What You Should Know About Slip and Fall Accidents

There are a ton of Miami slip and fall lawyers. Our town is full of folks falling down and lawyers willing to take their cases. Some of the things that the slip and fall attorneys at Wolfson & Leon have experienced about Miami slip and fall accidents are backed up by statistics. And your experience might just be the same.

• Most Miami slip and falls happen in places like grocery stores, supermarkets, shopping centers, malls, convenience stores, gas stations, department stores, bars, and nightclubs.
• Most slip and falls down here are caused by a liquid on the floor. In grocery stores, that liquid often is directly from a product that they sell. At gas stations, it might be a leaky nozzle that left slick gas on the ground that an attendant did not degrease. At bars, folks slip and fall because spilled drinks are not cleaned up timely. In nightclubs, poor lighting and the failure to have handrails and improperly marked steps can lead to serious injuries.
• People also slip and fall often on smaller pieces of fruit that fall out of grocery carts or off of shelves. This happens at supermarkets, convenience stores, supercenters, farmer’s markets and organic food stores like Whole Foods.
• Slip and falls happen in areas we know are wet but were way more slippery than expected. These situations include painted walkways that are unreasonably slippery and do not meet slip resistance guidelines. People know and expect it to be slippery but do not foresee such areas being slick like ice. Sometimes, experts can testify to whether the area meets the applicable code regarding slip resistance.
• People get embarrassed when they slip and fall. Many people in Miami leave right after their slip and fall and do not even report what happened. Most people feel embarrassed or ashamed and think the fall is their fault. Often they think they will be fine but don’t want to be a bother to anyone. Then they have to call or go back to let the manager know what happened when it turns out to be a more serious injury than they ever imagined.
• Store cameras often don’t pick up what happened. Sometimes this is because the camera footage was intentionally deleted by the store, which is nearly impossible to prove outright. Other times, there were not cameras in the area where it happened. Either way, common sense dictates that the lack of footage in today’s information age ought to be held against the store. Think about it – if someone was shoplifting do you think they would have the videotape? Of course they would. Your Miami slip and fall attorney can use this against the store in negotiations or at trial.
• Store employees are often heartless and leave people laying on the ground. They do this without offering any help. Our clients have told horror stories of being left on the ground like a criminal or rodent. The reason for this is simple, you represent a failure by the store to keep people safe. And that simply does not make them look good. So, what do they do? Unsophisticated store employees often ignore the slip and fall victim and hope you magically go away.
• When people slip and fall, they commonly fall backward and to the side. This results in folks hurting their lower backs because of the way they fall backward. Back injuries include herniated and bulging disks, sciatic nerve issues, and annular tears. When folks fall to the side, hip fractures often result.
• Folks also slip and fall with outstretched arms. Slip and fall injuries can be very serious injuries. Falling with outstretched arms causes strained or sprained shoulders which often leave people with torn rotator cuffs, torn labrums, torn biceps tendons, and fractured shoulders. Broken elbows and wrists are also common when people fall with outstretched arms.
• Don’t take offense, ladies, but women slip and fall more than men, it seems. Just going through our experience of cases, we notice that an overwhelming amount of our slip and fall cases involve women. And, among the elderly, women also seem to fall more than men. Researchers at the Department of Neurology at the University of Connecticut Health Center studied and examined the issue of why women seem to fall more than men. They published their findings in the Journal of Gerontology. They found that mechanical reasons existed for women falling more. These ranged from limited postural control, dorsiflexion, flexibility and strength. Shoe choice also increases the odds of a fall.
• You cannot get money just because you fall on someone another person’s property. But that is what many folks think is true. If the other person did nothing wrong, you cannot recover. How fair would that be? Just leaving water on the floor isn’t doing something wrong. What it was not there long enough for them to clean it? Some ways that you can tell a liquid was there a long time include its consistency, whether others had tracked footsteps or shopping carts through the liquid.

The Miami slip and fall lawyers at Wolfson & Leon see these things happen first hand. If you have fallen down, let us apply our experiences to your situation and there may very well be recovery for you. Our Miami slip and fall attorneys can help you pursue financial compensation from any responsible retail store, private property owner, dining establishment or public agency who might be responsible for your injury. Call us at (305) 285-1115 to set up a free consultation with a Miami slip and fall accident attorney.

The Miami Personal Injury Lawyers at Wolfson & Leon represent people injured in all aspects of personal injury and wrongful death including:

• Car Accidents
• Miami Florida Car Accident Lawyers and Attorneys
• Drunk Driving Accidents
• Rollover Accidents
• Head-on Collisions
• Motorcycle Accidents
• Truck Accidents
• Uninsured / Underinsured
• Pedestrian Accidents
• Premises Liability
• Wrongful Death
• Medical Malpractice
• Slip and Fall
• Slip and Fall on Public Property
• Slip and Fall on Private Property
• Other Types of Slip and Falls
• Cruise Ship Accidents
• Boating Accidents

Wolfson & Leon has been helping personal injury clients and the families of wrongful death victims for over 55 years. Jonah Wolfson is a bilingual personal injury attorney in Miami and is available to speak to you now.

Wolfson & Leon also represents slip and fall accident victims in Sawgrass Mills, Dadeland, Miami International, Delray Beach, Allapattah, Homestead, The Roads, North Miami Beach, Kendal, Westchester, Riverside, Tamarac, Miami Gardens and other cities throughout South Florida.

Our personal injury attorneys are also available by appointment in our Fort Lauderdale and West Palm Beach offices. In addition, we now have an office in Fort Myers.

Our Fort Myers slip and fall lawyers are located at 3049 Cleveland Ave #239 in Fort Myers. In Southwest Florida, we serve the neighborhoods, towns and communities of Fort Myers, Lehigh Acres, Lee County, Cape Coral, Estero, Bonita Springs, Collier County, North Fort Myers, Marco Island, Immokalee, Sanibel, Naples, and Golden Gate.

Call our Fort Myers personal injury attorneys today for your free consultation at (239) 777-9954. We never charge a fee unless we make a recovery for you. Get the justice, compensation and answers you deserve – call us now and let us get started on your case.