Slip and Fall FAQs

Icy sidewalks and snow and ice-covered parking lots often present treacherous footing during winter months in New Jersey. Property owners are required by state and local laws to remove snow within a certain period of time after a snowfall. When storeowners do not spread sand and salt on the sidewalk in front of their store, or clear away any ice created by thawing and re-freezing, they may be accountable for injuries when customers, passersby or employees slip and fall. The injured person may claim compensation for medical expenses, pain and suffering, lost income and other costs of the accident.

Slip and falls are often caused by underlying property defects such as loose steps, a pothole or buckled pavement that increase the likelihood of a fall. If you have been injured in a slip and fall on ice and snow, you should talk to an experienced New Jersey personal injury lawyer. Be aware that not every New Jersey or New York accident attorney brings the same depth of experience to each client’s case.

In nearly 30 years, the New Jersey accident attorneys at Davis, Saperstein & Salomon, P.C., have helped numerous clients injured in slip, trip and fall accidents. Our law firm is highly regarded throughout New Jersey for the quality of the counsel and legal representation that our experienced NJ accident lawyers provide. We are proud of our record of accomplishment in representing more than 20,000 accident victims in cases including slip and falls, stairway, escalator and elevator accidents, pedestrian accidents, medical malpractice, automobile accidents, motorcycle accidents, trucking accidents, and other kinds of personal injury accidents.

Call our slip and fall injury lawyers today at (800) LAW-2000 or use our online form to receive a free initial consultation.

Home and Hospital Consultations Available—No Fee if No Recovery.

Each case is unique depending upon the facts of the slip and fall accident. Whether a property owner or business owner can be held responsible depends on whether the property owner adequately maintained the property and took precautions to prevent accidents.

Generally in New Jersey, the owner of property has a non-delegable duty to maintain the property in a reasonably safe condition. This includes the responsibility of promptly removing snow and accumulated ice.

Property owners may be held responsible if they or an employee created the hazard; knew about a hazard, but did nothing to fix it; or should have known about the hazard because a typical property owner, store keeper or landlord would have discovered the problem in routine maintenance of their property. If you have a question about whether someone may be held accountable for your fall injury, contact an experienced NJ or NY personal injury attorney. It costs nothing for an initial consultation with an accident attorney.

At Davis, Saperstein & Salomon, P.C., our New Jersey personal injury lawyers have been assisting victims of slip and falls and other accidents caused by dangerous or poorly maintained property since 1981. Slip and fall accidents can occur in a wide variety of places and involve various dangerous conditions. Our accident lawyers can help you get back on your feet physically, financially and emotionally after a serious fall.

Call our slip and fall accident lawyers today at (800) LAW-2000 or use our online form to receive a free initial consultation.

Home and Hospital Consultations Available—No Fee if No Recovery.

Premises liability is the body of law under which homeowners and business owners can be held liable for injuries suffered by visitors to their property or premises. The injuries are often referred to as “slip, trip and fall” accidents and injuries. If a visitor falls on a broken step or an icy sidewalk, the homeowner or business owner may be liable if they knew about the hazard and failed to fix it or failed to warn the visitor about the problem.

Business owners are required to provide safe places for their visitors and may be liable if there is a potential hazard that they should have known about and failed to fix. A landlord may be liable for an injury that a tenant, visitor or guest suffers in a fall due to the landlord’s failure to maintain a property.

Even if a stairway appears to be safe, a person may become injured if the stairway violates the local building code. For example, all steps need to be of equal height, and hand rails need to be present and at a certain height. The stairway requires sufficient lighting, and worn carpeting needs to be inspected and replaced as appropriate.

The New Jersey or New York accident attorneys at Davis, Saperstein & Salomon, P.C., have helped numerous clients injured in slip and falls. Our law firm is highly regarded throughout New Jersey for the quality of the counsel and legal representation that our experienced accident attorneys provide. As experienced personal injury lawyers, we are proud of our record of accomplishment in representing more than 20,000 accident victims in cases including slip and falls, pedestrian accidents, medical malpractice, automobile accidents, motorcycle accidents, trucking accidents and other kinds of personal injury accidents.

Call our slip and fall injury lawyers today at (800) LAW-2000 or use our online form to receive a free initial consultation.

Home and Hospital Consultations Available—No Fee if No Recovery.

New Jersey is one of the states that applies the comparative negligence rule that can come into play in most accidents including slip, trip and fall. Under the comparative negligence doctrine, an injured person is still entitled to recover compensation for his or her injuries from a slip and fall even if their own carelessness or actions contributed 50 percent or less to their injury. If the injured person was determined to be 51% or more responsible for the injury, they would be entitled to no damages. In New York, the law would offset the award by the total percentage of comparative negligence of the injured claimant. The compensation to which a fall victim would be entitled is reduced by the percent that their own negligence contributed to the accident.

