River Falls Slip and Fall Attorneys
River Falls, Wisconsin, is a lovely city filled with great people. As members of this community, Nicolet Law Accident & Injury Lawyers are passionate about helping the people of River Falls in whatever accident may befall them, from a car crash to a defective product accident or a workers’ compensation issue.
For the last 14 years, Nicolet Law has been operating around River Falls and other Wisconsin cities. We are especially passionate about helping our clients who are victims of slip and fall accidents in River Falls. Each of our River Falls slip and fall attorneys and staff serves their community, both through practicing law and getting involved in school and local events.
If you’ve been in a slip and fall accident and need help, reach out to Nicolet Accident & Injury Lawyers. We help our neighbors get through hard times with all the support they need.
Injured in River Falls? Get Nicolet.
Slips and Falls Near River Falls, Wisconsin
According to the National Floor Safety Institute, falls account for over 8 million hospital visits each year. Falls are the second leading cause of brain and spinal cord injuries as well. Most falls occur in people 65 years and older, but a huge number of cases also occur in the workplace among younger demographics.
In River Falls, at least 12.6 percent of the population is over 65 years old, putting them at a much higher risk of slipping and falling in any situation. A large percentage of River Falls citizens work in retail, wholesale, and manufacturing, which are all jobs that have a high rate of slip and fall accidents.
Wisconsin is also known for heavy snowfall most winters, resulting in dangerous ice and snow conditions that can lead to people slipping and falling fairly often.
If you’ve experienced a slip and fall in or near River Falls, Wisconsin, you are not alone. The dangerous conditions around River Falls make it a fairly common occurrence. Thankfully, we are here to help. Nicolet Law knows that you don’t want to face this accident on your own, so we do our best to provide you with resources you can trust that will help you get back on your feet again.
Slip and Fall Cases Near River Falls
River Falls is known for its outdoor entertainment options, from hiking trails to golf courses and beautiful parks. It is also home to many lovely businesses, common sites of slip and fall accidents.
According to Wisconsin Statute 101.11, Employers must furnish a safe environment for their employees and any visitors who frequent their place of business. Each employer is considered to have a reasonable duty to provide care for those in their business place. If an employer or manager in charge of the security of a building fails in their duties, you can hold them accountable under the law.
As a general rule, employers and/or managers of business places in River Falls must:
- Keep floors clear of ice, snow, and water and/or provide a warning sign that any reasonable person could understand.
- Maintain order in the building, including securing doors, cupboards, drawers, cords, and other tripping hazards.
- Provide safe ladders and other equipment that could pose a danger if they malfunction.
- Keep areas of construction or damage that could present a hazard closed off from the public and/or other employees.
If employers fail in these or other similar duties, they could and should be held liable for any injury caused by a fall. A person who falls because of their negligence could sue them for a personal injury claim.
River Falls Slip and fall FAQs
River Falls is a great place to live, but it’s also a place where slip and fall accidents can too easily happen. Our winters often involve treacherous snow and ice that fully covers the ground, including roads and sidewalks. Weather like this brings far too many slip and fall incidents, even if such weather doesn’t constitute the only cause of these accidents.
When a slip and fall accident occurs, it often changes the lives of those involved in mere minutes. Just one slip and fall accident can cause someone to suffer long-term head and/or spinal injuries.
What should you do if you find yourself severely injured after a slip and fall and facing an unknown future? What questions do you have about the legal process of pursuing compensation for your slip and fall accident injuries? Take a look at these common questions that we often hear about what to do following a slip and fall accident.
What Type of Injuries Do You Face After Your Slip and Fall?
Many injury scenarios exist in slip and fall accidents. A sensitive vessel, the human body can easily become damaged from a high-impact fall. Sometimes slip and falls don’t just happen on level floors, either. You might experience a fall down steps or slipping and falling off a ledge. This could permanently paralyze you.
Let’s look at the range of injuries that often happen in these scenarios:
- Brain Injuries - Traumatic brain injury constitutes one of the most common injuries from slip and falls. Far too many people with brain injuries never fully recover. Rather, they usually have some kind of impairment that requires therapy for the rest of their lives.
- Spinal Injuries - Spinal injuries often prove the most devastating of all, since these injuries often paralyze you and prevent any quality of life going forward. A life-altering injury like this still happens all too frequently here in Wisconsin.
