It can happen at any time. You can be outside walking and then the next thing you know, you’re either on your back or you’re in the hospital after you slipped. These incidents can have results that run the gamut of bruised pride to deadly head injuries, with broken bones somewhere in the middle. If this was due to the negligence of a particular individual or a city or town, you should find a slip and fall accident lawyer. What do you do after you’ve fallen?
Make Sure You’re OK
You might initially feel fine after the fall. That can be due to a wide range of things, including adrenaline. Seek medical help immediately, since you want to ensure that you don’t have any internal injuries. Have the doctor examine you and have X-rays taken to rule out broken bones. You want to start an immediate trail of medical records that can easily be tracked if you do wind up being hurt.
If you are hurt, then you might have to see a physical therapist for rehabilitation. They can also be important in documenting your suffering as you work to get back to where you were before your slip-and-fall incident.
Start Gathering Evidence
Was this in front of someone’s house, and they didn’t shovel? Was it in front of a place of business? Was it at a park? Take pictures of what it looks like. Document what could have been done to make it safe. A lawyer will know what to do with it.
Talk With Legal Experts
There are several ways you can find one to talk to. You might have friends or family who have had a fall and can recommend someone. The same goes for co-workers. Look around where you live and see if you spot any billboards with a lawyer’s name on it. Use the internet and see which ones are being recommended in your area. Call the ones that you like. Most of them will offer a free consultation.
When you are talking with the lawyer, explain everything thing that happened. Show them all of your evidence. They will look it over and use their knowledge to tell you if you have a possible claim or not. You want to talk to a lawyer who is good at breaking things down in a way that is easy to understand. If they do think you have a case, then they will tell you what documents you need to gather and what deadlines you need to meet.
They may negotiate a settlement for you – do NOT sign anything the other party offers you without a lawyer being present to read it over. You can avoid others taking advantage of you by doing that. If it does go to court, your lawyer will use the best strategy to get you the compensation you deserve. Then you can do your best to resume the life that you had before.