Bakersfield Slip
and Fall Attorney

Individuals who sustain injuries in Bakersfield slip and fall accidents can seek compensation for the expenses and quality-of-life impacts of their injuries through the personal injury claims process. This process involves seeking compensation through a claim to the at-fault party’s insurance provider. If the insurance provider fails to pay the claim or negotiate a settlement with the claimant, the claimant can file a personal injury lawsuit.

California allows those injured in slip and fall accidents to seek the recovery of both economic and non-economic damages. In the legal arena, recovering damages refers to the payment one receives in compensation for harm. Economic damages refer to the payment you receive in compensation for the expenses of your injury, while non-economic damages refer to the payment you receive in compensation for the quality-of-life impacts you have experienced because of your injury.

Some expenses and impacts that commonly appear on damage claims for Bakersfield slip and fall accidents include:

• Medical expenses, such as the cost of ambulance transport, emergency treatment, diagnostic testing, hospitalization, the services of your physician or surgeon, your medical supplies, prescription medication, physical therapy, rehabilitation, and needed assistive devices, such as crutches or a wheelchair.
• Lost wages that result from missing work due to your injuries and/or to attend an injury-related medical appointment.
• Loss of future earning capacity if your injury results in a permanent disability and you can no longer earn what you did before the accident.
• Physical pain and suffering.
• Emotional distress.

Slip and fall accidents constitute a type of premises liability case. Premises liability involves the legal responsibility of a property owner to protect guests from hazardous property features that can cause injury to guests. While property owners constitute the most common defendants mentioned in conversations about this type of case, in truth many other potentially liable parties could exist, as well.

These include:

• Homeowners or business owners.
• A residential or commercial tenant.
• A property management company tasked with maintaining a property on behalf of its owners.
• A retail establishment, such as a store or restaurant.
• An employee of any business in which members of the public come to do business.
• The agencies tasked with maintaining and controlling public buildings and properties, and the employees who work for that agency.

To have a positive outcome to your Bakersfield slip and fall claim, you must show that the property owner bears liability for the hazard that caused your injuries.

To do this, you must prove the following elements in your case:

• The at-fault party owned, leased, occupied, or controlled the property where the accident occurred.
• The at-fault party negligently maintained the property, which resulted in a hazardous condition that he or she knew about or had reason to know about.
• The unmitigated property hazard that resulted from the at-fault party’s negligence led to the accident in which you sustained injuries. You incurred impacts and expenses as a result of this accident.

We cannot tell you how your friend will take having a claim filed against him or her. However, we can tell you that you will seek compensation from the insurance company that provides your friend’s homeowner’s or renter’s insurance policy, not from your friend personally. Filing the claim with insurance removes a lot of the personal aspect from the issue.

In most states, property owners do not have a duty of care when it comes to trespassers, beyond not deliberately luring trespassers onto the property to harm them. However, in California, statutes state that property owners bear responsibility for ensuring the safety of all visitors from hazards resulting from the property owner’s lack of maintenance or care. Accordingly, property owners can bear liability for injuries incurred by a trespasser in a slip and fall accident.

This situation may constitute a premises liability claim if the fall resulted from a hazard that the nursing facility staff knew about or had reason to know about.

This may also lead to a nursing home negligence case if your father’s fall resulted from age or medical conditions, the nursing home knew or should have known of his propensity for falling, and nursing home staff failed to provide the proper supervision or assistance to prevent the fall from occurring.

An experienced attorney from The May Firm can help you determine the case that you should pursue given your specific circumstances and explain the process of seeking compensation.

Most individuals who sustain injuries in accidents occurring in the workplace receive compensation through California’s worker’s compensation program. Worker’s compensation constitutes a form of no-fault insurance policy that state law requires most employers in the state to purchase on behalf of their employees. This policy provides coverage of medical expenses and temporary or permanent wage replacement. In exchange for these benefits, most workers cannot also seek compensation for their injuries through a lawsuit against their employers.

However, certain circumstances may justify filing a lawsuit after a workplace slip and fall accident, such as when the accident resulted from a third party’s negligence. Third parties include anyone other than your employer or coworker. Some examples of third-party liability for a workplace accident include delivery drivers who suffer injuries in transportation accidents caused by another motorist during working hours, or an employee of a subcontractor on a construction site who becomes injured due to a hazard caused by the general contractor.

The at-fault party’s insurance adjuster, either during settlement negotiations or during the trial, will use defensive tactics to reduce or eliminate the insured’s liability for the accident.

Common defenses used in slip and fall accident cases include:

• The open and obvious doctrine, which holds that the defendant does not bear liability for your injuries because the property hazard that caused you to slip and fall was so open and obvious that a reasonable person would have noticed it and taken steps to avoid it.
• Lack of constructive knowledge. Another common defense used in slip and fall claims involves the property owner/possessor arguing that he or she did not have time to notice the hazard during a routine inspection of the premises and take steps to mitigate the risk. Consider a slip and fall accident that occurred due to liquid spilled on the floor of a commercial business. The property owner would likely argue that the liquid had not been on the floor long enough for business staff to discover it and mitigate the risk by wiping it up.
• Liability arguments. Insurance companies often turn to certain tactics to avoid paying out on claims regarding injuries caused by insured parties. One tactic employed by insurance companies involves shifting the blame to the victim. In slip and fall cases, this can mean that the defense will argue that you wore the wrong shoes, failed to pay attention to the road, or some other reason why someone else caused the accident other than the insured party.

The court will consider whether the claimant has shown the elements of property owner negligence.

The court will consider additional factors, as well, including:

• The property’s location and whether most visitors access it in the same way the plaintiff accessed the property.
• Whether the property owner or possessor knew or had reason to know that the hazard existed.
• The likelihood of the particular hazard causing an injury. If the slip and fall accident occurred because of some unforeseeable circumstance, the court will prove less likely to find liability on the part of the property owner, as he or she may have had no reason to believe that the hazard could cause injury.
• The difficulty in trying to mitigate the risk. Some hazards prove particularly difficult to mitigate, requiring more time or money than the property owner has. If you sustained injuries due to a hazard that the property owner knew about but found too difficult to repair, you must next consider whether the property owner took steps to warn guests of the hazard, such as cordoning off the area surrounding the hazard or placing a prominent warning sign in the area.

A Bakersfield slip and fall attorney from The May Firm can provide:

• A free case evaluation, which provides you with a no-obligation opportunity to speak with one of our experienced attorneys about your case, obtain answers to your legal questions, and learn more about the personal injury claims process.
• The determination of all liable parties in your case and all insurance resources that you may qualify to access to receive the compensation that you need to cover the full cost of your injuries.
• The establishment of a value to your claim based on the expenses and impacts you have already experienced from your injury, as well as those you will likely face.
• Negotiations with the at-fault party’s insurance adjuster in an attempt to gain a fair settlement offer for you.
• Ample guidance as to what constitutes a fair settlement offer, and assistance in understanding the pros and cons of accepting or rejecting an offered settlement.
• The gathering and organization of evidence and witness testimony needed to prove your claim in court.
• Litigation services, including making opening and closing arguments, presenting evidence, and examining witnesses.
• Assistance with collecting your settlement or award.
• Contingent fee pay, which means you do not have to pay your attorney for his or her services until you have received a positive resolution to your case.

Let an experienced Bakersfield slip and fall attorney help you make sense of the legal process of obtaining compensation for the expenses and impacts of your injuries. For a free case evaluation, contact The May Firm online or call (866) 825-7909. During your initial meeting, you can discuss the details of your accident and injuries, ask questions about your legal options, and determine your best path forward. Don’t hesitate; reach out today.