Slip & Fall Accident Lawyer in Atlanta

MG Law Slip and fall lawyers serve Atlanta and the surrounding areas.

Every year, slip and fall accidents injure countless people in Atlanta and in surrounding areas. People fall unexpectedly in public and private properties, often because of some hazard on the ground that should have been fixed. Slip and falls can result in severe, even catastrophic injuries. Following an accident, you need access to compensation to pay your bills and support your loved ones.

At MG Law, our slip and fall attorneys in Atlanta have the skills, experience, and tenacity to protect your rights. If you injured yourself after a fall, you might receive compensation from the property owner, but this is a complicated claim to make.

To schedule a free, no-obligation initial consultation with an experienced Georgia slip and fall accident lawyer, please contact our law firm online or call (770) 988-5252 today to discuss your case.

Common Causes of Slip & Fall Accidents

Slips and falls can happen in public buildings, on private property, and in businesses and other establishments. While these accidents have different causes, they often share an important commonality: Slips and falls can be prevented with proper care. A skilled slip and fall attorney in Atlanta will investigate the cause of your accident to determine whether the property owner or operator acted with reasonable care or not.

With adequate maintenance, business and property owners can go a long way towards reducing the risks of a fall accident.

There are many hazards that can make the premises dangerous, such as:

Freshly washed or waxed floors,
Debris or garbage,
Condensation,
Spilled liquids,
Wet leaves,
Water or ice, and
Worn carpeting.

Other people slip or fall because of the layout of the premises. Poor lighting, for example, can make it hard to identify where you put your foot, or bright lights could create blinding glare. Stairs might also be poorly designed so that it is easy to slip.

Not every fall is the result of a hazard. For example, a pedestrian could have been distracted by their phone and not watched where they were going. This is always a possibility, and many defendants claim that a victim’s own negligence contributed to their fall.

In these situations it’s important to know that Georgia permits a victim to recover damages from the at-fault party as long as they are less than 50% at fault for their injuries. The amount of recoverable damages is reduced by their proportion of fault.

Your Atlanta slip and fall lawyer will analyze the details of your case to prevent a reduction in your compensation and ensure you get the amount you rightfully deserve.

Slip and Fall Injuries

Slip and fall injuries vary widely—both in their type and their severity. Some people walk away from seemingly nasty fall accidents with little more than a minor bump or bruise. Other people may suffer a severe injury that causes a long-lasting or permanent physical impairment.

At MG Law, our Atlanta, GA premises liability attorneys are qualified to help clients with all types of slip and fall accident injuries. Many of the injuries our clients suffer are caused by a fall, in particular hitting something.

We have seen people struggle with blunt trauma injuries, such as:

Fractures;
Traumatic brain injuries, including concussions;
Soft-tissue injuries;
Nerve damage;
Back injuries; and
Spinal cord damage.

When a person falls down a flight of steps, they can suffer multiple traumatic injuries as they strike each step on their way down to the ground. Regardless of the nature of your injuries, it is imperative that you seek a professional evaluation. If you were injured, please seek out medical attention promptly. The sooner you receive treatment, the better your odds of making a recovery. Additionally, you will only be eligible to recover slip and fall compensation if you see a doctor.

Know How to Bring a Slip & Fall Accident Claim: Identifying Who to Sue

Every case poses certain questions that our Atlanta slip and fall accident lawyers must answer. The first question is, Who is in control of the property?

The person in control could be the owner, the tenant, or a property management company. We need to identify this person before we can make a legal claim. In some cases, multiple parties may share liability for the same slip and fall accident.

Second, we ask, What caused the accident? If there was a hazard, was the premises owner aware of it? In some situations, the owner might have created the hazard, in which case they know that it is dangerous. In other situations, a hazard (like condensation) could form naturally, but a premises owner should still discover it if they are reasonably careful about maintaining their property.

