Savannah Slip & Fall Lawyer

Property owners in Georgia are responsible for properly maintaining and using their properties. If a property owner is careless and fails to maintain reasonably safe premises, this could result in avoidable visitor injuries and even deaths. If you or a loved one suffered an injury in a slip and fall in Savannah or the surrounding area, contact Bowen Painter Trial Lawyers to find out if you have grounds for a premises liability lawsuit. If so, our Savannah slip and fall attorneys can help you with the legal process.

Why Choose Us

  • We have a record of successful settlements and verdicts that demonstrates our dedication to justice, expertise and results.
  • Our Savannah personal injury attorneys provide individualized attention to each and every client by limiting their caseloads. We will communicate often and give you regular case updates every step of the way.
  • You won’t pay your slip and fall injury attorney out of pocket, win or lose. Our attorneys operate on a contingency fee basis, meaning that you will only pay your lawyer out of compensation won.

Common Slip and Fall Injuries

A slip and fall accident can result in severe and life-changing injuries, not just minor bumps and bruises. The elderly are especially at risk of suffering serious injuries in slip and fall accidents in Savannah, including hip fractures and concussions. Serious injuries associated with slip, trip, and fall accidents include:

  • Bone fractures
  • Soft-tissue injuries
  • Muscle sprains and strains
  • Facial injuries and broken teeth
  • Back injuries
  • Disk herniation or rupture
  • Spinal cord injuries and paralysis
  • Traumatic brain injuries
  • Internal injuries or bleeding
  • Significant and permanent scarring or disfigurement
  • Wrongful death

Even a minor slip and fall injury can be painful, temporarily debilitating, and expensive. A severe injury could lead to ongoing medical needs and permanent damage. Either way, you may be eligible for financial compensation from a property owner for the failure to maintain safe premises.

Did Property Owner Neglect Cause Your Slip and Fall Accident?

In premises liability law, negligence refers to the careless failure to adhere to the duty of care. In Georgia, a property owner’s duty of care is to maintain a reasonably safe environment for visitors who are lawfully on the property. If a visitor is classified as an invitee or licensee (and not a trespasser), the property owner has a responsibility to repair any known or potential hazards, such as:

  • Wet floors
  • Floor polish or wax
  • Lack of wet floor signs
  • Spilled food and drinks
  • Ice or snow
  • Cluttered walkways
  • Defective curbs or sidewalks
  • Unsafe staircases
  • Loose rugs and mats
  • Dangerous ladders and scaffolding
  • Poorly lit walkways

If the owner of the property fails to clear it of potential slip or trip and fall hazards, the owner could be held accountable for a related visitor injury or death. An attorney can investigate your accident to determine if you have grounds to bring a lawsuit against the property owner, your employer, a business or corporation, or another party.

Financial Compensation for a Slip and Fall Accident in Savannah

Filing a premises liability claim in Savannah could lead to financial compensation for many past and future losses. The defendant’s insurance company may be responsible for reimbursing you for the following damages in relation to your slip/trip and fall accident:

  • Medical bills
  • Lost income and employment benefits
  • Legal fees and other expenses
  • Pain and suffering
  • Punitive damages

An attorney from Bowen Painter Trial Lawyers can fight for maximum compensation on your behalf, even if this means going to trial against a property insurance company or another major corporation.

Why Should I Hire a Savannah Slip and Fall Accident Lawyer?

Slip and fall accident claims can become challenging rather quickly, particularly for those who do not have any legal experience or the resources necessary to take on property owners and their insurance carriers. When a Savannah slip and fall accident lawyer gets involved in your case, you will have an advocate with the resources necessary to go toe to toe with these other parties. Getting compensated after a slip and fall injury will require negotiating with the at-fault property owner and their insurance company to get a reasonable offer.

Your attorney’s job is to fight relentlessly on your behalf and make sure you are compensated for all the medical bills you have racked up, including lost wages and other damages you may have experienced due to the accident. Our attorney would discuss your claim and review how the negligence of the property’s owner resulted in your slip and fall injuries. 

