When thinking about whether you have an injury case for slip and fall compensation, you will often come across the term ‘reasonable’. This is because to hold the concerned property’s owner accountable for negligence, you have to prove that they failed to do what a reasonable individual would.
Factors You Should Consider
Slip and fall attorneys will look into a number of aspects to discover whether the premises’ owner was to blame for the accident, including the following.
- Whether the dangerous property condition remained so for sufficiently long that one who is reasonable could have done something to fix it.
- Whether there was a cause for the possible danger, and whether it existed when the accident took place.
- Whether the property worker or owner looked for hazardous things there, and whether there is any log that shows they followed the standard protocols.
- Whether the property people took measures that could have made it less risky to enter the said spot for individuals, thereby preventing the accident. Such measures could involve placing signage around the area, or even moving the dangerous thing elsewhere.
- Whether there was poor lighting, limited visibility or any such issue that played a part in the event.
What Lawyers Consider to Show You Were Not Guilty
The defendant may come up with the argument that you are in part or full to blame for this accident. Legally, this concept is called ‘comparative negligence’. This means albeit the plaintiff partially contributed to their own accident, they can recover compensation if the defendant also played a part in it.
That said, you will get a compensation amount that is apportioned as per how much fault the other party had in it. For instance, if the court finds you the plaintiff to be half responsible for it, you would only get half of the X compensation amount for damages. Usually, lawyers will consider the below-mentioned things to find out if that party shared a responsibility.
- Whether they participated in something which may have kept them from spotting the danger. For instance, talking or chatting on their mobile device just before the accident.
- Whether they have permission to enter the area in which it occurred, and whether they had a reason to be there at that time.
- Whether they ignored any warning signs put there.