Legal Standards in Georgia Slip and Fall Accidents

A victim cannot sue simply because they fell on someone’s property and were hurt. Instead, they need to show that the premises owner did not use adequate care. Under Georgia law, the amount of care is determined by the status of the person visiting the property.

If you were invited onto the property, then you are an “invitee,” who is owed the highest amount of care. Under O.C.G.A. § 51-3-1, an owner or occupier must use “ordinary care” to keep the premises safe. Often, this means that they must promptly fix any hazards they are aware of and, sometimes, actively find problems by walking around the premises.

If you are not an invitee, you might be a “licensee,” which is someone who enters the property for their own convenience or pleasure but is permitted to stay on the property. For example, someone who tailgates in a parking lot has not been invited, even if the parking lot owner allows them to stay.

Licensees are owed a much lower standard of care. In sum, O.G.C.A. § 51-3-2 states that a premises owner only owes them a duty not to injure them willfully or wantonly. In everyday language, this means not intentionally or recklessly harming someone, which is a low bar.

Trespassers have the least protection under Georgia law. The property owner has no duty to warn trespassers of dangerous conditions. However, the property owner or operator must not purposely injure or harm a trespasser. For instance, an owner cannot legally set up a bow and arrow on a trip wire that is designed to harm trespassers.

There are situations, however, where a property owner owes a child trespasser a duty of care. Features like a swimming pool or a trampoline are considered attractive nuisances to children. Therefore, if a child trespasses on another’s property to use a swimming pool or trampoline without permission, they may be able to pursue damages from the owner if they get injured.

The basis for these claims is that an owner should know that a swimming pool or trampoline would prove irresistible to a child and, therefore, must take reasonable precautions to prevent injuries.

You Deserve Full Financial Compensation for Your Slip & Fall Injuries

In Georgia, slip and fall accident lawyers can help you hold negligent businesses and property owners liable for the full extent of their damages. You have the right to seek compensation for both out-of-pocket losses and non-economic losses.

Sadly, corporations and insurers never make the claims process easy on individual people. They fight to pay out the lowest amount of slip and fall accident compensation possible.

At MG Law, our Atlanta personal injury attorneys know how to help clients maximize their settlement or verdict. Do not accept less than the full value of your claim. Economic damages are direct financial losses resulting from the slip and fall injury.

Examples of economic damages include:

Past, present, and future medical expenses related to your injury;
Lost wages;
Loss of future earnings; and
Property damage.

Your Atlanta slip and fall attorney gathers supporting evidence for your economic damages claim through tangible evidence like pay stubs, invoices, receipts, bills, and other similar documentation.

Noneconomic damages are subjective losses related to your injury.

Common examples include:

Pain and suffering,
Emotional distress,
Loss of consortium,
Loss of enjoyment of life, and
Permanent injury or disability.

These damages are extremely challenging to quantify accurately without the help of an experienced attorney for slip and fall accidents. Using testimony from medical professionals, friends, family, and your own words—your lawyer calculates the value of these intangible losses.

Despite the difficulty of calculating their value, noneconomic losses can have an enormous negative impact on your life. So, their value should be included in your damages demand.

Can I Get Punitive Damages?

Punitive damages are unrelated to compensatory damages. Compensatory damages are awarded to make you whole after an accident. They are used to compensate for losses.

On the other hand, punitive damages serve to punish the liable party—not compensate the victim. In Georgia, punitive damages for slip and fall cases are rarely awarded. If your Atlanta slip and fall injury attorney proves the liable party was willful, wanton, and oppressive with a conscious disregard for negative consequences, the judge might award punitive damages. Speak to an attorney to explore your options and whether your case qualifies to recover these damages.

How Long Do I Have to File a Claim?

Georgia imposes a statute of limitations on personal injury cases, including slip and fall accidents. The statute of limitations is the period that a victim has to file a lawsuit. Missing this deadline will likely bar you from bringing a lawsuit at a later date. In Georgia, the statute of limitations is two years from the date of the accident.

