Trip and fall RI lawyer
After a trip and fall accident in Rhode Island, the first step a victim must take is retaining one of the best Rhode Island trip and fall attorneys. The RI negligence lawyers will perform an extensive intake process and perform a case assessment. This trip and fall liability assessment concerns determining the source of recovery otherwise known as liable entities or liable tortfeasors.
Rhode Island Trip and Fall Lawyer
After being retained, the Rhode Island personal injury attorney will determine if the liable potential defendants have appropriate insurance coverage or homeowners insurance to compensate the victim for their injuries and pain and suffering. Of course, a residential fall would involve a different strategy than a slip and fall on a commercial or business establishment.
How do RI trip and Fall lawyers get their clients compensated?
In the event of a fall by a worker in the scope of employment, there may be a Rhode Island workers compensation claim against the employer. RI workers comp is a no-fault cause of action with more limited damages than a traditional negligence liability cases. However, under Rhode Island law, a worker can still seek full liability damages against a third party. This third-party liability claim could be a RI product liability claim or a medical malpractice case against a doctor who negligently treats a work-related injury.
Providence trip and fall attorneys
The best Providence trip and fall attorneys will immediately develop a strategy. The lawyers will retain the best engineers and experts and begin the process of preparing the case for a jury trial on the merits. Retaining a top mechanical engineer, safety expert or other expert is not enough. An effective Rhode Island personal injury lawyer will effectively and smartly utilize the expert and his accident reconstruction or other report.
The RI premises liability lawyer will establish that an unsafe/ dangerous condition caused the injured victim’s injuries. This process of establishing negligence and liability involves potentially:
- analyzing and securing photographs,
- reviewing expert reports,
- obtaining medical, surgical and hospital records
- as well as examining and obtaining video surveillance of the scene of the fall mishap.
Trip and fall may occur both indoors and outdoors
Slip and fall may occur both indoors and outdoors and often happen on ramps, stairs, walkways, parking lots etc. In the event of a trip, slip or tumble on government or municipal property there may be very strict notice requirements that must be carefully followed by the RI liability lawyers. In the event of catastrophic, serious or permanent injury the East Providence injury solicitor may retain medical experts to establish damages, causation, permanency as well as future life restrictions. In the event of a settlement or a judgment, after a judge or jury fall related trial on the merits, then the Warwick premises injury lawyer needs to settle and resolve all subjugation liens.
Fighting the cheap insurance adjuster trying to deny a slip and fall claim
The best personal injury attorneys in Rhode Island will be savvy negotiators who know how to properly evaluate the value of a RI tort claim and are not afraid to ‘trade punches’ with an insurance adjuster, so to speak. The starting point of a successful negotiation is an intelligent demand letter setting forth the details of the claim, medical damages, liability and causation.
Litigation culture
The insurance defense lawyers will be part of a litigation culture who will try to stand in your way to getting a fair settlement to compensate you for your suffering. They will utilize every defense in the book whether it is true or not. They will allege that you were comparatively at fault, assumed the risk or made up the entire event. This strategy will usually be premised on smoke and mirrors. Pursuant to the tort and indemnity laws in Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, Premises liability claims pertains to an area of tort law in which real estate title owners and certain occupiers of real estate could be held liable for mishaps and death on real property. Premises causes of action and premises RI wrongful death claims are a subset of the larger field of personal injury law. A rear-end car crash lawyer rubber stamping small perfunctory collision settlements with whiplash injuries may be in way over his head in a complex premise’s litigation.
Failure to fix an unreasonably dangerous conditions
Premises liability in Rhode Island and the Capital city of Providence includes slip and trip cases. A slip and fall accident in RI typically involve the property owners / landowners or occupants in possession failure to safely maintain the real property or warn invitees of dangerous conditions on the premises. Liability could result from an owner or business such as a supermarket or restaurant’s failure to fix an unreasonably dangerous conditions on real estate that they either knew or should have known about.
Wrongful death in RI
The area of MA premises liability or Massachusetts slip and fall law is not just limited to your garden variety slip and fall on condiments at a salad bar at your local supermarket. Premises liability also includes such causes of action as: asbestos exposure, mesothelioma, fatal accidents on real estate (wrongful death in RI), dog and animal caused injuries (dog bite /dog attacks), inadequate security protocols causing or enabling criminal action such as assault and battery (murder or rape) etc.
