Store Slip and Falls

If you fell inside a store, shopping center or mall in Maryland and were injured you have the right to recover the compensation you deserve. Slip and falls can cause severe and debilitating injuries that can leave people in pain and out of work. Common injuries from a fall include broken wrists, shoulder tears or sprains, back injuries, torn ACLs and even concussions. These injuries can often be just as bad or worse than a serious car accident, and if the fall was caused by a dangerous condition that the store knew or should have known about then there is no reason the company shouldn’t pay for the pain and suffering they caused.

Major retail companies such as Target, Walmart, Home Depot, Lowes and Giant have huge insurance policies to protect themselves, and the reason they have these policies is because accidents happen all the time on their property. Many times the fall could have been prevented but for the negligence of a store employee or an unnecessarily dangerous way of maintaining their property. When someone is injured inside a store or other commercial area it falls under the category of premises liability, which states that the owner (often a large company) has a duty to protect its customers. You absolutely do not have to buy something to be a customer, and in the case of hotel chains like the Marriot or Hilton you don’t have to be a paying guest to be protected by the concept of premises liability. All people that are legally on the property of a business have a right to be safe and there are no two ways about it. The slip and fall lawyers at The Herbst Firm can look over your case with no obligation to you, and determine whether you have a legitimate claim for damages. Benjamin Herbst specializes in suing stores and other commercial properties such as hotels, and will not back down from their insurance adjusters or their defense lawyers.

If you have witnessed a friend or family member fall the first thing you should do is seek immediate medical attention. Health is the number one priority and even if an ambulance is not necessary the injured party should be taken to the emergency room or to urgent care for a expert medical opinion. Any witnesses to the fall should try their best to write down or record what they saw, and also to take pictures of the area where the fall occurred. Cleaning and maintenance crews will work quickly to try to clean the area and make it look like nothing happened, so it is vital to preserved what the area actually looked like in a photograph. After seeking immediate medical attention the next call should be made to a personal injury lawyer. The insurance companies that represent these businesses will try to call you to get a statement and will also try to make a lowball settlement offer in some cases. Do not let them take advantage of you! Call a lawyer and start having someone stand with you as you take on one of these companies.

Take your time and choose a lawyer that you can trust and one that always makes him or herself available. The guys on the huge billboards are not going to be the ones answering your calls, especially after business hours or over the weekend. Benjamin Herbst is available to his clients seven days a week, and all clients will have unlimited cell phone access to speak to him about the progress of the case. A good lawyer is going to get you the money you deserver but will also keep you informed each step of the way. Civil cases can take a long time to resolve, and there is no reason to be left in the dark for months. It is simply not how we practice law. Benjamin handles store slip and falls in all Maryland jurisdictions including Baltimore and its surrounding counties, the D.C. Metro areas of Prince George’s County, Montgomery County and Charles County, the entire Eastern Shore and Western Maryland. Call anytime for a no risk, free consultation.