Austin Slip and Fall Lawyer

Slip and Fall Accidents

If you’ve been hurt after slipping and falling on someone else’s Austin-area property, that person might owe you compensation for what you’ve suffered – including your medical bills, lost income, and pain and suffering. Getting this money could prove challenging, though, as property owners and their insurers often fight hard to avoid liability for costly injury claims. If you’ve been injured in Austin or anywhere in Texas, you may need a slip and fall attorney to fight back and pursue the full and fair compensation you deserve.

At Loewy Law Firm, we are known for our integrity and commitment to our clients’ interests. We will fight hard to get you the money you need to rebuild your life and move on from your painful injuries, and we’ll do it at no upfront cost to you. Contact us now for a free initial case evaluation with our slip and fall accident attorneys in Austin, and let us start work on your case today.

How a Slip and Fall Lawyer Can Help

Hiring slip and fall lawyers can make a difference in the outcome and success of your injury claims. For two decades, accident victims in Austin have turned to the legal team at Loewy Law Firm for practical advice and advocacy because:

We provide aggressive legal representation tailored to their cases: Unlike other law firms that handle hundreds or thousands of cases at a time, Loewy Law Firm limits the number of cases we take so we can devote the time and effort to each of our clients’ cases. Our legal team will leave no stone unturned in pursuing the best possible outcome for your case.
We have a proven record of success: Adam Loewy’s long history of outstanding work in personal injury cases has earned recognition from the country’s top peer-review organizations. Our firm also holds the highest possible rating of 10.0 Superb from leading lawyer rating service Avvo.
We offer experienced and affordable services: Our firm handles all of the cases we take on a contingency basis. Our clients pay no upfront fees or costs. You will only pay us if we recover compensation for you through a settlement or court judgment.

Slip & Fall Accident Statistics

According to the National Safety Council, Falls, along with poisoning and motor vehicle accidents, account for 86% of all preventable deaths in the United States and they represent a significant portion of that 86%. They also are the leading cause of non-fatal emergency department visits, representing 33% of all preventable non-fatal injuries. Below are some additional statistics from NFSI.org.

Falls Lead Emergency Room Visits: Falls account for over 8 million hospital emergency room visits, representing the leading cause of visits at 21.3%. Slips and falls make up over 1 million of these visits, or 12% of total falls.
Serious Consequences of Falls – Fractures: Fractures are the most serious outcome of falls, occurring in 5% of all people who experience a fall.
Major Cause of Workers’ Compensation Claims: Slips and falls are not only the primary cause of lost days from work but also the leading cause of workers’ compensation claims, particularly affecting individuals aged 55 years and older.
Impact on the Elderly: Each year in the United States, one out of every three persons over the age of 65 will experience a fall, with half of these individuals being repeat fallers. Additionally, falls are the second leading cause of injury-related death for people aged 65-84 years and the leading cause for those aged 85 years or older.
Economic and Occupational Impact: Compensation and medical costs associated with employee slip/fall accidents amount to approximately $70 billion annually. Slips on slick floors are attributed to 85% of workers’ compensation claims.

With millions of falls leading to hospital visits and significant costs annually, the statistics highlight a clear need for legal support for victims. If a slip and fall has impacted you, understand that you’re not alone in this challenge. The right attorney can be key in helping you move forward and claim the compensation you deserve.

Common Causes of Slip and Fall Accidents

While anything that poses a slipping or tripping hazard can lead to a fall, some of the most common hazards include:

Rainwater, ice, or mud on the ground or tracked in from outside
Spilled foods or liquids
Water pipe or refrigerator and freezer leaks
Recently mopped or waxed floors
Transitions between flooring surfaces, such as stepping from carpet to hardwood floor
Uneven floors
Broken or uneven pavement
Wet grass
Wires or cords laid across the ground
Broken or missing steps or handrails
Trash or debris on the ground
Broken or loose flooring
Torn or loose carpets or rugs

Injuries Caused by Slip and Fall Accidents

There’s a common misconception that slip and falls are relatively minor incidents. This could not be further from the case, as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that, every year, over 800,000 people are hospitalized for fall-related injuries, and that one in five falls results in a serious injury. For example, hitting one’s head after falling or falling down the stairs or from a height can result in life-altering physical trauma. Other common slip and fall-related injuries include:

