If you or someone you love has suffered a slip and fall accident in Chula Vista, you should call the Chula Vista personal injury attorneys of OnderLaw immediately to talk about obtaining compensation for your injuries through a personal injury claim or lawsuit. If your accident was due to another party’s negligence, you’re owed compensation for your medical bills and losses to your well-being. Call today for a free consultation, and let us help you get back on your feet after a slip and fall injury. Call OnderLaw today.
A personal injury claim is much like any other insurance claim, so you may be asking why an attorney is necessary. You certainly aren’t required to hire an attorney to help with your claim, but not doing so can put you at a distinct disadvantage and may actually reduce the amount of compensation that you could receive.
A slip and fall injury can mean lost time from work and expensive medical bills and can even affect your mental state. Trying to build a strong claim for compensation while you’re dealing with the stress of an injury can be overwhelming. Your OnderLaw attorney will take on the workload of preparing your claim so you can focus on recovering from your injuries. We will hire investigators to look into your accident, gather documentation to support your claim, and retain expert witnesses that can corroborate your version of events leading up to the accident.
We can also help explain how damages work. The amount of compensation you may obtain depends on the losses you sustain as a result of your accident, and knowing how to define these losses is key. You can be compensated for more than just medical bills, and your attorney can ensure that you’re demanding a sum that covers all your losses, not just the financial ones.
Your attorney will also help protect your rights and make sure you’re not taken advantage of. Claims are usually paid out by the responsible party’s insurance company, and these companies are very skilled at denying payment. They will do everything in their power to keep from paying claims, including using methods that are not fully transparent. You will likely hear from an adjuster immediately after filing a claim, and they may even have a settlement check at the ready. While it may seem like they’re working fast because they want to help, the truth is they want you to accept the first settlement offered and sign a form that releases their customer from liability. Without the help of an attorney who has experience in personal injury law, you have no way of knowing if the amount the insurance company offers is enough to cover all of your losses.
Sometimes, an insurance company denies payment on a claim outright if they think they can show it has no merit. This can leave you on the hook for any out-of-pocket expenses caused by the injury. With an attorney, you can file a personal injury lawsuit against the responsible party in California Civil Court, which takes the final decision out of the insurance company’s hands and places it in front of a judge or jury.
Hiring a good lawyer can give you an edge that you simply can’t get on your own.
OnderLaw has nearly two decades of experience helping accident victims get just compensation for their injuries. We handle claims of all kinds, from minor slip and fall accidents to multi-million dollar defective product lawsuits against companies like Johnson and Johnson. We’re not afraid to take on the big cases for our clients.
That’s not to say that all the cases we handle are big. We focus on helping our clients, not on getting big settlements to line our pockets. We believe good service and good legal help should go hand in hand. You won’t be treated like a statistic at OnderLaw . You’ll be treated with the compassion and dignity you deserve.
Our legal experience is nearly unmatched. We have more than a dozen legal professionals on our team with a wide variety of backgrounds and specialties, including a former state senator. This large team means we have several different perspectives from which to draw to build the best claim possible for our clients.
We’re also very skilled at what we do. In addition to numerous awards and accolades, we’ve successfully obtained over $3.5 billion in settlements and awards for our clients since 2002. These results are not an accident. Head over to our Testimonials page to hear directly from some of our past clients.
Slip and fall accidents happen anywhere, at any time. They are the leading cause of emergency room visits in the country and the leading cause of missed days from work. Some of the common causes of these kinds of accidents include:
Most slip and fall accidents that happen outside the home fall under premises liability law. This is the body of law that outlines the responsibilities property owners and managers have to anyone that legally visits the properties they control. Premises liability is based on California Civil Code 1714, which states that everyone has a responsibility to take “ordinary care” in their actions to prevent harming others.
In order to obtain compensation, we must show that the property owner or manager was negligent in their duty to keep the property they control free of hazards. If we can show that the party that controls the property was supposed to keep it free of hazards and didn’t do so, that their inaction caused an accident, and that accident caused your injury, we should be able to claim compensation.
Several different parties may be held responsible for a slip and fall injury, depending on the circumstances. For example, a landlord may be held liable for a tenant injuring themselves on a poorly lit staircase, or a business manager may be held liable for a customer slipping and falling in the parking lot outside their business. Some possible liable parties include:
Even a minor slip and fall accident can end in severe injuries, such as:
The amount you may be able to obtain in compensation depends on the losses you suffered as a result of the accident. The greater the losses, the more you should demand in compensation. Making an accurate assessment of the value of your claim is best done with the help of a qualified attorney.
You can be compensated for a variety of losses. Economic damages are any losses with a specific monetary value, such as:
Noneconomic damages are losses related to the experience of the injury and not the cost of treating it. Some examples include:
Talk to your attorney to find out which losses you may claim in your case.
Here are some helpful steps to take immediately following a slip and fall injury to protect your rights and assist with building your claim:
California’s statute of limitations on personal injury lawsuits is two years from the date of the injury. That means you have only two years to file a lawsuit, so it’s crucial to start the claims process as soon as possible.
Call for a free consultation today. We will review your case and determine whether you’re eligible for compensation. We only take payment if we’re successful in getting you a settlement or award, and the initial consultation is free, so there’s no risk in letting us review your case. Call OnderLaw today.
