How to Obtain Evidence in a Slip and Fall Case
If you have been injured in a fall accident, you may be eligible for a settlement or monetary award if someone else was negligent. The Riverside slip and fall attorneys at Heiting & Irwin can fight for your legal right to full compensation.
Like any personal injury case, a slip-and-fall or trip-and-fall claim is all about the evidence. While the burden of proof may be the same as in any other case, these cases may be even more difficult. We need to move quickly to gather evidence.
Call the slip and fall lawyers at Heiting & Irwin right after you have been injured in a slip and fall. When you hire us, we will get right to work investigating your accident.
You Need Evidence to Meet Your Burden of Proof
In any personal injury case, the injured party (claimant or plaintiff) is the one who has the burden of proof. They must show that it is more likely than not that every single element of the claim is more likely than not to have happened (or will happen). We meet this burden by being able to provide evidence. There is only a limited amount of time to build your case, so you should get legal help immediately.
We will need enough evidence in the short term to allow and file an effective claim or lawsuit. Insurance companies deny many slip and fall claims because they know that you could have difficulty assembling the proof that you need. You must act right away to begin to obtain evidence. However, dealing with physical injuries, there may be a number of obstacles in the way.
In the immediate aftermath of the accident, evidence may be more readily available to you. Nonetheless, you may not know what you need to prove your case, or may you be able to act to preserve this evidence before it is lost or destroyed.
Helpful Evidence in Slip and Fall Cases
Some evidence that may help your case includes:
- Pictures from the scene of your accident
- Witness statements (or at least names, addresses, phone numbers and emails of witnesses) from people who saw your accident or the conditions in the area
- Physical evidence, such as broken handrails or cracked concrete in the floor, your shoes, your clothing, a sample of the item/fluid that contributed to the fall
- A copy of any incident reports you fill out
- Anything else you think might be important
You may have enough evidence to submit with your case, that the insurance company will make you a settlement offer. However, insurance companies often take a hard line on slip and fall cases because they see so many and many are overblown or even fraudulent. You may choose to go straight to court without filing a claim, or you may file a lawsuit when your claim is denied.
We Can Obtain Evidence After We File a Lawsuit
You will probably not have access to all available evidence at the time you first consider a claim or lawsuit. There may be some evidence that the defendant has in their possession that you need to build your case. For example, your injury may have occurred in a store. Your fall was captured on the store’s video camera. The defendant will not simply hand the tapes over to you (maybe they feel that you will use this evidence against them in a trial).
Similarly, the property owner may have kept logs that showed when they walked around and inspected their own property, and what was done to maintain it. These written logs may be relevant as to whether they inspected at all, or whether the owner should have known about the dangerous condition that injured you. The defendant is also not going to share this evidence with you freely.
Just because evidence may be in the defendant’s possession does not mean we have no legal right to it. If you file a slip and fall lawsuit, you can request that the defendant produce the evidence that they have that is relevant to your case. This process is called discovery, and we use it to further build the case for our client.
You need to consult with a slip and fall attorney as soon as possible after your injury. If you wait too long, we may not be able to compile the evidence that you need to preserve an effective claim. Waiting weeks after your accident may even be too long. The location might change, personnel leave, repairs or maintenance may occur, etc.
Contact a Riverside Slip and Fall Attorney Today
If you have been injured in a slip and fall accident, contact the Riverside personal injury lawyers at Heiting & Irwin for aggressive legal representation. You can schedule a free consultation today by calling us at 951-682-6400 or visit us online at www.hilegalgroup.com