- Broken Bones - While you can recover from broken bones, a more severe fall could cause permanent bone problems for years to come. If a bone in your body breaks severely, it could take months or years to recover fully. The inability to function normally due to broken bones from a slip and fall may affect your ability to work. With huge medical bills and therapy to recover, you may face financial devastation if you don’t seek legal help to pursue compensation for the full cost of your injuries.
What Should You Do Immediately After the Fall Occurs?
First, you should seek medical help for yourself. Just because you think you didn’t sustain any injuries after slipping and falling doesn’t mean that internal injuries don’t exist. Have yourself examined in a local medical facility to make sure you haven’t suffered life-threatening injuries.
Should you have serious injuries, your future will prove more difficult to predict and will depend on what treatments your doctors prescribe and how your body reacts to those treatments. Perhaps you’ve just received a diagnosis and are contemplating your next steps.
Take action by hiring a legal firm to represent you and handle your legal compensation claim. You likely qualify for compensation from those responsible for causing your slip and fall accident. With proper evidence, a settlement pays your medical bills and helps you live a better quality of life.
You should pursue justice for your accident, but keep in mind that time is always of the essence.
Should You Gather Evidence on Your Own?
Any evidence that you gather on your own will likely prove beneficial. However, your injuries may preclude you from feeling physically able to gather anything. If so, hire a legal team as fast as possible, so an attorney can visit the site where the accident occurred and collect all available evidence.
From there, your attorneys acquire anything available to prove your case. This includes taking photographs and interviewing witnesses. Plus, any video footage from security cameras can prove very valuable.
Sometimes, this process requires requesting a subpoena to obtain indoor video footage. For cameras in public locations, however, you will find it easier to gather video evidence.
Should You Negotiate With the Insurance Company?
Never talk with an insurance company on your own. These companies will likely try to contact you and attempt to give you an early settlement offer, but this initial offer won’t reflect the true value of your case in most situations.
Let your legal team handle all negotiations with insurance companies. Your attorney’s experience in knowing the tricks of insurance procedures allows an expert negotiation to take place. While it may take time, most insurance companies settle eventually to avoid having to go to trial.
What Kind of Settlement Might You Receive?
All settlements differ based on the details of each case. Your case may differ from other cases that received six or seven-figure compensation.
Avoid expecting a certain amount, because it may prove lower or higher than what you estimate. During the negotiation process, your legal team communicates each offer to you. Only you decide which settlement offer you want to take.
Can You Sue for an Additional Settlement?
Yes, you may qualify to sue for punitive damages (or exemplary damages) from those responsible for your slip and fall. This process may involve suing a company for egregiously causing you to slip and fall on its floor or another surface.
You can also seek Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) benefits if you can never work again due to your injuries. Working with Social Security to gain SSDI benefits can prove complicated, and you may need legal help to get it finalized.
Contact us immediately at Nicolet Law Accident & Injury Lawyers if you just suffered an injury in a slip and fall accident. With our founder, Russell Nicolet, at the helm, we will work to help you recover and rebuild. It means working tirelessly on your behalf to recover maximum compensation given your specific circumstances.
River Falls Slip and Fall Personal Injury Claims
In general, you can sue a property owner if they negligently cared for their place of business and maintained conditions that led to your injury. There are a few main things you’ll have to prove when you’re looking to prove a claim:
- That a hazard existed and caused your fall
- That the employer, manager, employee, etc. should have known the hazard was there OR caused the hazard
- That the employer knew of the potential danger but failed to act
- That the employer’s failure to act led to your fall
Every slip and fall case is different, but these are the general guidelines.
Considering Your Slip and Fall Personal Injury Claim in River Falls
Every case is different, and proving fault in slip and fall claims can be difficult. If you’ve been the victim of a slip and fall accident in River Falls, reach out to Nicolet Law Accident & Injury Lawyers today. Our team can help you as you go through the process of understanding your case and the factors that led to it.
Our attorneys have many years of experience with slip and fall cases and working with the insurance companies and businesses that try to make claims difficult.
We get that you don’t need more problems when you’ve suffered from an injury. That’s why we are dedicated to answering your questions as quickly as possible, and guiding you through the claim process. We won’t rest until your case is solved, but we’ll do our best to relieve your stress so you can get healed as quickly as possible.
If you have questions about your River Falls slip and fall case, contact Nicolet Law Accident & Injury Lawyers today or call at (715) 200-3626.
River Falls Office
215 S 2nd St #20
River Falls, WI 54022
Phone: 715-200-3626