Falls are a significant cause of serious injuries in the United States, including fractures and head injuries. Slip-and-fall accidents are the second most common cause of traumatic brain injuries in the U.S. Over 800,000 fall-related hospitalizations occur each year in the U.S., 300,000 of which involve elderly patients with hip fractures. Falls are also the most common cause of workplace injuries in employees of all ages.
In New Jersey, slip-and-fall accidents happen every day. Fortunately, most falls result in little more than a bruise and some embarrassment, but sometimes falls are far more serious. A bad fall can cause severe trauma with injuries ranging from mild to severe, or even fatal, depending on how, where, and how hard the victim falls. Suppose you or a close family member sustained serious injuries in a slip-and-fall accident in South Jersey, and the fall only occurred due to a property owner’s carelessness. In that case, the attorneys at Grungo Law are ready to represent you in your claim to increase your chances of recovering the maximum available compensation for your losses.
Why Choose Us as Your Slip and Fall Lawyers in South Jersey?
The legal team at Grungo Law in South Jersey are dedicated client advocates who’ve spent years representing injured clients through even the most complex personal injury cases, including slip-and-fall accidents. Grungo Law offers clients the following advantages in their case:
- Free confidential consultation and no attorney fees until we secure your settlement or court award
- A strong local reputation and resources in South Jersey to streamline your claim for prompt results
- Availability and open communication throughout all steps of the legal process so you’re always up-to-date on the progress of your case
- The South Jersey personal injury attorneys are dedicated to your case with personalized attention and an individualized strategy to recover your losses
Richard Grungo Jr., ESQ is renowned in New Jersey as a “Super Lawyer.” He has over 25 years of legal experience representing injured clients in South Jersey, including a recent $650,000 settlement for a client injured in a slip-and-fall accident in a motel on the Jersey Shore.
For a free legal consultation with a slip and fall accident lawyer serving South Jersey, call (856) 528-4494
Common Slip and Fall Injuries in South Jersey
If you’ve been hurt in a fall on a commercial property, private property, or government-owned property like a public park or city bus stop you could recover compensation if you experienced significant injuries such as the following:
- Brain injury
- One or more fractures
- Back injury
- Neck injury
- Knee injury
- Shoulder injury
- Facial injuries
- Broken teeth
- Soft tissue damage
- Bruises, cuts, and abrasions
If the fall occurred because an individual or a business was careless and failed to address or repair a fall hazard, you shouldn’t be left responsible for the damages. In the event of a death, reach out to a wrongful death attorney in South Jersey.
South Jersey Slip And Fall Accident Lawyer Near Me (856) 528-4494
Common Causes of Slip and Fall Accidents in New Jersey
Slip-and-fall and trip-and-fall accidents occur when something interferes with a person’s normal gait, causing them to experience a fall. Slip-and-fall accidents refer to same-level falls, versus falls from heights like a roof or balcony. Common causes of slip-and-fall accidents in South Jersey include:
- Wet floors
- Icy walkways and steps
- Uneven or cracked surfaces in parking lots, sidewalks, and walkways
- Loose carpets and floor mats
- Unmarked floor-level changes (Step-downs or step-ups)
- Dangling cords
- Debris or clutter on the floor
- Poor lighting
- Cracked or broken floorboards
- Slippery floor surface due to improper cleaning products or floor wax
As noted by the South Jersey premises liability attorneys, property owners and business managers have a responsibility to take reasonable measures to avoid causing injury to those lawfully on the property. New Jersey premises liability law determines the extent of the property owner’s duty to take reasonable measures by examining the following as stated in the law:
“the relationship between the property owner and the person entering the premises. Why was this person there? Was a benefit conferred on the owner by the person or were both parties mutually benefited? Identifying the status of the parties became a determinative factor in establishing the duty. The extent of the duty depended on whether the person entering the property was a business invitee, social guest (also referred to as a licensee), or trespasser.”
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When Is a Property Owner Liable for Damages in a Slip and Fall Accident in New Jersey?
When a person is legally allowed onto a property, there for legitimate business, or invited to a property, the property owner or leaseholder must regularly inspect the property, recognize hazards, and promptly address them to prevent injuries. This represents their duty of care. Proving liability in a successful slip-and-fall case in South Jersey depends on documenting evidence that the following is true:
- The property owner/leaseholder owed a duty of care to others on the property
- They failed to take the measures a reasonable person would have under the same circumstances, thus, breaching their duty of care
- The negligent breach of duty directly caused a slip-and-fall accident
- The injury victim suffered significant damages from the injury
Damages in most slip and fall claims are both economic and non-economic damages. Compensation for these damages typically comes through the property owner’s liability insurance.
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What to Do After a Slip-and-Fall Accident in South Jersey
After a bad fall, some injury victims are too seriously hurt to take steps to protect themselves, especially if they’ve suffered a head injury; however, if you have a slip-and-fall accident and are able to use your phone safely, you can help protect your physical and financial future by taking specific steps. You can do this right from your position without causing further injury or you can ask a companion to take these steps for you. Use a cell phone after a slip-and-fall accident to do the following:
- First, call 911 to request emergency services or arrange transportation to a hospital or urgent care center directly from the location of the fall
- Use the cell phone camera to take photos of the place where you fell and the safety hazard that caused the fall, such as a wet floor, cracked sidewalk, or a loose floor mat
- If you have any visible injuries, snap photos of those as well
- If there were eyewitnesses to the fall, add their names to your phone’s contact list
- If you fell inside a commercial business, ask the manager or owner to fill out an injury report. If the owner isn’t present, ask the manager to notify them of the slip-and-fall accident
- Ask if the business has surveillance cameras and request that they do not delete footage of the fall
Go directly to a hospital or other medical facility straight from the accident scene instead of going home, even if you think your injuries are minor. Some injuries like back, neck, and traumatic brain injuries may have delayed symptom onset. Going directly to a medical provider and telling them about every symptom—even mild ones—puts everything on a medical report to help prove that your injuries happened due to the fall. Delaying medical treatment after a slip-and-fall accident may give the insurance company cause to dispute your claim.