Comparative negligence is complicated to determine. It is important to consult with an experienced New Jersey or New York personal injury attorney to understand your legal options regarding comparative negligence. At Davis, Saperstein & Salomon, P.C., our personal injury lawyers have been assisting victims of slip and falls and other accidents caused by dangerous or poorly maintained property since 1981. Slip and fall accidents can occur in a wide variety of places and involve various dangerous conditions. Our accident lawyers can help you get back on your feet physically, financially and emotionally after a serious fall.

Call our slip and fall injury lawyers today at (800) LAW-2000 or use our online form to receive a free initial consultation.

Home and Hospital Consultations Available—No Fee if No Recovery.

Slip and fall accidents occur in grocery stores, supermarkets, shopping malls, public bathrooms, nightclubs, parking lots, parking decks, stadiums and arenas, public sidewalks and swimming pools. Falls can occur because of standing water, broken steps, slick surfaces poor lighting and poor design. Substances, such as ice, water, grease, detergents and foreign objects, can act as lubricants causing a person to lose their footing and balance resulting in them falling and suffering an injury. People can suffer a serious injury or even death from a fall. Slip and fall accidents are the leading cause of non-fatal injuries in the U.S. About eight million people were injured in slip and fall accidents in 2007, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control.

Accidental slip and falls are the most common general liability accident claim that supermarkets, malls, taverns and restaurants have. More than three million restaurant workers and more than one million restaurant guests are injured as a result of restaurant slip and fall accidents, according to the National Floor Safety Institute. Falls down stairs can cause serious head injuries, traumatic brain injuries and back injuries and broken bones.

At Davis, Saperstein & Salomon, P.C., our New Jersey personal injury lawyers have represented people injured by slip and falls and other accidents caused by dangerous or poorly maintained property since 1981. Slip and fall accidents can occur in a wide variety of places and involve various dangerous conditions. Our NJ and NY accident lawyers can help you get back on your feet physically, financially and emotionally after a serious fall.

Call our slip and fall injury lawyers today at (800) LAW-2000 or use our online form to receive a free initial consultation.

Home and Hospital Consultations Available—No Fee if No Recovery.

Typically, there is no charge to consult with any of our experienced personal injury lawyers. At Davis, Saperstein & Salomon, P.C., home, telephone, office or hospital consultations are free. Video consultation via Skype is available without charge or obligation. Injured people or their families are encouraged to speak with a lawyer as soon as possible to receive advice on how to preserve valuable evidence and how to get the needed medical attention. All of this initial advice is provided free of charge, without obligation, by Davis, Saperstein & Salomon, P.C. Wherever in New Jersey you live or work, you can speak with one of our accident attorneys for an initial consultation free of charge.

In most cases, an accident or personal injury attorney will handle a slip and fall accident on a contingent fee basis. That means the injured person does not pay any lawyer’s fee unless the lawyer is successful in winning and collecting a settlement or a jury verdict. If the injured person receives compensation for the slip and fall, the accident lawyer receives a portion of the recovery. New Jersey court rules set the percentage of a NJ accident lawyer’s contingency fee at 33 1/3 percent of the first $500,000 of recovery. The percentage goes down for amounts above $500,000. The contingency fee is lower when the lawyer is representing minors. In New York, the fee is usually 1/3 of the settlement.

The New Jersey accident attorneys at Davis, Saperstein & Salomon, P.C., have had the privilege of representing thousands of clients and families on a contingent fee basis without asking a client to pay anything until a verdict or settlement has been collected upon. Our law firm is highly regarded throughout New Jersey for the quality of the counsel and legal representation that our experienced NJ or NY accident lawyers provide. We are proud of our record of accomplishment in representing more than 20,000 clients and families in cases including slip and falls, pedestrian accidents, medical malpractice automobile accidents, motorcycle accidents, trucking accidents, and other kinds of personal injury accidents.

Call our slip and fall injury lawyers today at (800) LAW-2000 or use our online form to receive a free initial consultation.

Home and Hospital Consultations Available—No Fee if No Recovery.

Even though the very young and elderly are at greater risk of fall injuries, their age cannot be used as a defense to excuse a landlord, supermarket or storekeeper’s negligence in allowing a dangerous condition or hazard to exist. More than two million children ages 14 and under were treated in hospital emergency rooms for injuries suffered in slip and falls in 2007. For adults, the risk of falling and being seriously injured increases with age. Falls are a serious problem for older adults. One out of three adults aged 65 or older will be hurt in a slip and fall. As the U.S. population ages, slip and fall accidents are becoming a growing problem.

