the financial blow of lost income apart from compensating you for your pain and suffering.
A proven personal injury attorney in New York will have the necessary resources and employ the right legal devices to get you maximum possible settlement.
Every Slip and Fall Settlement is Unique
It’s vital to note that each personal injury settlement is unique and the compensation amount can vary depending on the level of injury and the circumstances surrounding it. There are many knee injury settlement calculators online that claim to provide an “accurate” determination.
In reality, these calculators fail to consider the numerous factors involved. You can have a better understanding of the different factors influencing the settlement amount by speaking with a slip and fall attorney.
These are a few considerations taken into account by attorneys, insurance companies, jury, and the judge when determining a fair compensation amount:
Severity of Injury
An important determining factor during the final settlement amount is the level of your injury and the severity of the fall. Severe injuries require more medical care as compared to minor ones. You may need long-term physical and rehabilitation therapy. In some cases, knee injury patients also need braces and other equipment to help them walk.
Pre-Existing Conditions
In a personal injury settlement, a plaintiff recovers less money if they have any pre-existing condition. The settlement amount will be reduced by the percentage of injury you already had. In short, you will only be compensated for the injury or the worsening of a particular condition because of the slip and fall accident.
Your Liability
If your claim goes to trial, the judge and jury will determine whether you had any role in the injury. Your compensation amount will be reduced by the percentage share of your fault in contributing to the injuries. This is where hiring a solid and tough personal injury attorney comes in useful. Your attorney will negotiate and argue on your behalf to minimize your share of responsibility for the accident.
In most cases, personal injury claims get settled out of court. If you are not to be blamed for the injury at all, you may be able to secure a large settlement. Insurance companies are aware that injured parties rarely have experience in handling negotiations or enough resources to delay getting a settlement. They routinely try to trick claimants into accepting a low-ball settlement offer.
The best way of obtaining a complete and fair value for your knee injury is to work with a qualified attorney. Your premises liability attorney will complete the negotiations on your behalf to get a fair settlement amount. Trials can take years before a verdict is reached. This is why most personal injury attorneys prefer reaching a settlement agreement.
Factors that Can Increase the Settlement Amount
There are several factors that can help increase the amount of your settlement. This includes:
All of these different costs will be added to the personal injury settlement by a skilled attorney to increase the amount of the final award.
Pain and Suffering Component
The bulk of the personal injury settlement is formed by the amount of pain and suffering you undergo because of the accident. You may be compensated for the loss in quality of life if the knee injury caused severe physical pain and prevents you from doing the things you used to enjoy. Mental and emotional suffering plays a part as well. This is especially true if the injury leads to depression.
Your attorney will sit with you and go over the different figures to determine the damages related to your injury. They will also explain what the overall value of your claim may be. You can increase the final settlement amount by adding more factors to the calculation mix.
Common Knee Injuries in New York After a Slip and Fall
Knees are susceptible to major damage whether you slip on a wet floor at the grocery store or because of icy conditions on someone’s neglected pavement. The kneecap can easily shatter depending on your age and the severity of fall. Other soft tissues, such as tendons, cartilage, and ligaments may also suffer damage in the form of inflammation, sprain, and tears from the slip and fall accident.
These are a few common knee injuries suffered from a slip and fall accident:
You can expect excruciating and debilitating pain with any of these wounds. You may have trouble performing routine tasks, such as running, walking, and standing. In many cases, patients end up with expensive medical treatment and long-term care.
What is Your Knee Injury Claim Worth?
You may find it difficult to calculate the settlement amount even when armed with all the relevant factors and necessary information. This makes it essential to speak with an attorney and determine the average payout for similar accidents in your area.
A robust and dependable personal injury attorney will be able to calculate the appropriate value for your knee injury and provide you with an applicable range of previously won settlement amounts. Based on this, it’s vital to understand that no lawyer can give you an accurate or guaranteed worth of the personal injury claim.
