Slip and fall accidents account for millions of injuries every year and can put the people who suffer from them in serious pain or with severe limitations on their mobility. If you’ve found yourself injured after falling, tripping, or slipping due to someone else’s negligence, it may be time to call a Salt Lake slip and fall lawyer to discuss the details of your case.
Some slip and fall cases are straightforward and clearly deserve legal action. Serious (even deadly) injuries can take place because of obviously dangerous and neglected surface conditions. Other cases, however, are a little less obvious. What happens with the injuries are not life-threatening? What happens if it’s difficult to determine who is at fault for the surface conditions? Don’t let these complex questions keep you from getting the compensation you need to handle your recovery. Getting in touch with a personal injury lawyer can make the process much clearer.
When should I call a Salt Lake City slip and fall lawyer?
The best time to call a lawyer is almost always as soon as you think you may need legal counsel. For slip and fall accidents, the timeline can be tricky. For moderate injuries, it may not be immediately apparent that the issue is serious enough to warrant a lawsuit. Often, it will take time to know that the recovery is going to be long and costly (both in terms of medical expenses and in terms of work and mobility lost). Still, the sooner you start the process, the better.
The most pressing reason to get in touch with a lawyer as soon as you think you might need one is because of the preservation of evidence. Slip and fall cases will often rely on details about the location that can best be found through interviewing witnesses, documenting the conditions after the fact, and reviewing video footage. All of these evidence-gathering methods work best when they can be implemented as soon as possible. You want to gather the details while the witnesses’ memories are fresh and before any footage can be erased.
Finally, there is the matter of the statute of limitations. This is the legal window in which someone can bring a lawsuit following an incident. For personal injury cases (which is what slip and fall cases are), the Utah statute of limitations is generally four years.