For some reason, many people have come to view slip or trip and fall cases as bad, low-value cases. We have been handling these cases for over 15 years and have found that they are actually very good cases that can be settled for good money or tried to a jury with substantial verdicts. Here are a few of the reasons why.
- The defendants are often large corporations rather than individuals.
Juries tend to favor individuals over corporations. Unlike most car crash cases where the defendant is an individual that juries are reluctant to hit with a large verdict, juries often have no such reservations in cases against corporations. This tends to increase the settlement value of the case as well.
- The defendants often have rules or policies against trip or slip hazards in their stores.
Since most defendants in these cases are large retail corporations, they often have a trove of resources to use against them. One of those is their employee handbooks. These often have rules against trip or slip hazards, like leaving merchandise in the walkways, or clearing snow and ice. If we can show these rules were violated, the value of the case increases.
- Since most slip or trip and fall cases happen in retail stores, they are often captured on surveillance cameras, well-photographed, and documented.
More often than not, this helps the injured plaintiff and not the store. Furthermore, if you can show you told the store to preserve these things, and they didn’t, you can use their failure against them.
These are but a few of the reasons slip or trip and fall cases can actually be good cases. If you’ve been hurt due to a slip or trip and fall at a store, please give us a call. We have 15 years of experience with these cases and will use that experience to make the most of your case.