New York Shopping Mall Trip and Fall
Have you recently been hurt in a shopping mall and you believe it was because of an obstacle that the management knew about or should have known about? If you can illustrate that the property owner or manager responsible for identifying potential risks failed to take the necessary action to exercise the duty of care owed to you as a visitor on the premises, you may be able to file a lawsuit.
Most people think of a slip and fall accident as something that happens in the workplace or due to a slippery spot at the grocery store, but these are not the only places that accidents happen.
A New York shopping mall trip and fall injury lawyer will be able to help you put together the necessary paperwork to hold this or other responsible parties liable in the court of law. Many different factors need to be evaluated immediately after an injury as occurred. First of all, you may not realize the full extent of your medical conditions associated with the accident. You need to get medical treatment immediately even if you are not yet sure that you have sustained a severe injury. The right lawyer will be able to walk you through the various steps you need to stay on top of the immediate aftermath of being hurt in an accident.
A shopping mall could be held liable for a number of different types of hazards but you need to take action quickly because it is likely that they have insurance and you also need to fall within the statute of limitations in New York. A shopping mall trip injury lawyer in New York will represent you with the insurance company as well as in the legal case against the shopping mall. You must be able to illustrate that there was an unsafe condition about which the property manager knew or should have known about and failed to take corrective action.
You must also be able to illustrate that as a result of a trip and fall incident, you were seriously injured and now have damages associated with an accident. Damages can include lost wages, pain and suffering, and medical expenses. There are more than 70,000 shopping malls across the United States and plenty of them are in New York. Unfortunately, they are a high number of customer injuries inside those malls. Slip and falls are the most common type of shopping mall injury. Cracked or uneven pavement in sidewalks and parking lots, failure to remove snow and ice in appropriate manner, waxed and polished floors in common areas that were not properly maintained or cleaned.
Step ups into retail stores or inside the mall, pinched or crumbled floor mats, wet bathroom floors, spilled food and drink in food courts that are not properly removed and unsecured electrical cords can all contribute to trip and fall injuries. If you can show as a visitor that you have sustained a personal injury because of someone's negligence, you need an investigation to be carried out immediately. There are two potential personal injury claims if you are hurt in a shopping mall.
A New York shopping mall trip and fall injury attorney will evaluate your claim to determine whether one or both applies. You may have a claim against the retail store you were shopping in and the shopping mall. If you were inside a retail store, you will need to deal with retail store first and then pursue a potential secondary claim against the shopping mall. If your injury occurred in a common location within the mall, however, your claim is against only the shopping mall. Common shopping mall areas include those outside retail stores and parking lots and within the mall structure.
This includes public restrooms, escalators, elevators and the food court. Shopping mall owners are liable for customer safety, meaning that they have a legal obligation to protect visitors from undue harm. All shopping mall accidents are not clear cut. This means that you need to have an attorney ready to work with you immediately after the injury occurs to identify who could potentially be held liable and what you need to do to protect your right to a claim.