What Damages Can I Recover in a South Jersey Slip-and-Fall Case?
Fall injuries can be temporarily or permanently life-altering, with serious financial impacts as well as pain and suffering. Even less serious injuries may cause temporary economic hardship due to missed work and mounting medical bills. A successful claim against the property owner’s liability insurance results in compensation for damages such as the following:
- Medical bills
- Future medical expenses
- Lost wages
- Future income loss
- Lowered future earning capacity if the injury caused disability
- Pain and suffering
- Any other applicable non-economic damages such as loss of enjoyment of life or disfigurement (common in cases of facial injuries or broken teeth)
No one should take on a complex personal injury claim alone. Property managers and their insurers commonly dispute these claims or reach out quickly with low settlement offers that are only a fraction of what’s available to a victim with significant damages. At Grungo Law, we make it our mission to represent injury victims to ensure the largest possible payout on their claims.
What Is The Process Of a Slip and Fall Accident Claim?
After a slip-and-fall accident, there are many things to consider, including whether or not to retain a lawyer and file a lawsuit. Often, the property owner’s insurance company will quickly reach out with a settlement offer, but injury victims should be wary of this. Insurers intentionally do this early, before an injury victim knows the full extent of the economic and non-economic damages they face ahead. Accepting an early settlement offer requires signing away the right to a lawsuit. Fast, early settlement offers are almost always far less than the full value of a claim. Instead of dealing with the property owner’s insurance company, call Grungo Law and then refer all communication with the insurance company or the property owner to your lawyer. The process for filing a claim typically proceeds as follows:
- Your attorney will thoroughly investigate your slip-and-fall claim and document evidence of the property owner’s liability
- They will carefully calculate your economic damages by examining your medical bills and income loss and consult with medical experts about the likely impacts of the injury on your future as you move forward and the level of pain you can expect to experience until reaching the maximum medical improvement for your injuries
- Then, your attorney will send a demand package to the property owner’s insurance company
- A series of negotiation meetings take place between your attorney and the insurance adjuster assigned to your case
- In some cases, one or more mediation sessions may take place to help in arriving at a mutually acceptable settlement offer
- In about 95% of slip-and-fall cases with an attorney representing the fall victim, the claim ends with a settlement from the insurance company
In only about five percent of cases, the claim proceeds to court with a lawsuit due to an insurance company’s failure to offer an acceptable settlement amount or because they dispute aspects of the claim, delay processing the claim, or wrongfully deny it completely. If an insurance provider fails to live up to the terms of their contract, they could be held liable for further damages in a bad-faith insurance company claim.
Will I Have to Go to Court for a Slip-and-Fall Claim In New Jersey?
Since the vast majority of personal injury claims end with a settlement, it’s unlikely that your case will require litigation in court, but if an unresolvable dispute arises with the insurance company, or they fail to offer an ample settlement for your damages, your attorney from Grungo Law is more than prepared to take your case to trial. Our experienced trial attorneys will fully prepare you for the court process and present a compelling case to the jury using medical expert testimony and other evidence. The attorneys at Grungo Law take time to get to know each client and personally witness the impacts of their injury on their personal and professional lives so they can make a jury more aware of the effects of the injury.
Court cases take longer than settlements, but sympathetic juries often award larger court awards for damages to injury victims than they’d receive in a settlement.
What Is the Statute of Limitations for Slip-and-Fall Accidents in New Jersey?
Like all states, New Jersey places a time limit on how long after a personal injury victims may file a claim or lawsuit for their damages. New Jersey’s statute of limitations for personal injury claims—including slip-and-fall injuries—is two years from the date the injury occurred. This may seem like sufficient time to recover damages, but insurance companies commonly delay and dispute claims, and arguing disputes with evidence during negotiations takes time. For these reasons, the timing of your slip-and-fall case in South Jersey is essential to the success of your case. If it takes going to court to obtain a settlement, as the plaintiff in the case, you must file the lawsuit petition with the court within the two-year time limit.
The state sometimes extends (tolls) the time limit for certain circumstances. For instance, if an injury victim is incapacitated or unconscious after a fall, the two-year time clock begins on the day they recover consciousness. Underage slip-and-fall injury victims have up to two years from their 18th birthday to file a lawsuit. If a slip-and-fall victim doesn’t discover an injury until later—like a headache diagnosed as a concussion a week after a fall, or a backache diagnosed as a herniated disc a month after a fall—the court may extend the statute of limitations to reflect the date of discovery or when the injury victim should reasonably have discovered the injury.
Call Grungo Law Today for An Evaluation of Your Slip and Fall Case in South Jersey
Don’t wait to file a claim. New Jersey allows up to two years to file a lawsuit for a slip and fall accident. It often takes time to investigate, gather evidence, and negotiate for a settlement. Only in cases that aren’t resolved with an ample settlement does the case require a lawsuit in court, in which case it must be filed before the two-year statute of limitations for personal injury claims in New Jersey expires. Call or contact Grungo Law today so your attorney can begin working on recovering your compensation with prompt, assertive action.
Call or text (856) 528-4494 or complete a Free Case Evaluation form