Moberly Slip and Fall Lawyer

It is understandable that people who suffer an injury after a slip and fall have many questions concerning their legal rights and may be unsure of how to move forward. After a tripping injury, you may be worried about how you will pay the mounting medical bills, especially if you have lost wages due to missing work during recovery. A Moberly slip and fall lawyer may be able to help by working to protect your rights, investigate the cause of your injury, and demand proper compensation from the responsible party. However, slip and fall claims are quite complex, and it may be necessary to work with a local injury attorney to ensure you recover a fair amount of compensation for your damages.

Determining a Visitor’s Rights under the Law

While every owner of property has a duty to protect visitors who enter their land, the extent of this duty changes depending on the reason for and circumstances of the visit. State law separates visitors in slip and fall cases into one of three categories. Determining a landowner’s responsibility under these classifications is the first step in pursuing a claim.

Trespassers: These people enter or remain on land without the owner’s permission. Trespassers can only prevail in a claim if they can prove that the owner knew about the visitor’s presence and failed to fix a known hazard.
Licensees: Licensees are people who enter land for a social purpose. Landowners must take care to clear any known hazard that the visitor would not have been able to discover on their own.
Invitees: These people enter land with permission for a business purpose, such as to buy clothes. Landowners here must take reasonable steps to clear any hazard that they knew or should have known about.

A trip and fall lawyer in Moberly could help establish a plaintiff’s rights under the law and to demonstrate how a landowner failed to provide adequate protection for their safety.

Pursuing Slip and Fall Claims for Adequate Compensation

Proving that a property owner was responsible for an incident resulting in an injury is only part of a successful claim. Plaintiffs must also be prepared to explain how the incident affected their life. The cornerstone of the case is a physical injury. Common examples of these injuries in slip and fall cases include:

Strains or sprains of ligaments
Separated knees, hips, or ankles
Severe cuts
Traumatic brain injuries
Spinal cord damage

While medical bills form the core of a claim, they are not the only potential source of compensation. Most physical injuries also inflict emotional trauma on a victim. While these may not appear in medical bills, they do reflect the way that the fall has affected the plaintiff’s life. A Moberly personal injury lawyer could help to pursue a claim for medical bills, emotional traumas, and even lost wages.

Finally, a claim is only valid if a plaintiff acts within the time limits to file a case. Under Missouri Laws §516.120, every plaintiff has five years following the slip to demand compensation. A Moberly slip and fall lawyer could work to file claims demanding just payments for all a plaintiff’s losses within the legally prescribed time limits.

Let a Moberly Slip and Fall Attorney Help You Pursue Justice

Pursuing a claim for damages following a slip and fall injury can be surprisingly difficult. Not only must you prove that the defendant failed to keep you safe, but you also must justify your own actions leading up to the fall. Insurance companies often try to argue that your own carelessness contributed to the fall or that the owner of the land did not carry a duty to provide protection. However, with a dedicated Moberly slip and fall attorney at your side, you could focus on making your best recovery. There is a limited time to pursue a claim, and your time may be running out. Contact our dedicated legal team at The AW Smith Law Firm, P.C. immediately to protect your case.