Hoffmaier & Hoffmaier is a team of New York City’s leading and most trusted personal injury attorneys. We serve the Five Boroughs with legal representation for car accidents, slip and falls, medical malpractice, and more.
Thousands of NYC residents slip and fall every year. Whether due to ice, badly maintained property or streets, or another dangerous condition, these situations do occur. Following an accident, however, you may be wondering if this accident could have been preventable. Likewise, you may want to see if your slip and fall accident was caused by another person, such as a property owner.
Although property owners are not always responsible for slips and falls, it is important to look at the circumstances to determine if the property owner was negligent in his/her maintenance of the property or when it comes to alerting others of potential dangers.
At Hoffmaier & Hoffmaier, we’ve helped many New York residents pursue compensation for injuries incurred in a slip and fall accident, and we can help you too. For a free consultation regarding your accident, call our NYC slip and fall injury attorneys today.
Could the Property Owner Have Prevented the Accident
Many slip and fall accidents are purely coincidental. Nonetheless, some crucial questions you should ask include, “Could this accident have been prevented?” “Could the property owner have done more to prevent an accident from occurring?”
For example, imagine that there was a leaky roof that caused a slippery, hazardous surface. The property owner had a drainage grate installed on the property to accommodate these kinds of issues, but even so, the leaky roof and the slippery surface caused an individual to slip and fall. Is the property owner at fault here? This is one situation that would require the help of expert and experienced personal injury attorneys, as it is not immediately clear whether or not the property owner took the proper care to prevent an injury. At the same time, the court will examine whether or not the victim was careless and didn’t even try to avoid the puddle that the leaky roof caused.
Proving Fault
In most cases, if you’re filing a personal injury lawsuit to recover damages from the accident, you also have the “burden of proof” to show that the property owner knew of the dangerous conditions and did nothing about it. Furthermore, the victim of the accident must also prove that:
- The property owner/possessor created the condition
- The property owner/possessor knew of the condition and did nothing about it
- The dangerous conditions lasted for a long enough period of time that the property owner/possessor should have discovered and corrected the conditions.
Contact the Slip and Fall Attorneys at Hoffmaier & Hoffmaier Today
In addition to proving fault, it is important to remember that New York is a comparative fault state. This means that the court considers both the fault of the property owner and the victim when determining the appropriate settlement amount. For legal help proving your slip and fall case, and diligent and aggressive representation in courts or at the negotiation table, contact the NYC personal injury attorneys at Hoffmaier & Hoffmaier today. Call our law office at (212) 777-9400. Free consultations are available.