Falls are among the most common and dangerous injuries people suffer in Georgia, including Lawrenceville. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports more than 10.5 million people across the country were treated at a hospital emergency department for a fall injury in one recent year. Many of these injuries result from negligent property owners not doing enough to keep tenants, customers, or guests safe. Our Lawrenceville slip and fall attorneys have helped our clients recover millions of dollars for their injuries, making us one of the premier personal injury firms in the state of Georgia. Learn more about our services with a free initial consultation today.

Statute of Limitations for Lawrenceville Slip and Fall Cases in Georgia

In most cases, you have two years from the date of your accident to file a personal injury lawsuit in Georgia. If you miss this deadline, your case can be automatically dismissed.

Getting help from a slip and fall accident attorney can help you avoid issues with Georgia’s statute of limitations. We recommend you hire a lawyer as soon as possible after an accident, as crucial evidence can disappear if you wait too long to get started on your case.

How Can a Lawrenceville Slip and Fall Attorney Help?

The law doesn’t require you to hire an injury attorney to help with your slip and fall accident, but we strongly advise you to talk to a lawyer. A slip and fall accident lawyer has the knowledge, training, and experience to help you build a strong case for compensation. Your lawyer can go over the accident, help you gather evidence, make sure your claim is filed on time, handle settlement negotiations, and bring your case to trial if necessary.

Building a personal injury case is a time-consuming, energy-intensive process. If you’re already dealing with major injuries, you’re in no shape to take on a lengthy legal battle. You’re better off focusing on your medical treatment while your slip and fall lawyer fights on your behalf. Additionally, an experienced Lawrenceville personal injury lawyer will have all the resources you need to win your slip and fall case.

How to Prove Negligence in a Lawrenceville Slip and Fall Claim

If you’re trying to prove negligence in a slip and fall claim, your first step is to show that the owner of the property owed you a duty of care. The property owner must have had a legal responsibility to prevent you from being injured. In general, property owners must maintain common areas on their premises, but they do not have to maintain someone’s private residence.

There are three categories of plaintiffs regarding slip and fall accidents.

The level of proof required to prove your claim depends on which category applies to your case:

  • Invitees – Landlords owe the highest duty of care to invitees. This refers to people invited onto a property for a specific business purpose. Invitees include customers of a business and people like contractors who are on the property for a commercial purpose. Under Georgia’s premises liability laws, property owners are required to protect invitees from known and unknown hazards the property owner can reasonably be expected to be aware of.
  • Licensees – Licensees are people on someone’s property with permission who are not there for a commercial purpose. This category includes tenants of multi-unit dwellings, invited guests, passers-by on the street, etc. Property owners must warn guests of known hazards on the premises or repair them. However, property owners are not required to protect licensees from hazards the property owner doesn’t know about.
  • Trespassers – As you might expect, property owners owe a minimal duty of care to trespassers, as they are on the property illegally. Property owners cannot be held liable for injuries to trespassers unless the trespasser can show the property owner intentionally caused the injury.

If you can show a property owner owed you a duty of care, the next step to prove they were negligent is to show there was some kind of hazard on the property that led to your injuries. You’ll also have to provide evidence that the hazard caused your injuries. Common evidence used in slip and fall accident claims includes photos from the scene, eyewitness accounts, police accident reports, and property records.

If you have all this evidence, you’ll have a strong case to seek compensation for your slip and fall injuries. We recommend getting help from a Lawrenceville slip and fall accident lawyer to maximize your chances of winning your case and increasing your compensation value.

Our team helps slip and fall accident victims recover compensation from the responsible negligent parties after they have been injured. You will not have to worry about lowball offers and dubious settlement offers from the insurance company with Brauns Law Accident Injury Lawyers, PC on your side.

Types of Injuries Suffered in Slip and Fall Accidents

Because of how common they are, slips and falls are often seen as “minor” accidents that are unlikely to cause serious injuries. However, slip and fall accidents frequently result in severe injuries, such as the following:

Unfortunately, slip and fall accidents can happen almost anywhere. There are some areas where these accidents are more likely, though. Common places for slip and fall accidents include the following:

  • Workplace
  • Sidewalks and stairways
  • Stores and other businesses
  • Restaurants
  • Public playgrounds and parks
  • Sports venues
  • Rental properties

Comparative Negligence in Lawrenceville, GA Explained

Different states use different models to determine negligence in personal injury cases, including slip and fall accident claims. The state of Georgia uses a model known as “modified comparative negligence.”

Comparative negligence is the idea that negligent parties should be held accountable for an accident based on their degree of fault. If there’s only one liable party in a personal injury case, they will be responsible for paying whatever compensation is awarded to the victim.

However, comparative negligence works differently if there are multiple liable parties. In cases like these, each liable party is responsible for paying compensation according to their percentage of fault. So if two parties are equally responsible for your injuries, each party will pay half of whatever compensation you are owed.

Comparative negligence is also important in cases where plaintiffs are partly responsible for their own injuries. If you are found to be partially liable for your injuries after a slip and fall, your compensation will be reduced by your degree of fault. This allows you to still collect some compensation for your injuries. If you are found to be 50 percent or more responsible for your injuries, you will be unable to recover any compensation. You can help yourself avoid having your compensation reduced by hiring an experienced slip and fall accident lawyer.

Common Causes of Slip and Fall Accidents in Lawrenceville, GA

Part of the reason slip and fall accidents happen so frequently is they can happen almost anywhere, given the right conditions. All that’s necessary for a slip and fall accident is a slick surface in an area with a lot of foot traffic.

A few of the most common causes of slip and falls in the Lawrenceville area include the following:

  • Spilled water or other liquids on the floor of a business, workplace, or home
  • Ice, snow, rain, and other precipitation tracked in from outside
  • Tripping or slipping on loose objects left on the floor
  • Slipping on sidewalks or other pathways that haven’t been properly maintained
  • Tripping over stray power cords
  • Slipping on staircases because of damaged handrails
  • Slipping on the floor due to poor lighting
  • Residents of assisted living facilities or nursing homes slipping on the floor because of poor upkeep
  • Swimming pool accidents
  • Construction site accidents

Compensation Available for Slip and Fall Claims in Georgia

Georgia law allows slip and fall accident victims to recover compensation for many different kinds of losses.

With the right evidence and an experienced lawyer, you can potentially claim compensation for the following: