Allentown Slip & Fall Lawyer
Slip-and-fall cases are all too common, resulting in a large number of injuries. If you’ve been the victim of a slip and fall, you may have suffered significant injuries and have the medical bills to prove it. You may have lost time working, and you may have even suffered a permanent disability. If any of those are true, you need an personal injury attorney to help you right away.
This page has been written and edited by a team of experienced legal writers . This page was approved by Managing Partner, Michael Saile who has more than 20 years of legal experience as a personal injury attorney.
This page has been written and edited by a team of experienced legal writers . This page was approved by Managing Partner, Michael Saile who has more than 20 years of legal experience as a personal injury attorney.
- Last Modified:
- March 14, 2024
- How Cordisco & Saile Can Help You
- What Should I Do After a Slip & Fall Accident?
- What causes slip-and-fall accidents?
- Common Injuries in Slip & Fall Accidents
- The Losses You May Recover in Your Slip and Fall Claim
- How long do I have to file a slip-and-fall claim?
- Average Slip-and-Fall Settlement
- How long can a slip-and-fall case take to settle?
- Proving Negligence in a Slip-and-Fall Accident
- Contact an Allentown Slip & Fall Lawyer Today
Have you recently been injured in a slip-and-fall accident due to someone else’s negligence? You may be entitled to compensation.
Property owners are not likely to accept responsibility for your slip-and-fall accident, and insurance companies will work even harder to deny your claim or limit your payout. Let us do the hard work for you.
At Cordisco & Saile, we’ve been fighting insurance companies on behalf of our clients for 30 years. Contact Cordisco & Saile LLC to learn more about how our award-winning Allentown slip and fall lawyers can help you get the compensation you deserve.
How Cordisco & Saile Can Help You
At Cordisco & Saile LLC, our attorneys have represented slip-and-fall accident clients with great success. Our legal team in Allentown and Lehigh County has the experience and expert network to get you top-dollar for your claim.
A nationally recognized personal injury law firm, Cordisco & Saile has received glowing testimonials from satisfied clients who trusted us to guide and support them through some of the most challenging times of their lives.
Our compassionate trial attorneys have more than 30 years’ experience with insurance companies and negligent defendants in slip-and-fall cases, and we maintain a deep commitment to the attorney-client relationship.
We are honored to serve the people of Allentown, Pennsylvania, and have devoted our personal injury skills and resources to slip-and-fall victims in this community, whether their injuries occurred in public areas or on private property.
We know the intricacies of Pennsylvania civil law and the tactics of insurance companies that are quick to deny claims and offer lowball settlements. Let us leverage our knowledge to demand the compensation you deserve.
We’re ready to fight for you. Take the first step towards getting the compensation you deserve.
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What Should I Do After a Slip & Fall Accident?
After a slip-and-fall accident in Lehigh County, there are certain steps you can take to protect yourself from both a health and financial standpoint. You could end up with significant medical bills due to your injuries and be left unable to support yourself, and these steps can help ensure you are not left financially responsible for your losses.
Collect Evidence
If you can, try to ascertain what the cause of your fall was. Take pictures or videos with your phone. If you see any warning signs, take photos of them too. If anyone witnessed your fall, ask them if they saw what caused it, and make sure you get their name and contact information. Look around to see if you can locate any security cameras that may have recorded your fall, and ask for the footage to be preserved.
Get Medical Attention
Do not delay seeking medical treatment for your injuries. Get checked out by a medical professional, and follow up a few days later. Make sure you follow all treatment instructions and that an appropriate specialist is treating you.
Complete an Accident Report
If you were working when you fell, it’s essential to report your fall to your employer and fill out any accident report forms your employer may have.
Contact an Attorney
If you have suffered significant injuries due to your slip-and-fall or had to take time off work because of it, contact an attorney in Allentown immediately.
What causes slip-and-fall accidents?
Slips and falls in Allentown often happen because of unsafe surfaces. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the following items are most often involved in slip-and-fall accidents:
- Spills. Food spills, products falling from shelves, and chemical spills are examples of spills that may create an unsafe walking surface.
- Weather events, including ice, snow, and rain. Outdoor areas (think sidewalks or parking lots) become hazardous due to weather. In addition, floors inside buildings may become slippery due to wet shoes and the tracking in of snow.
- Loose mats or rugs. If rugs or mats are not adequately secured, they may become tripping or slipping hazards.
- Stepladders. Falls from step ladders are common, and stepladders also present a tripping hazard.