Average Knee Injury Settlement from Slip and Fall Accidents in New York
There are no “average” settlements where personal injury claims are concerned. However, your attorney should be able to help you with the range of prior settlements made in injury claims with similar circumstances as yours. The amount of compensation provided differs drastically on a number of factors and specific circumstances surrounding a case.
If you suffered a permanent or severe knee injury as a result of another person’s negligence, you may be entitled to compensation worth $1 million or more. This makes it important to consult with a personal injury attorney as soon as possible and discuss your case.
Impact of Expert Testimony on Settlement Amounts
In knee injury lawsuits, expert testimony can have a significant impact on the settlement amount. This can be used for establishing the nature and type of injury, damage to the knee, and degree of impairment. Your attorney may also use expert testimony for establishing the cause of the injury and proving the fault of the defendant.
Sound expert testimony is vital for establishing the impact on the victim’s life. For instance, the accompanying pain and disability may prevent you from pursuing certain occupations and activities. In general, strong expert testimony in knee injury lawsuits increase the likelihood of obtaining a higher settlement amount.
The medical expert’s explanation of the way a knee joint functions and the impact of the now shattered knee cap on the plaintiff’s future may sway the insurance company (during settlement negotiations) or the jury (during trial) towards awarding a higher compensation amount.
Experts are adept at taking the layman jury through CAT scans, X-rays, MRI studies, and other types of arthroscopic examination of all bones and soft tissues involved. It can be easier to show damage in knee fractures and dislocations. Soft knee injuries pose a bigger problem. In slip and fall accidents, soft tissue injuries usually occur when the shin bone or thigh trauma is accompanied by the foot being thrown in the opposite direction.
The resulting torque gets violently transmitted to the knee causing a wide range of issues. A qualified expert can explain the various ways in which soft tissue injuries can have more severe consequences than simple bone injuries. After all, heart attack is also categorized as a soft tissue injury.
We Will Fight to Maximize Your Personal Injury Compensation
Knee injuries can result in pain ranging from dull ache to significant suffering, which can hinder mobility and cause a lifetime of damage and trauma. If you or someone you love suffered knee injuries or any other personal injury in a slip and fall accident, the capable and skilled personal injury attorneys at Rosenberg, Minc, Falkoff & Wolff, LLP can help you file a claim to pursue maximum compensation.
Victims of slip and fall injuries can get in touch with our law offices for information on how to acquire adequate compensation for the injury and damages suffered. Our dedicated injury attorneys have helped recover millions of dollars in settlements and verdicts on behalf of our clients. To schedule your free consultation, call us at 212-344-1000 or fill out our online contact form
How do I know if I need a slip-and-fall lawyer for my slip-and-fall injuries?
Slip and fall accidents can cause severe and long-lasting injuries that can leave you struggling with mounting medical bills, loss of income, and prolonged pain and suffering. Victims are often worried and confused regarding their financial recovery in the aftermath of a personal injury accident. All their energy is focused on getting better. This leads to many injured victims ignoring the urgent need to hire the services of an attorney.
Moreover, it’s vital that you pursue your legal right to file a lawsuit and obtain the justice and financial compensation that you rightfully deserve. An accomplished slip-and-fall injury attorney in New York will understand the unique circumstances of your case, discuss all possibilities, and determine the exact cause of the accident.
You should find an attorney with extensive knowledge of New York premises liability law to identify whether your accident is the negligent party’s fault. For instance, you can’t hold the premises owner legally responsible for your accident if it was caused by you tripping over your own shoelaces.
Taking this into account, if your accident was because of the risers on the stairs being of different heights, then you can absolutely hold the property owner responsible for being negligent and not fixing it. It will be easier to move forward with your claim once liability or all responsible parties are determined.
Victims don’t just need to prove liability, but also provide proof of injury and damages to obtain adequate compensation for any injuries incurred.
Unsafe Conditions Can Lead to a Slip and Fall Injury
Negligence of the defendant must be proved in order to successfully recover financial damages after your slip and fall accident. This is true with all personal injury lawsuits. In slip and fall lawsuits, it’s critical to show evidence that unsafe conditions existed on the property that led to the fall and injury. Common unsafe conditions on New York premises include the following:
If you or someone you love fell and suffered injuries as a result of unsafe conditions, you should consult with a qualified slip and fall attorney to discuss all available legal options.
Legal Elements to Prove a Slip and Fall Case in New York
You will need to prove that your accident is the result of someone else’s fault if you want to have a valid claim. This doesn’t necessarily mean proving that the other person intended to harm. They can also have simply put things in motion that led to your injuries. In relation to this, you would need to show that the actions created an unreasonable risk where anyone could have been hurt.
Establishing fault doesn’t mean that the responsible party maliciously or intentionally caused harm. Instead, it only means that their actions created an unreasonable risk of injury and damage. In New York, a slip-and-fall accident can generally be proven in two ways:
These are discussed in detail below:
Dangerous condition existed
You can prove your slip and fall claim by showing that the property owner, manager, or other agents took certain steps that created a dangerous condition. For instance, you can hold a casino owner liable by showing that the glitzy new floor surface they installed has been known to be a slip-and-fall hazard.
Your attorney may show that the casino should have been aware of how unsafe the flooring was for people to walk on. Alternatively, you may also show that the casino owner did not install handrails on the stairs. There are several ways in which a property owner can create hazardous and unreasonable conditions on the property.
The property owner did not fix the potential danger
Another way of proving responsibility in a slip and fall lawsuit is to show that the owner did not take the necessary steps for fixing a particularly dangerous condition. The owner or their agent can be held liable even if they did not create the condition deliberately, and only failed to take timely steps to correct it. This can be enough to prove your slip-and-fall claim.
For instance, if a guest spills their drink on the floor of a casino, the casino manager should have it cleaned up within a reasonable amount of time. If the management had enough time to find the hazard and correct it, but did not, you can use this to prove negligence.
Identifying the Liable Parties in a Slip and Fall Accident
You may not be completely sure what caused your slip and fall accident and the people or entities to hold responsible. You don’t need to have all the answers. Furthermore, you should not delay in contacting a slip and fall attorney to sort out the facts and determine the conditions that caused your accident.
Your attorney, someone who has been around the legal corners before and knows about any contingencies that could be waiting on the other side, will educate you on the next steps to take and ways of gathering the necessary evidence that can help in strengthening your claim.
In most cases, the property owner is held responsible in a slip and fall accident. This is true even if you are injured because of the actions or inactions of the employees. Third parties can be held legally liable for the slip and fall accident as well.
For instance, if someone leaves a metal beam along the walkway on a construction site, you can hold the construction company liable for your injuries if you suffered a trip and fall accident. In a few cases, more than one party can be held responsible for the injuries. It’s necessary to identify the individual or company whose actions caused your fall before you file the lawsuit.
Skilled Personal Injury Attorneys Can Help Maximize Your Financial Recovery
Slip and fall accidents generally don’t involve multiple liable parties. This can make it difficult to peg fault. In contrast, a car accident usually involves at least two at-fault parties. For instance, in a rear-end accident, the fault can be clearly determined by an accident reconstruction expert, regardless of the surrounding circumstances.
Pertaining to this, when you slip on a landing or fall down the staircase, it can be difficult to identify the at-fault party. There is no physical individual at the scene pushing you down the stairs, who can be held responsible. Instead, you need to examine the dangerous conditions and individual circumstances of the scene that contributed to your fall.
It’s the property owner’s responsibility to ensure the area is safe. You may find yourself up against a tremendous undertaking to prove that the business is at fault if you try to go at it alone. You won’t just go up against the business, but also their insurance company. Insurers rarely acknowledge their liability to victims that don’t have an attorney by their side.
