Slips and falls are a category of accident that refers to a wide range of mishaps that can cause serious injuries to those involved. In every instance a West Palm Beach slip and fall lawyer can help.

These accidents include actual slips and falls, such as on a slick grocery store aisle floor or a wet walking surface near a pool. They also refer to other accidents, like a trip on a broken step or sidewalk and a stumble down a cluttered or poorly lit stairwell.

Slip and fall injuries can vary from relatively minor cuts, bumps and bruises to severe and even life-threatening head, neck and back damage. They can also come with a pile of medical bills, a reduction in income during recuperation and a lot of stress.

The good news is that you do not need to go it alone after a slip and fall accident. A West Palm Beach slip and fall lawyer at Searcy Denney can help you get back on your feet with the full compensation available for our injuries.

We are seasoned personal injury attorneys who combine decades of experience in the courtroom and at the negotiating table. We are proud of our strong track record of results, which includes a number of six- and seven-figure verdicts and settlements for the people and families that we represent. 

Common Slip and Fall Injuries

When slip and fall accidents happen, the injuries range from the relatively minor to the catastrophic and life-threatening. Some of the most common slip and fall injuries include:

• Lacerations
• Broken bones and fractures
• Hip injuries
• Shoulder injuries
• Neck and back injuries
• Spinal cord damage
• Head injuries
• Traumatic brain injury
• Paralysis
• Amputation

It is important to seek medical attention after a slip and fall, even if your injuries appear to be minor. In some cases, the full extent of a person’s injuries is not completely known until several days after the accident. 

It is also vital to seek the advice of a seasoned personal injury attorney before agreeing to any sort of settlement with a property owner or insurer. A West Palm Beach slip and fall lawyer at Searcy Denney will help you understand your rights and explore your options for seeking compensation.

Slips and Falls in Grocery Stores like Publix

Grocery stores are a common site for slip and fall accidents, at least partly because of the volume of foot traffic that many stores see on a daily basis and the potential for spills.

An experienced West Palm Beach slip and fall lawyer knows that slips and falls at grocery stores are often caused by these factors:

• Spills: Food and drink spills are common in grocery stores, whether it is because an item is dropped by a customer or falls off of a shelf. Wet floors can cause shoppers to slip and fall.
• Mopping mistakes: Grocery stores often use wet mops to clean up spills, which can temporarily make the area even more slick. That is a hazard, especially if the area is not properly blocked off and visitors are not aware that the floor is wet.
• Shaky railings: Whether it is in an entry or exit space or in a stairwell leading to a parking garage, handrails that are defective, broken or not properly secured give people a false sense of stability and can lead to a trip and fall.
• Parking lots: Slips and falls sometimes happen before a person even gets to the grocery store or after he or she has checked out. Cracked pavement, busted sidewalks and potholes are often the culprit.

Regardless of the cause of the accident, grocery stores (and their insurers) are regularly liable when shoppers are injured on the premises. A West Palm Beach slip and fall attorney at Searcy Denney can help you maximize your compensation.

Falls at Nursing Homes and Senior Living Facilities

Older Floridians are at particular risk of injury in the event of a slip and fall because they may be less able to react or brace themselves and are more prone to physical trauma. 

Unfortunately, nursing homes and senior living facilities often pose a wide spectrum of potential hazards. These hazards can be the result of poor planning, design and construction as well as shoddy maintenance and upkeep. That is not to mention property owners who fail to adequately warn people about possibly dangerous conditions.

Senior living property owners have the same legal responsibilities as other landowners under Florida law. They are generally required to maintain the premises in a reasonably safe condition and to warn people about hazards that the owner knows about or should know about through reasonable inspection.

When senior living property owners do not live up to this responsibility, they are likely to be legally liable for any accidents that happen as a result.

Nursing homes are particularly dangerous for many residents. Although people entrust these facilities and their operators with caring for loved ones, the truth is that many nursing home residents are subjected to abuse and neglect. Whether it is because the facilities are overcrowded and understaffed, employees are not properly trained and supervised or operators simply look to cut corners to make an extra buck, this neglect is a recipe for potential disaster.

Nursing home operators owe residents and visitors the same legal responsibility as other property owners, like senior living facilities. Staff and doctors also owe their residents a heightened “duty of care” based on their training and expertise. A person injured in a slip and fall or other accident stemming from abuse or neglect at a nursing home has the right to seek compensation from the facility’s owner and operator, among others.

How a West Palm Beach Slip and Fall Attorney Can Help You

In order to get compensation for injuries in a slip and fall accident, you have to be able to identify those responsible for the accident and be able to prove their liability. A West Palm Beach slip and fall lawyer at Searcy Denney can help you build the strongest possible claim and maximize your money damages.

It is not enough to simply say that you were injured in a slip and fall accident on a property owned by the person or entity from which you are seeking compensation. You have to be able to prove that the accident happened and detail the full extent of the injuries caused by the accident. You also have to be able to show that the property owner did not live up to its legal obligations to keep the premises reasonably safe and warn people of hazards.

At Searcy Denney, an attorney will investigate your claim to identify the cause of the accident and who is to blame. The key in many of these cases is to be able to show how long the area where the accident happened was in a dangerous condition, who knew about it and what – if anything – the property owner did to address the hazard or warn people of it.

Our lawyers know how to gather all of the necessary evidence, including statements from witnesses, video and photo footage, physical evidence from the scene of the accident and police, medical and accident records. We also know how to present the evidence in the most clear and convincing way.

West Palm Beach Slip and Fall Attorney Explains “Constructive Knowledge” in Slip and Fall Cases

When considering whether a property owner knew or should have known about a wet floor or other potential hazard, courts in Florida consider both actual knowledge and “constructive” knowledge.

Actual knowledge, as the phrase suggests, means the owner actively knew about the hazard at the time of the accident. That can be proved by showing that the employer acknowledged the hazard verbally or in writing or that the owner or its agents took steps to try to address the hazard, among other evidence.

Constructive knowledge means that the circumstances show that the owner was aware of the hazard. This often overlaps with evidence showing that the owner should have been aware. Constructive knowledge is commonly inferred in situations where the hazardous condition has existed for so long that the owner or its agents must have known about it. Constructive knowledge can also be found where the hazard happens so frequently that it is considered foreseeable.

Visit Our West Palm Beach Office Today

If you or a loved one has been injured in a slip and fall accident in Florida, you have the right to seek compensation from the property owner and others responsible for your injuries. An experienced West Palm Beach slip and fall attorney at Searcy Denney can help you establish a claim and obtain money damages.

Our accident attorneys help injured people and their families put the pieces back together following an accident with the maximum compensation. We are pleased to be able to offer contingency fee arrangements in which we do not get paid unless you win your case.

Our offices are conveniently located in Tampa, West Palm Beach and Tallahassee. Call us at 800-780-8607 or contact us online to schedule a free consultation with a West Palm Beach slip and fall attorney today.