Severe lacerations or abrasions
Dislocated joints
Ligament sprains/tears
Muscle or tendon strains/tears
Herniated spinal disc injury
Nerve damage
Broken bones
Internal trauma and bleeding
Facial injuries
Traumatic brain injuries
Spinal injuries and paralysis

Liability for Slip and Fall Accidents Under Texas Law

Texas’s premises liability laws govern who may bear responsibility for the injuries you suffered in a slip and fall accident on someone else’s property. Under premises liability law, a property owner has a responsibility to maintain safe premises for lawful visitors. The exact nature of a property owner’s responsibility to a visitor depends on the visitor’s legal status. Texas premises liability law recognizes three categories of property visitors: invitees, licensees, and trespassers.

Invitees include:

Visitors who enter a property at the express or implied invitation of the property owner or occupier
Members of the public who enter for purposes for which the property owner holds the premises open to the public
Visitors who enter for the mutual benefit of the property owner and visitor

One of the most common examples of invitees is a business customer or patron, such as someone who enters a grocery store to shop. A property owner or occupier owes the highest duty of care to invitees. An owner can negligently cause a slip and fall accident if they allow a condition to develop that poses an unreasonable risk of harm, provided the property owner knew or should have known about the condition and failed to either warn invitees of the condition or remedy the condition after a reasonable opportunity to do so. A property owner “should know” about a dangerous property condition when it has existed long enough that the owner would discover it through reasonably diligent inspection of their property.

Licensees are those visitors who enter a property with the property owner’s/occupier’s permission or other lawful authority but not with the owner’s/occupier’s express or implied invitation. Examples of licensees include mail carriers/delivery drivers and door-to-door salespeople. Property owners owe a lesser duty of care to licensees than invitees. An owner must warn a licensee of a hazardous property condition or undertake reasonable efforts to make the condition safe if the owner has actual knowledge of the condition. Owners must also refrain from injuring licensees through willful, wanton, or grossly negligent conduct. A property owner will not bear liability when they do not know about a dangerous property condition that causes a licensee to slip and fall on their premises.

Finally, trespassers are those who enter another’s property without any right, lawful authority, or invitation from the owner/occupier. A trespasser does not enter someone else’s property for the owner’s/occupier’s benefit but rather for the trespasser’s personal purpose, pleasure, or curiosity. A property owner owes a trespasser no duty to inspect, warn, or make the premises safe. Instead, an owner must refrain from intentionally or willfully injuring a trespasser. However, if owners know that a trespasser enters their property, they must exercise reasonable care for their safety.

Under Texas statutes, various circumstances may limit a property owner’s liability for injuries that a visitor suffers on the owner’s premises. For example, a property owner who opens their land to others for recreational purposes does not owe a duty of care beyond that owed to a trespasser.

Can I Pursue a Slip and Fall Accident Claim If I Bear Some Responsibility for the Accident?

A property owner may try to limit their liability to someone who slipped and fell on their property by arguing that the victim was in some way responsible for their own injuries. However, under Texas law, you may still have the right to seek compensation for slip and fall accident injuries even if you partially caused the accident due to your negligence, such as running, not exercising due care while walking over a hazardous condition on the floor, or disregarding wet floor or other warning signs.

Specifically, the law states that you can recover compensation so long as you bear 50 percent or less of the fault for a slip and fall accident. However, any responsibility you do share for the accident may reduce your financial recovery in a slip and fall lawsuit in proportion to your percentage of fault. Because any fault you bear for a slip and fall can affect how much money you can recover, you should talk to an Austin slip and fall lawyer from Loewy Law Firm as soon as possible after a slip and fall. We know how to collect and present evidence that could minimize your percentage of fault and maximize your compensation.