Underrepresented victims to them represent someone that has a weak case. This is the reason why they don’t take the case seriously. Informed slip and fall injury attorneys can make sure a purposeful channel of communication is opened with the insurance company. They can also use their expertise to prove your damages and the defendant’s liability.
Establishing the Duty of Care Owed by the Premises Owner or Manager
Premises owners or businesses, by law, have a duty of care to ensure that safe conditions are maintained on the property. This means the owner has a duty of warning about any latent or known dangers to entrants. These are those hazards that the entrant cannot reasonably discover on their own.
Any danger that the owner or manager is aware of should be repaired as soon as possible. Putting this into context, guests should also be warned about these on entry. The property owner should make sure that uneven surfaces or holes are fixed. They should place proper signage in areas that are particularly dangerous until the issue gets corrected. The premises owner or business owner has a duty to make sure the public is aware of any dangerous condition on the property.
When an owner fails in their duty to take this step, they essentially fail to uphold the duty to provide their guests with a safe environment. In case a premises owner fails in their duty to meet the standard of reasonable care and someone gets injured because of it, the owner can be held responsible. The premises owner can be deemed negligent by the attorney and made liable for the injuries and damages suffered by you.
Choose the Top-Rated Slip and Fall Attorneys in New York to Obtain Maximum Compensation for Your Injuries
Tripping and falling can lead to traumatic consequences even if you are an average-sized adult. If you or someone you love took a fall on another person’s property, you should realize just how life-altering the injury can be. Depending on the severity of your injuries and the treatment plan recommended by your doctor, the medical bills can go into thousands of dollars.
The seasoned slip and fall attorneys at the Rosenberg, Minc, Falkoff & Wolff, LLP have helped numerous injured victims move forward with their lives by obtaining maximum financial compensation and justice for them and their families. To request your free, no-obligation consultation, call us at 212-344-1000 or fill out our online contact form.
How Does A Slip And Fall Case Work?
Slip and fall injury claims are a type of personal injury lawsuit in New York. These claims originate from accidents that can happen almost anywhere – in a restaurant, a store, the lobby of your apartment complex, a neighbor’s house, a construction site, or at the workplace. The central point of a slip and fall lawsuit is that the injury occurred on someone else’s property because of dangerous conditions that were not fixed or cautioned against by the property owner or their agent.
If you suffered an injury because of a slip and fall accident on someone else’s property, you may have a strong case for financial compensation through a premises liability lawsuit. This claim could be pursued against a commercial establishment, government-owned property, or a private residence owner or manager.
The injured victim seeks to hold the property owner accountable for their negligence by filing this type of lawsuit. With help from a dedicated slip and fall lawyer in New York City, you can recover maximum compensation for your medical bills, lost wages, pain and suffering, and more from negligent parties.
Consult with a Seasoned Personal Injury Attorney for Your Slip and Fall Accident Claim in New York
An estimated one million people (as per the National Floor Safety Institute figures) visit the emergency rooms every year because of slip and fall accidents and injuries. These incidents usually take place in public areas, such as hotels, stores, offices, restaurants, parks, or pavements. You should immediately notify the security guard or property manager if you experienced a slip and fall. This way an accident report can be filed.
To begin with, you must not make delay in getting medical attention, even if you think you suffered only minor injuries. You may jeopardize your right of obtaining compensation by not getting prompt medical attention or reporting the incident.
In the aftermath of the accident, an insurance adjuster would get in touch with you to settle the claim. Don’t sign any documents before speaking with an experienced premises liability attorney first. Insurance companies are known to offer low offers initially in the hopes that the victim may not have enough legal knowledge or information to ask for more.
By accepting any offer, you waive away your rights to seek further compensation. You won't be able to file an appeal or get more compensation even if your injuries turn out worse than you previously thought. Additionally, don’t make any statements to the insurance company representative. They will use it against you to minimize or deny the compensation.
