Fayetteville Slip and Fall Lawyer
If you are a visitor or guest on someone else’s property, you expect the property to be kept in a safe condition. This may not always be the case. An unsafe condition could cause you to slip, fall, and sustain serious bodily injury.
If you suffered an injury, contact a Fayetteville slip and fall lawyer. To help you pursue appropriate compensation, a compassionate personal injury attorney could work with you to identify the cause of a slip and fall, determine the parties to pursue, and evaluate potential damages.
Understanding Slip and Fall Cases
The duties of a landowner in Fayetteville are relatively straightforward: landowners should maintain their property so that it is safe and free from any hazardous conditions. This could include correcting any known dangerous conditions or warning visitors appropriately. Potential hazards that could cause a slip and fall may include:
- Slippery floors
- Cracked sidewalks
- Broken railings or staircases
- Loose or uneven floorboards
- Poor lighting
- Clutter, i.e. cords and wires
- Ice or snow
Hazards could appear almost anywhere. Injuries could occur on a commercial property like a grocery store or shopping mall, or on a residential property such as an apartment or a neighbor’s house. Premises liability cases could have many potential defendants, which may include both individuals and corporations. An experienced Fayetteville slip and fall lawyer could help a person determine the potential defendants in their case.
In the same vein, the list of liable defendants may include the owner of the property or the person responsible for maintaining the property, which could include property manager. Potential defendants depend on the facts of an individual case.
Impact of Contributory Negligence in Fayetteville
In most states, being partially at fault for an accident does not bar someone from recovering compensation. North Carolina follows the legal principle of contributory negligence. Under the rules of contributory negligence, an injured claimant cannot recover compensation if they are at fault for even the slightest portion of the accident at issue.
Property owners may try to argue that they did not know about the dangerous condition or that it was so open and obvious that the injured party should have seen it. An attorney who understands how to apply the relevant slip and fall law in Fayetteville could help combat these types of arguments or work to build a strong case in the injured party’s favor.
Applicable Deadlines for Filing a Slip and Fall Claim
Virtually every type of legal action in the State of North Carolina has a corresponding statute of limitations or a deadline for filing the claim. It could be critical to be aware of the relevant statute of limitations for a specific type of case to avoid losing the right to bring a claim.
In Fayetteville, individuals injured in a slip and fall accident are allotted under North Carolina General Statutes §1-52 up to three years from the date of the accident to file their claim. A skilled lawyer with experience handling slip and falls case could use this time frame to collect evidence of injury and determine a property owner’s potential negligence. It could be valuable to start preparing to file a case well in advance of the deadline.
Consult a Fayetteville Slip and Fall Attorney
After being involved in a slip and fall accident, thinking about how to proceed can be overwhelming. Having your slip and fall injury evaluated by a knowledgeable attorney could provide some perspective on your options moving forward. Reach out to a dedicated Fayetteville slip and fall lawyer today to schedule a complimentary case evaluation and learn how you may be able to recover compensation for your injuries.