A 2010 study by Johns Hopkins School of Public Health’s Center for Injury Research found an alarming increase in deaths attributable to falls among older adults. Falls are the most common cause of severe injuries such as traumatic brain injuries and broken hips. Falls may cause bone fractures including hip fractures and fractures of the spine, forearm, leg, ankle, pelvis, upper arm and hand.

Women are more likely to be injured in a fall than men, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In 2008, women were 46 percent more likely to suffer a fall injury than men.

At Davis, Saperstein & Salomon, P.C., our personal injury lawyers have been assisting victims of slip and falls and other accidents caused by dangerous or poorly maintained property since 1981. Slip and fall accidents can occur in a wide variety of places and involve various dangerous conditions. Our NJ or NY accident lawyers can help you get back on your feet physically, financially and emotionally after a serious slip and fall.

Call our slip and fall injury lawyers today at (800) LAW-2000 or use our online form to receive a free initial consultation.

Home and Hospital Consultations Available—No Fee if No Recovery.

A person injured in a slip and fall is entitled to recover the cost of medical bills, future medical expenses, economic losses and lost wages from missed work, as well as money for pain and suffering, physical impairment, and loss of relations with their spouse.

It is important for a skilled and experienced personal injury lawyer to make a claim for your medical expenses even though they were made by other sources. In slip, trip and fall cases, as well as all other types of personal injury cases, certain medical expenses may be repaid to the insurance carrier who initially paid them provided that the medical payment was made under an ERISA plan. Medicare and Medicaid also have a “statutory lien” on any recovery and will also be reimbursed for payments they made.

The New Jersey accident attorneys at Davis, Saperstein & Salomon, P.C., have helped numerous clients injured in slip and falls. Our law firm is highly regarded throughout New Jersey for the quality of the counsel and legal representation that our experienced accident lawyers provide. We are proud of our record of accomplishment in representing more than 20,000 clients in cases including slip and falls, pedestrian accidents, medical malpractice, automobile accidents, motorcycle accidents, trucking accidents and other kinds of personal injury accidents.

Call our slip and fall injury lawyers today at (800) LAW-2000 or use our online form to receive a free initial consultation.

Home and Hospital Consultations Available—No Fee if No Recovery.

No reputable New Jersey accident attorney or personal injury lawyer will put a value on your claim at the outset or offer you money up front for your claim. All the facts from both sides have to put on the table before an experienced New Jersey or New York personal lawyer will have a sense of the value of a slip and fall claim. In many cases, the medical bills may still be accruing.

The injuries from a fall can range from a sprain or broken bone to a traumatic brain injury or injury that causes a permanent disability or death. A qualified personal injury lawyer can review your case and advise you on whether it’s a claim worth pursuing.

For more information about how New Jersey personal injury claims are valued, write for a free copy of the book written by Davis, Saperstein & Salomon, P.C., partner Garry Salomon entitled “The Consumer’s Guide to New Jersey Personal Injury Claims.”

At Davis, Saperstein & Salomon, P.C., our New Jersey personal injury lawyers have represented people injured by slip and falls and other accidents caused by dangerous or poorly maintained property since 1981. Slip, trip and fall accidents can occur in a wide variety of places and involve various dangerous conditions. Our accident lawyers can help you get back on your feet physically, financially and emotionally after a serious fall.

Call our slip and fall injury lawyers today at (800) LAW-2000 or use our online form to receive a free initial consultation.

Home and Hospital Consultations Available—No Fee if No Recovery.

The time limit or statute of limitations in New Jersey for filing a claim for personal injury, such as a slip and fall, is two years from the date of the accident, or until the age of 20 if the injured person was under 18 at the time of the accident.

If the fall accident occurred in an office of the New Jersey state government, a county government office or a municipal office, your claim will be subject to the New Jersey Tort Claims Act. That means that a NJ personal injury lawyer or NJ accident attorney working on your behalf will have to put the specific governmental entity on notice of the accident and file the claim on certain special forms within 90 days of the accident. Because of the complexity of the tort claims act, it’s important that you consult a New Jersey accident lawyer promptly after an accident so they can advise you on what steps will need to be taken.

If your injury happened on property owned or operated by the Port Authority of New York or New Jersey, there is a one year statute of limitations to file your lawsuit and the Port Authority has its own tort claims notice requirement on forms as well.

The New Jersey accident attorneys at Davis, Saperstein & Salomon, P.C., have helped numerous clients injured in slip, trip and fall accidents. Our law firm is highly regarded throughout New Jersey for the quality of the counsel and legal representation that our experienced accident lawyers provide. We are proud of our record of accomplishment in representing more than 20,000 accident victims in cases involving slip and falls, pedestrian accidents, medical malpractice, automobile accidents, motorcycle accidents, trucking accidents, and other kinds of personal injury accidents.

Home and Hospital Consultations Available—No Fee if No Recovery.