Be Prepared to File a Slip and Fall Injury Claim in NYC
An insurance company may offer you a settlement amount, but more often than not their initial offer is unlikely to cover your past and future medical bills, diminished earning ability, lost income, pain and suffering, and other damages. In such cases, the only way to recover fair and deserving compensation is by filing a personal injury lawsuit.
Your attorney will work with you and negotiate with the insurance company. If things don’t work out, they will move the case forward to the trial stage. While every slip and fall lawsuit is different, the attorney will typically allege that the premises owner failed to:
Slip and fall lawsuits assert the following facts:
Types of Evidence in New York City Slip and Fall Claims
These are a few types of evidence that are usually useful in proving a slip-and-fall claim:
Key Stages in a Slip and Fall Injury Lawsuit in NY
It’s essential to understand that every slip-and-fall lawsuit needs to be treated as unique. Based on this, these are a few steps that are typically present in most lawsuits:
The jury typically reaches a verdict after determining whether the property owner was in fact negligent. If yes, they will determine the amount to be paid in damages. Both sides have the right to appeal the verdict. It’s critical to understand that settlement can be reached at any stage during the proceedings. This is even after the verdict is returned.
How a Slip and Fall Injury Attorney Can Prove the Property Owner or Manager’s Fault
It’s not always straightforward to prove fault in a slip-and-fall claim. You will need to demonstrate the following to hold the property owner responsible:
Negligence
You will need to prove that the property owner knew or should have reasonably known about the presence of a dangerous condition on the property, and that they did nothing to fix it. You would need to show the following to this effect:
Property owners have a duty to make the property safe for legal visitors. They can be held responsible if they fail to meet this duty, which results in injuries.
Causation
Your injuries from the slip and fall accident need to be the result of the property owner’s negligence. This may seem obvious, but many personal injury lawsuits are unsuccessful because victims cannot prove this important element.
If you tripped and fell in a supermarket, there are very specific circumstances that will allow you to hold the owner or manager legally responsible. For instance, if the floor was wet, but you tripped on your own shoelaces, you won't be able to hold the supermarket liable even though they were negligent.
This is why it’s crucial to consult with a dedicated personal injury attorney – someone who has been through the legal minefields before and knows where to step and where not to step.
Fault Sharing
You may not be able to hold the supermarket owner liable for your injuries if your careless actions led to the accident. For instance, if you saw the wet floor, and still decided to continue walking through it, you may be deemed to be careless in your actions. The supermarket owner may not be held responsible in this case.
You were already aware of the water puddle and knew that the wet tile can be slippery. It was your responsibility to avoid the dangerous condition and walk around the puddle instead of going straight through it. The supermarket owner may be relieved of liability if you knew about the danger and did not take the necessary steps to avoid it.
Steps to Take After a Slip and Fall Accident in New York
These are a few steps you should take following a slip and fall accident:
These steps will ensure that your attorney can build a strong case against the property owner and their insurance company. They are also essential to getting a fair compensation.
Get the Most Experienced and Resourceful Slip and Fall Injury Attorneys in New York on Your Side
In New York, a large number of slip and fall accidents occur because of negligent or dangerous conditions at another’s property. These accidents often result in debilitating injuries for the victim. The experienced personal injury attorneys at Rosenberg, Minc, Falkoff & Wolff, LLP take a tough stand on negligence and can help you pursue a claim against all responsible parties for maximum damages.
Our attorneys will explain your legal situation and the best possible strategies during a free, no-obligation consultation. Our decades of combined experience of representing victims of negligence have allowed us to win large settlements and verdicts. You can count on us to help you through all stages of the negotiation process and lawsuit and work hard to get you the compensation you deserve.
Our services are provided on a contingency-fee basis, which means you pay only if we win financial compensation for you. To set up your complimentary consultation with us, call us at 212-344-1000 or fill out our online contact form today.
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