Slip and Fall Lawyer Serving Ocala

Slips and falls account for more than 1 million emergency department visits each year in the U.S. Broken bones, internal bleeding, hip fractures—the injuries sustained in these accidents can be severe and even life threatening. Unfortunately, getting out of the hospital is often just the first step in the long road to recovery.

If you were injured on someone else’s property at no fault of your own, contact Frankl Kominsky to discuss your Ocala Slip and Fall case. Our slip and fall attorneys will answer your claims-related questions and are available to help you try to fight for the maximum compensation. Schedule a free consultation today by calling (352) 269-5979.

A slip and fall can happen anywhere, but they are especially common in parking lots, supermarkets, and marinas. The premises liability attorneys at Frankl Kominsky are available to handle all types of trip, slip and fall cases including those that arise from:

• Uneven floor surfaces;
• Stairways without the appropriate handrails;
• Inadequate lighting;
• Cracked sidewalks;
• Spilled liquids;
• Slippery floors;
• Tears or pulls in carpet;
• Objects left in walkways;
• Concealed holes; and
• Malfunctioning elevators and escalators.

For your slip and fall claim to be successful, it must be shown that the business establishment had actual or constructive knowledge of the dangerous condition that caused your accident and should have taken action to fix it.

“Actual knowledge” means the business was actually aware that the hazard existed. For instance, if an employee or a customer reported the dangerous condition to a manager, that manager would have actual knowledge of it.

It can be challenging to prove actual knowledge in slip and fall cases because business managers and owners usually aren’t willing to admit that they knew about a hazard that caused an injury. For this reason, Florida law allows claimants to hold business establishments liable by establishing “constructive knowledge.”

Constructive knowledge means the business establishment should have been aware of the hazard, even if they did not have actual knowledge of it. To establish constructive knowledge, plaintiffs in slip and fall cases must prove one of the following:

• The hazard occurs with regularity, so it was foreseeable; or
• The dangerous condition existed for a significant length of time such that the business should have discovered it in the course of exercising ordinary care.

For instance, let’s assume a grocery store customer spills a gallon of milk on the floor, and another patron slips and falls immediately after. The victim in this case might have a difficult time proving constructive knowledge since the dangerous condition had not existed long enough for the business establishment to discover it in the course of exercising ordinary care. However, if the spill had remained on the floor for an hour before the slip and fall occurred, a stronger cause could be made for constructive knowledge.

The plaintiff has the burden of proving that the business establishment had actual or constructive knowledge of the dangerous condition. For this reason, businesses may not always willing to document slip and fall accidents thoroughly, so it is important to report a slip and fall immediately and to file an incident report with the manager or supervisor. Be sure to get a copy of this report.

You should also document the scene by taking photos of your injuries and the hazard that caused them. Write down eyewitnesses’ contact details and look for CCTV cameras.

Contact slip and fall lawyers at Frankl Kominsky to discuss your case. Our attorneys will investigate your accident right away and try to gather evidence before it becomes unavailable.

Besides medical records, the incident report, photos, and surveillance footage, there are many other sources of evidence we may use to prove your claim, including government weather reports (if applicable) and previous accident reports filed against the same business establishment. We can also arrange testimony from safety standards experts if a building codes violation contributed to your injury. Our legal team will try to make sure all procedures are followed and all of your paperwork is filed promptly and correctly to give your claim the best chance of success.

If you or someone in your family was seriously injured in a slip and fall accident, contact Frankl Kominsky to try to determine the most strategic way to proceed with your claim. Call us today at (352) 269-5979 or use our Contact Form to set up a free consultation.