While this deadline is strict and not generally extended, there are limited exceptions to this rule. The discovery rule provides that the statute of limitations does not begin running until you discover your injury and the causal relationship between the injury and the accident. A common example would be when a victim suffers an injury, like a concussion, but does not discover the injury until a few weeks after the accident. The statute of limitations does not begin running until the concussion was actually discovered.

Another exception to the statute of limitations is when the injured victim is a minor at the time of the accident. In these situations, the statute does not begin running until the victim turns 18.

Property Owners & Insurance Companies Are Not on Your Side

Following a serious slip and fall accident, you need to know how to protect your rights. You may receive a phone call from a business, property owner, or insurance company seeking information about your claim. Please remember that defendants and their insurance companies are not on your side. You are not obligated to give a recorded statement immediately after your slip and fall accident.

Indeed, it is not in your best interest to speak directly to a business or its insurance carrier. They are looking for any information that they can use against you to deny your claim or reduce your financial recovery. At MG Law, our Atlanta slip and fall accident lawyers have extensive experience going up against the big commercial insurance companies. We will represent you, protect your rights, and take action to hold them accountable.

How We Can Help: Why Hire the Atlanta, GA Slip & Fall Lawyers at MG Law

It helps to have a slip and fall lawyer on your side. Slip and fall cases are fact specific. A lot depends on what the property owner knew about the property, who or what caused the hazard, and whether a person was warned to be careful. At MG Law, we help injured victims by carefully investigating their claims and identifying whether they have legal grounds to sue.

Ideally, you should take a photograph of any hazard that causes you to fall. For example, if you slipped on a cup of spilled coffee, then get a picture using your smartphone before the owner can clean it up. Otherwise, the owner or occupier might claim you tripped over your own feet.

Please contact us today. These are difficult cases, and our slip and fall lawyers possess the knowledge necessary to make a successful claim.

Slip and fall accident law is complex. In Georgia, a business or property owner is not automatically responsible for an accident. A lot depends on what the property owner knew about the property, who or what caused the hazard, and whether a person was warned to be careful. These cases are fact specific. At MG Law, we know how to navigate premises liability claims.

When you call our Atlanta office, you will have an opportunity to consult with a Georgia slip and fall attorney who can:

Conduct a free evaluation of your personal injury case;
Carefully investigate your claim—gathering the evidence you need;
Identify whether you have legal grounds to sue;
Handle all correspondence and negotiations with insurers; and
Take aggressive legal action to protect your rights and get you results.

The sooner you initiate the claims process, the easier it will be to get justice and the compensation that you truly deserve. Ideally, you should take a photograph of any hazard that causes you to fall.

For example, if you slipped on a cup of spilled coffee, then get a picture using your smartphone before the owner can clean it up. Otherwise, the owner or occupier might claim you tripped over your own feet. No matter the information you have, our Atlanta slip and fall lawyers are ready to help you take the next steps. These are difficult cases, and our slip and fall lawyers possess the knowledge necessary to make a successful claim.

Call Our Atlanta Slip and Fall Accident Attorneys for a Free Consultation

At MG Law, our Atlanta slip and fall accident lawyers are aggressive, results-driven representatives for injured victims and their loved ones. We know that anyone injured in an accident has more to worry about than attempting to understand the complexity of personal injury law. You need to focus on recovery.

We will focus on getting you the compensation you need to recover. Our attorneys are leaders in the courtroom and work tirelessly to provide you with the best outcome for your case. If you or someone you know suffered a serious injury in a slip and fall, we are more than qualified to help. Our lawyers share the firm’s core values of leadership, service, and problem solving. Let us put our knowledge and experience to work for you.

With an office in Atlanta, we represent slip and fall victims and trip and fall victims throughout the region, including in Fulton County, DeKalb County, and Cobb County.

Atlanta Slip & Fall Accident Lawyer