First, an attorney will fully investigate every aspect of your slip and fall accident claim. This involves gathering as much evidence as possible to prove liability. This may include photographing harmful pitfalls and other endangerments on the property, which makes the owner irresponsible by not fixing them. They may also contact people who can provide an eyewitness account of your slip and fall event.

Additionally, a lawyer will make sure that you are evaluated by a trusted medical professional, as well as economic experts who can adequately calculate your total losses. Using all of this information, a lawyer will engage in vigorous negotiations with the insurance carrier and property owner to recover fair compensation for your losses.

Proving Liability for a Slip and Fall Accident

When we examine Georgia law, we can see that property owners have a responsibility to ensure the safety of individuals who have a legal right to be on their premises (O.C.G.A. § 51-3-1). This means that property owners must exercise reasonably prudent care in keeping the property safe, including regular inspections and maintenance and remedying any known hazards as quickly as possible.

If a property owner fails to uphold their obligations to those who have a right to be there, they could be held liable for any injuries suffered by an invitee or licensee. Before recovering compensation for a slip and fall claim, an injury victim and their attorney must show that the property owner’s negligence was the cause of the injury. In order to do this, the following elements must be present:

  • It must be shown that the at-fault party owns or operates the land or property
  • The injury victim must have been on the property for lawful purposes
  • The slip and fall incident must have occurred as a result of the property owner or operator’s failure to exercise due diligence to keep visitors safe

It must be shown that a dangerous condition existed on the property and that a reasonable property owner would have known about the condition and taken steps to fix the issue.

Proving liability involves gathering various types of evidence to support your claim. A skilled slip and fall accident lawyer in Savannah will work diligently to obtain evidence such as photographs from the scene, video from nearby cameras, statements from my witnesses, and property owner safety records.

What If I am Partially At Fault for My Injury?

Of course, injuries from some slip and fall accidents may be partially the fault of the victims, making them somewhat accountable. However, this does not exclude a person from seeking compensation. 

The state of Georgia uses a modified comparative negligence approach in personal injury cases. This means you can still be awarded compensation even if you are partially at fault, but only if you degree of fault is deemed to be less than 50 percent.  If you are to blame for more than half of the fault leading up to your injuries, you might not be able to seek a settlement in a court of law. If your fault, however, is less than 50%, your compensation will be adjusted to reflect the extent of your fault. 

For example, if you file for a $200,000 compensation after a slip and fall accident at a hotel, but you are judged to have 30% of the blame, you can still receive your compensation, but it will be reduced by 30%. This means the maximum compensation you would receive is $140,000. It is not uncommon for the property owner or insurance company to attempt to make you look more guilty than you are in an attempt to pay as little as possible

How Long Do I Have to File a Slip and Fall Claim?

If you suffered an injury from a slip and fall and are thinking of filing a lawsuit against the property owner where the negligence happened, you should do so with haste. There is a statute of limitations that establishes a timeline for launching a lawsuit against an at-fault party.

In Georgia, the personal injury statute of limitations is two years from the date an injury occurs. If a slip and fall accident victim fails to file a premises liability lawsuit against a property owner within this two-year time frame, it is likely that the case will be dismissed, and they will be unable to recover compensation at all. We encourage you to work with an attorney who can file your claim on time and appropriately. A lawyer will also work to negotiate with aggressive insurance carriers to ensure that you are treated fairly.

The sooner you file your slip and fall claim, the better. This allows your attorney to start gathering evidence as soon as possible without being rushed by the deadline. If you wait too long, it’s possible that certain evidence could disappear, making you claim harder to prove. For example, if there was video footage of your fall, that may have been deleted if it wasn’t requested within a certain timeframe. Additionally, eyewitnesses can play a crucial factor in your case. Waiting too long to contact them could mean they don’t remember exactly what happened, or perhaps they aren’t in the area anymore to testify or can’t be located easily.

Contact Our Savannah, Georgia Slip and Fall Lawyers Today

If you are the victim of a slip/trip and fall accident in Savannah, Georgia, contact Bowen Painter Trial Lawyers today for a free case consultation. Our slip and fall attorneys in Savannah will answer your questions and let you know what to do next. Our lawyers will stand by your side in the pursuit of justice and financial compensation. Call (912) 335-1909 or contact us online anytime for more information.