Lawyer's Story

My name is Ed Herman and I work exclusively in the area of personal injury. I would like to take this opportunity to explain how we go about determining if someone has a slip and fall case that can be pursued successfully. A successful slip and fall case has three elements: liability, injury, and insurance. If any of these elements is missing the case will fail. Each element must be present.

The first element is liability. Liability is a fancy way of saying that we need to determine who is to blame for the fall. If the fall was your own fault, there will be no recovery. However, if someone else was to blame for the fall, then the liability requirement will be met. For a slip and fall case, we must be able to identify, without doubt, the substance (grease, spilled soda, etc.) and/or the defective condition (cracked step, missing handrail, poor lighting, etc.) that caused the fall and the party responsible for maintaining the premises (homeowner, storeowner, etc.).

Once we have concluded that someone else is to blame, we seek to determine if the fall caused an injury. The typical slip and fall injuries may include broken bones, torn ligaments, bulging discs, and lacerations requiring stitches. It is important to remember that the law seeks only to compensate a victim for injuries that were actually incurred and not for injuries that may have occurred. For example, if a client fell into an open manhole but suffered only minor scratches, he couldn’t recover simply because he could have been killed.

If we have determined that the liability and injury elements have been met, we turn to the third element, insurance. The person or company that you are seeking to bring a claim against must have insurance to pay for that type of injury. Most companies and homeowners do have insurance but some may not. If we cannot identify a source of money that will pay for the claim, then the claim will fail. You cannot recover what is not there. We are lawyers not magicians. Many people have asked me if we can sue people personally if they do not have insurance. The sad reality is that most people who don’t carry insurance, don’t have any money to pursue.

These are the nuts and bolts of slip and fall cases. Obviously, this is just an overview, each case has its own issues and challenges. But this should give you some idea as to whether your case is one that we can pursue on your behalf.

At Brown and Crouppen we’ve successfully handled thousands of slip and fall cases. If you think that you have a case, we would love to talk to you about it. To contact us, please click here, someone will contact you promptly.

Brown & Crouppen can help you make informed decisions about your legal rights, so please call Brown & Crouppen at 1-800-536-HELP for your free legal consultation or save time with our online Contact Form.
 

Hi, my name is Renee P. I am 87 years old and live in Creve Coeur, Missouri. I never thought that I would ever be involved in a personal injury lawsuit. But, that changed in December of 2000. I decided to have my hair styled at a local shop. I was sitting in the chair having my hair cut when the stylist told me to get up and walk over to the hair dryers. What I didn’t know was that the stylist had left a power cord right by my feet. When I tried to walk toward the dryer, I tripped on the cord and broke my right hip.   CONTINUE

If you’ve been hurt in a slip and fall accident it’s important to understand the “real” agenda of the insurance company in your case. First, understand the insurance company is not your friend, they are not looking out for you, they are only looking out for their own interests. See, insurance companies exist for one purpose only, to make money. Insurance companies make money by selling insurance and receiving premium payments, they then invest this money and make even more money. Insurance companies lose money by paying out benefits (money) to people hurt in slip and fall accidents caused by the people they insure.  CONTINUE

Call Brown & Crouppen at 1-800-536-HELP for your free legal consultation or save time with our online Contact Form.

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