Parties Who May Have Liability for the Injuries You Suffered in a Slip and Fall Accident

The owner of the property on which you slipped and fell is perhaps the party most likely to owe you compensation for any financial and personal losses you suffer due to your injuries. However, other parties may also bear or share liability for your injuries, depending on the circumstances surrounding the slip and fall accident. These parties might include:

A residential tenant, if you slipped and fell on their exclusive leased premises
A commercial tenant, if the fall happened in the business’s unit or when the business’s lease imposes maintenance duties
A property management company for a multi-unit residential or commercial building
Third-party maintenance companies hired to maintain properties, such as janitorial services, landscaping, or construction companies

How Much Money Does the Average Slip and Fall Accident Victim Recover?

The amount of financial recovery a slip and fall injury victim might obtain in an insurance or legal claim will depend on various factors unique to the accident victim’s case. Some of the circumstances that may affect how much money you recover in your slip and fall claim include:

The type and severity of injuries you sustain in the accident
The types of medical treatment and rehabilitation you need
Whether your injuries result in prolonged or permanent disabilities
The amount of time you miss from work or the extent of your reduced earnings if you cannot work in your pre-injury job
The number of potentially at-fault/liable parties in your slip and fall case
The extent of applicable insurance coverage or other financial resources of the liable parties
The strength of your legal case and the skill of your slip and fall lawyer in Austin
Whether you resolve your case through a settlement or pursue a slip and fall accident lawsuit

Types of Compensation Available in a Slip and Fall Accident Claim

A slip and fall accident case may allow you to recover compensation for ongoing and future financial and personal losses you sustained due to your slip and fall accident injuries. The Austin slip and fall attorneys at Loewy Law Firm will fight to obtain financial relief for your:

Medical expenses and costs of physical therapy
Costs of long-term disability care or replacement services if your injuries cause prolonged or permanent physical impairments
Lost wages or income from time you miss from work or reduced earnings while temporarily working in a lower-paying part-time or light-duty position
Loss of future earning capacity and employment benefits if you become permanently disabled from your current job or other kinds of work
The physical pain and emotional suffering you experienced because of the accident and your injuries
Reduced quality of life due to permanent disabilities that prevent you from performing daily tasks or partaking in activities you previously enjoyed or due to visible scarring/disfigurement that causes embarrassment or humiliation

How Do You Prove Negligence in a Slip and Fall Case?

Recovering compensation in a slip and fall accident claim requires you to prove that the accident occurred due to negligence on the part of the person who owns or controls the property on which the accident occurred. Negligence means that a party breaches a duty of care owed to you as a visitor to their property. The duty of care involves an obligation to take reasonable actions to avoid causing injury to others.

In a slip and fall case, a property or business owner might breach a duty of care they owe to a visitor by creating a hazard that a visitor can slip on or failing, after a reasonable opportunity to discover and remedy a slipping hazard, to fix or warn visitors about the hazard. For example, a supermarket may bear liability for a slip and fall accident caused by store employees failing to clean up a food or liquid spill on which a customer subsequently slips.

An Austin slip and fall injury attorney can prove liability in a slip and fall case by gathering and reviewing evidence such as:

Accident/incident reports drafted by a business or property owner immediately after a slip and fall accident
Surveillance camera footage
Eyewitness testimony
Accident scene photos/videos
Repair/maintenance records
Staffing records
Third-party maintenance contracts
Medical records of your treatment and rehabilitation

Depending on the circumstances, you may need to rely on testimony provided by an accident reconstruction expert to bolster the strength of your case, especially if you need to explain what created the hazard that caused you to slip and fall.

What Steps Should You Take After a Slip and Fall Incident?

What you do in the aftermath of a slip and fall accident can affect your ability to recover fair compensation for your injuries. First, report the accident and your injuries to the property or business owner. If you fell in a commercial establishment, ask the business owner or manager to preserve any surveillance footage. Also, ask for a copy of any accident/incident reports written in response to the slip and fall.

Preserve or photograph the clothing and shoes you were wearing at the time of the accident. This is especially important if a property or business owner or insurance company argues that you slipped and fell because of your clothing or footwear, such as worn soles on your shoes.

Be sure to seek prompt medical attention and treatment for any injuries you sustained in the fall. Do not put off any recommended procedures, surgeries, or physical therapy. Remember to follow your doctor’s treatment plan and recovery instructions. Also, remember to request copies of medical records of your treatment and rehabilitation.