Kent County Superior Court lawsuits also involve: dark, poorly lit or inadequate lighting on stair cases or other areas of the premises, falling merchandise, goods, boxes, equipment or debris at large department stores such as Walmart, Sears, Best Buy, Lowes or Home Depot. Real property injury incident litigation also includes: construction accidents, carbon monoxide or gas leaks, icy entrance ways, slippery wet or dangerous floors, electric shock due to exposed electric wiring etc.
What are common premises liability injury cases in Massachusetts and RI?
Slip and fall negligence claims are the most commonly litigated premises liability lawsuits in Rhode Island and Providence Plantations. Many fall mishaps are caused by substances or foods such as gasoline, h2o (water), liquids, food product, crushed fruits, veggies and grapes, condiments such as mayonnaise ketchup, mustard or salad dressing, semi melted ice (crushed or cubed), slush from mud, ice or rain and or oil located on the floor. A substance causing a fall in RI could cause the floor to be slippery, slimy, icy or even sticky. Some falls at premises are caused by uneven surfaces, holes or defective conditions on the real property.
Fall claims may be caused by a landlord or property title holder refusing or failing to perform adequate measures to shovel or clear snow or ice from an entrance way, sidewalk, driveway or commercial parking lot.
Where do most slip and fall cases occur in Rhode Island?
Slip and falls occur in all different types of commercial establishment and businesses in RI and Massachusetts (MA) including: retail stores, shopping plazas, restaurants, supermarkets, driveways, entrance-ways, porches, department stores, variety stores, mom and pop stores, Boutiques, malls , supermarkets, general stores, fast food joints, restaurants, warehouse stores, big box retail establishments, sidewalks, grocery stores, banks and hospitals.
Any owner or occupier in possession of real estate could be determined to be negligence for premises liability including: corporations (C corps and S Corps), Limited Liability Companies (LLC), partnerships, trusts, sole proprietorship, government entities such as cities, towns, or the state itself.
A duty to exercise reasonable care
The Supreme Court of Rhode Island (RI) sitting in the Capital city of Provide eloquently wrote “[A] landowner has a duty to exercise reasonable care for the safety of persons reasonably expected to be on the premises, and that duty includes an obligation to protect against the risks of a dangerous condition existing on the premises, provided the landowner knows of, or by the exercise of reasonable care would have discovered, the dangerous condition. The burden of proving that sufficient evidence existed to show that the defendants knew or should have known of an unsafe condition on their premises is on the plaintiff.” Lieberman v. Bliss-Doris Realty Associates Supreme Court of Rhode Island.Terry S. LIEBERMAN v. BLISS-DORIS REALTY ASSOCIATES, L.P., et al. No. 2002-191-Appeal. Decided: April 14, 2003 Present: WILLIAMS, C.J., FLANDERS, GOLDBERG, JJ., and SHEA, J. (Ret.). Glenn R. Friedemann, Providence, for Plaintiff. David H. Stillman, Braintree, MA, and Elizabeth Page Fecteau, East Providence, for Defendant.
In Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, you take the seriously injured victim as you find them. Even victims who aggravate an existing prior automobile crash injury have a right to seek damages as a result of negligence. Real estate owners owe almost anyone who lawfully comes upon the premises a duty of due case and reasonableness (with exceptions for trespasser).
What are Comparative Fault negligence Laws in RI?
Comparative negligence laws in RI is when an injured victim’s compensation is reduced by the percentage fault of the victim in the crash or fall. Comparative fault is a question of fact that a personal injury jury at the Providence Superior Court negligence trial on the merits. The Providence or Newport County Superior Court jury will determine what percent each party was at fault for a mishap. In Rhode Island, even if an injured person is 99 percent at fault for an accident, they are still eligible to obtain damages of 1 percent from the negligent landowner, corporation or person. (RI has pure comparative fault)
Legal Notice per Rules of Professional Responsibility:
The Rhode Island Supreme Court licenses all lawyers and attorneys in the general practice of law, but does not license or certify any lawyer / attorney as an expert or specialist in any field of practice. While this firm maintains joint responsibility, most cases of this type are referred to other attorneys for principle responsibility.