- Cluttered environments. The more obstacles on the floor, the more opportunities for someone to trip.
- Poor lighting. The inability to see hazards well due to poor lighting can increase the chances of a slip-and-fall accident in Lehigh County.
The National Floor Safety Institute reports that slips and falls cause over one million emergency department visits.
Common Injuries in Slip & Fall Accidents
Depending on the circumstances of the fall, a slip-and-fall accident can result in a wide range of injuries. Although falls from a greater height often involve more serious injuries, even falls on level ground can result in significant injuries. The most common injuries in slip-and-fall accidents in Allentown include the following:
- Broken bones, especially in the hips, wrists, and legs
- Bruises
- Ankle and wrist sprains
- Ligament tears, especially in the knees and shoulders
- Head injuries, including concussions and traumatic brain injuries (TBI)
- Spine, neck, and back injuries
The Losses You May Recover in Your Slip and Fall Claim
Your losses, also known as damages, can include economic and non-economic items. Economic damages have a tangible value attached to them. Economic losses may include:
- Lost wages and benefits
- Medical expenses
- Out-of-pocket costs
Non-economic items don’t have a quantitative value. They are factors that affect you equally but must be calculated through other means. Your non-economic losses may include:
- Reduced ability to increase your earnings
- Future health care
- Diminished quality of life
- Mental distress
- Disability
- Pain and suffering
In the unfortunate case that you have lost a loved one in Lehigh County, please know that we can help you through this difficult time. We can help you pursue losses in a wrongful death claim for:
- Burial and funeral costs
- Loss of consortium
- Loss of support and protection
How long do I have to file a slip-and-fall claim?
Pennsylvania has a very short statute of limitations for most tort cases. The statute of limitations is the time limit you have to file a personal injury lawsuit — whether for a car accident, a truck accident, or a slip and fall.
In Pennsylvania, you have only two years from the date of your accident to file a claim.
Although two years may seem like a long time, when you factor in the time for the following, you may discover that two years is actually a very short window:
- Seeking medical attention and for the healing from your injuries
- Retaining an attorney
- Investigating your case to determine if it’s viable
- Preparing your legal filings
Because two years is a relatively short period of time, do not delay seeking legal advice about your slip-and-fall case in Allentown.
Average Slip-and-Fall Settlement
How much for a slip-and-fall settlement depends on several factors, including the following:
- The extent of your injuries. A settlement for a case involving a traumatic brain injury, for example, will be greater than a case involving an ankle sprain.
- The relative fault of the parties. If you did something to contribute to your fall, your settlement may be reduced.
- The insurance coverage and financial health of the responsible party. As a practical matter, the responsible party’s ability to pay a settlement will impact the settlement’s size.
How long can a slip-and-fall case take to settle?
The time to settle a slip-and-fall case can vary widely. Cases may take only a few months up to a few years to settle, depending on the circumstances of your case. These may include the following:
- The willingness of the parties to settle
- The policies and practices of the insurance companies involved
- The extent of your injuries
- The estimated value of your case
- Whether all of the parties are represented by legal counsel
Proving Negligence in a Slip-and-Fall Accident
Many slip-and-fall accidents occur at retail stores, store parking lots, or the sidewalks surrounding a store. In those cases, the store, the store’s cleaning contractor, or the maintenance company responsible for maintaining the store’s premises may be responsible for failing to maintain a safe environment.
Some examples of ways to prove negligence include the following:
- An office building’s maintenance department failed to follow its maintenance schedule for floors.
- A workplace failed to provide warnings about slippery surfaces in a recently cleaned restroom.
- A store left a spill in an aisle for a long time without providing any warnings.
- A maintenance company failed to evenly clear snow or ice from a parking lot.
- A cleaning company used an unusually large amount of floor wax, making the floor slippery.
Proving negligence usually requires a significant amount of evidence. If you file a lawsuit, you can request maintenance records and other pertinent documents during the discovery phase and depose employees to help you gather the evidence you need to win at trial.
Contact an Allentown Slip & Fall Lawyer Today
The attorneys at Cordisco & Saile LLC have experience in personal injury cases in Allentown, Lehigh Valley, and Bensalem.
If you have suffered from a slip and fall, you need a compassionate, capable attorney who will fight for the compensation you deserve. Contact an attorney at Cordisco & Saile LLC today for a free consultation.
Please fill out the quick contact form below for a fast and free case consultation. We will
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