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Slip and Fall Accident Attorney Anyone who has been a victim of a slip and fall accident knows it’s no laughing matter. That’s why a slip and fall accident lawyer is so important. Besides the pain a person must endure, there are also mounting medical bills coupled with loss wages that makes this type of personal injury even worse. Property owners, whether commercial or private, don’t have to pay the victim the money owed. Instead, he or she can fight it. A property owner has two basic defenses.

First, a property owner can claim that the victim was at fault. For instance, the property owner may claim that any person exercising caution and due diligence would have avoided the accident. In other words, the victim was at fault because he or she didn’t use regular safety precautions to avoid slipping and falling.

The second defense the property owner can use is that he or she wasn’t negligent. For instance, if the victim slipped on a wet spot on the store’s floor, the owner could dispute fault. The victim didn’t give the store time to clean up the mess, which happened immediately. Therefore, the owner didn’t have time to use due diligence in cleaning up the spill.

Most people try to handle their personal injury case without a slip and fall accident lawyer. This isn’t a wise decision. It’s nice to think that a property owner knows he or she was at fault and are willing to settle the case without going to court. However, in most cases that’s not reality. The owner may typically use one of the two defenses listed above to avoid paying the victim’s medical bills and lost wages.

When a victim has to file a claim to receive compensation, he or she definitely needs a slip and fall accident lawyer. As the plaintiff, he or she can’t show the list of medical bills and injuries and claim as proof. The judge requires every plaintiff to prove the defendant was at fault.
Determining liability involves three things:

• Property owner or his or her employee must have known that the surface was dangerous and did nothing about it.

• The owner should have known that the surface was dangerous because any “reasonable” person taking care of a property would have found and removed the spill.

• Property owner must have caused the spill.

Anyone reading this may have picked up on the word “reasonable.” This is especially important for a victim to know. Answering the “What is reasonable?” requires your lawyer answering questions like if the property owner had a regular procedure when cleaning and examining the floor for spills. Most owners have a regular maintenance procedure. If the owner doesn’t, it works in the plaintiff’s favor.

Just because the victim proves fault, it doesn’t mean that he or she automatically wins. The defendant will try to prove the victim was careless and caused or contributed to the slip and fall accident. The defense lawyer may try to prove that if the victim was more careful he or she would have avoided the dangerous spot.

For more information, contact a Libertyville personal injury lawyer who can advise you on how to pursue a trip, slip and fall claim against a negligent property owner.