Hiring Counsel For Simple Cases

Suddenly ending up on the ground after a fall is of course always unexpected and can leave you feeling stunned or in pain. It's important if you find yourself in this situation though that you take your next actions carefully if you want to protect your legal rights. To that end, here are some tips to keep in mind for what you should do immediately following a slip-and-fall accident.

Check for Injury and Continue Monitoring

If you fall and know you are injured, the first course of action will be to seek medical attention. If you are at the workplace, notify your boss immediately and have them call for help. If you are on someone else's property, you can inform that person but you might want to make the call yourself if you are able. Failing to seek medical attention after a fall could be seen later as a sign that maybe things were not that serious, so don't try and put on a brave face here.

With that said, it's also possible that you won't notice the injury until some time later. You could wake up the next day with a stiff neck, for example, What's important is that you report the problem to whoever needs to hear it as soon as you know it is happening.

Document the Area

You may not be able to do this in the immediate aftermath of the injury if you are getting medical help but it's important to get photos and video of the surrounding area of the injury if possible. If there might be a video of the fall itself, that's even better. You want to pay attention to any hazards in the area when you are documenting this evidence.

Contact an Attorney

For best results in a slip-and-fall case, you really should contact an attorney as soon as possible. This will help prevent you from saying anything that could come back to haunt you later. Having a slip-and-fall attorney on your side may also help with the documentation of evidence as described above. Your attorney may be able to get video from local security cameras of nearby businesses, for example, a request that might be a bit more difficult for the average citizen to tackle.

Document the Consequences

In order to ensure a decent settlement or jury award for your case, you need to prove that you suffered financial hardship or lost income as a result of your injuries. You will of course ask for your medical bills to be paid but a good attorney may help you determine other sources of money including pain and suffering or lost wages from not being able to go to work. For more info, contact a local firm like Siben & Siben LLP.