Demonstrating negligence is one of your attorney's primary goals in a personal injury case. After you've been hurt for any reason and have decided to move forward legally, your personal injury attorney will use a variety of means to show that the other party was negligent in the details surrounding your injury. Although this is the case in a variety of personal injury suits, it's extremely common in slip-and-fall cases — which are situations that are often preventable if not for negligence. Here are three elements of negligence in this type of case that your attorney will work to prove.
The Other Party Knew Of The Hazard
A common type of slip-and-fall case is when there's something that is hazardous inside a building. For example, if there's a small step that is difficult to see, this could be a hazard because most people walking might not expect there to be a step in this location. The result could be people tripping up or down the step and sustaining injuries — and perhaps this is how you've been injured. Your attorney will work to prove that the other party knew of the hazard. For example, perhaps other people tripped and reported it to the company in question.
The Other Party Did Nothing
To truly be negligent in your case, the other party will have not only needed to know about the hazard, but also chosen to ignore it. For example, perhaps a few people tripped on the awkward step and let the company know. Maybe a manager simply thought that these individuals were clumsy or that they were trying to find a reason to complain about something — or just didn't really care about the issue. Instead of recognizing that there was an issue, the company simply carried on with the step still difficult to see.
The Other Party Didn't Respond Even After Your Injury
Perhaps your injury is the first serious one to occur as a result of the step in question. The fact that you were seriously injured — perhaps drawing a crowd or even needing first aid on the scene — should have compelled the other party to take action, but this might not be the case. Your attorney's investigators will track the area of the accident to see what is being done. If no signs have been put up or other measures taken to alert people to the awkward step, it will further support your attorney's claims of negligence.
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