An Orlando Personal Injury Attorney Talks About Stairwell Falls

If you’ve been injured due to a fall down the stairs, you may be able to receive some type of compensation for your injuries. Whether it be money to help with your medical bills, or pain and suffering, depending on the circumstances surrounding your injury, an Orlando personal injury attorney at the Payer Law may have some success in obtaining compensation.

Common Stair Fall Accidents

There are a few common stair fall accidents that include the following:

Sprained muscles, ligaments and tendons

Abrasions, contusions and cuts

Fractured bones, generally in the arms, wrists and hands

Whiplash and back injuries

Shoulder, head and neck injuries

Compensation for Injuries

Your ability to receive compensation for your injuries falls under the premise liability laws. These are the laws that hold a property owner or caretaker negligent when a visitor is injured on the property. Common damages include out-of-pocket expenses for medication, medical bills, reimbursement for lost wages and pain and suffering. Your Orlando personal injury attorney will explain more about compensation when you meet with him.

Burden of Proof

In order to determine negligence, as the injured person you and your Orlando personal injury attorney are stuck with the burden of proof. The insurance company or court will weigh all of the facts and determine negligence based on those facts. Generally speaking, you cannot presume a property owner is negligent just because you fell and sustained an injury. You need to have proof that the owner or caretaker would have reasonably known about the defect AND had the opportunity to fix the problem.

For example, someone walking in front of you could have spilled a liquid that caused you to fall and hurt yourself. In this situation, the owner would not have had any opportunity to know about the spilled substance and had a chance to clean it.

However, if you tripped on a loose stair board, it’s safe to say the owner should have been aware of this defect and would have had plenty of opportunities to fix it.

Evidence to Support Your Claim

There are a variety of ways you can provide evidence that supports your claim. For example, if you’re injured in a store or office building, you should advise the owners of the property right away in order for them to fill out an accident report. Any witnesses to this fall should also provide statements, as well as their contact information. They may be called to trial to testify, should your case go that far.

Another important piece of the evidence puzzle is photographs of the area. Now, you may not remember to take photos, especially if you’re in a lot of pain, but these photos can help document proof that the defect that caused you to fall was a defect the owner should have reasonably known about.

Medical records are also good sources of evidence because they will document the doctor’s professional opinion of the seriousness of the injury and how the injury happened in the first place.

For more information on injuries in a stairwell, contact the Payer Law.