Gather documentation of financial losses you incur due to your injuries, including any bills, invoices, or receipts of expenses for medical treatments or replacement services. Find copies of your pay stubs or income statements if you need to miss time from work due to your injuries or if your medical restrictions during your recovery require you to transfer to a lower-paying part-time or light-duty position. Your income statements can also help you calculate future lost earning potential if you become permanently disabled from your job.

Avoid discussing the slip and fall accident or your injuries on social media, and refrain from posting or tagging yourself in photos and videos during your recovery. Insurance companies frequently monitor accident victims’ social media profiles for posts, photos, or videos that undermine their claim, such as photos or videos of the accident victim partaking in sports or physical activities while they’re allegedly dealing with temporary physical limitations or disabilities. Insurers and defense attorneys know how to twist perfectly innocent and defensible photos or statements for their own purposes, so it’s best to stay off social media entirely.

Finally, contact a slip and fall law firm in Austin immediately. The team with Loewy Law Firm is standing by to discuss your legal options for pursuing accountability for your injuries from a negligent property or business owner and to get help navigating the insurance and legal processes.

Deadlines for Filing Injury Claims After a Slip and Fall Accident in Austin

Under the Texas statute of limitations for injury claims, you typically have two years after the date of an accident to file a slip and fall lawsuit against the owner of the business or property where you fell. However, if you fell on state or local government property, Texas law also requires you to file a written notice of your injury claim within six months of a slip and fall accident. Given the potentially short deadlines for filing a slip and fall injury claim, you can best protect your legal rights by consulting a slip and fall accident attorney in Austin as soon as possible to ensure your claims are filed on time.

If you file a slip and fall claim or lawsuit after the relevant deadlines expire, you risk losing the opportunity to pursue financial recovery for your injuries and losses. Don’t risk this possibility – get in touch with Loewy Law Firm today.

How Long Does the Average Slip and Fall Accident Claim Take?

Each slip and fall accident case has its own unique timeline based on the circumstances in question. While some slip and fall accident victims obtain a settlement within a few months of an accident, other cases take years to reach trial. Some of the factors that can influence the duration of your slip and fall accident claim include:

The duration of your medical treatment and rehabilitation
The complexity of the evidence supporting your case
The number of potentially liable parties in your case
Whether you share any responsibility for the slip and fall accident
The availability of insurance coverage
How quickly the insurance company investigates and processes your claim
Whether you need to file a lawsuit to pursue financial recovery from a property or business owner
The schedule set by the trial court presiding over your slip and fall lawsuit
Whether you can secure a settlement of your slip and fall accident claim before your case reaches trial

How Can an Austin Slip and Fall Accident Lawyer Help You with a Premises Liability Claim?

Recovering from the injuries you suffered as a result of the slip and fall accident will likely be a time-consuming process. Don’t try to take on a complex legal battle on top of that. Instead, turn to an Austin slip and fall law firm that can help with your recovery by handling all the details of your premises liability claim. That way, you can devote your total effort to healing.

At Loewy Law Firm, we can assist with your recovery by:

Conducting a thorough accident investigation to document the circumstances of the slip and fall accident and obtain evidence of the property owner or occupier’s liability
Identifying other potentially liable parties, such as property management companies or third-party maintenance contractors
Documenting your injuries and losses to calculate the compensation you need for ongoing or future expenses
Keeping you updated on the progress of your case, answering questions that may arise, and preparing you for what to expect at each stage of the claims process
Filing insurance and legal claims on your behalf and communicating with insurance adjusters, company representatives, and defense firms to take the stress of the legal process off your shoulders
Aggressively negotiating for a settlement that provides the financial resources you need for your recovery now and in the future
Taking your case to court and trial if litigation gives you the best chance of obtaining the compensation and justice you deserve for your injuries

Contact a Slip and Fall Attorney in Austin from Loewy Law Firm Today

If you’ve suffered injuries in a slip and fall accident on someone else’s property, Texas law may give you the right to seek compensation for your medical bills, lost income, and pain and suffering. Get the experienced legal advocacy you need to demand the full amount you’re owed. Contact Loewy Law Firm today for a free, no-obligation consultation with our knowledgeable Austin slip and fall attorneys to discuss your legal options for securing a financial recovery from a negligent property or business owner.