There are more moving parts to a slip and fall claim than you might think. It seems like it should be simple - you were walking through a store or restaurant, there was liquid on the floor, and you slipped on it and got hurt, so the person or entity charged with maintaining the premises pays. In real life, it is not always quite that simple. Slip and fall cases can be a bit more complex than they initially appear. The simple fact that you did slip in something and fall down is not generally enough to show that the premises owner or manager was somehow negligent in causing your injuries. Your attorney will want to conduct a more thorough investigation, which is why calling one as soon as possible after the accident is so important. The faster you get an attorney on your case, the more evidence is likely to be available.

What Legal Rules Apply to Slip and Fall Accidents?

Aside from showing that you slipped and fell and got hurt, you will also need to prove that there was some amount of carelessness or wrongdoing on the part of the person tasked with keeping the premises safe. This can be easier said than done. Some legal rules that could affect your claim include:

• Proving knowledge - Odds are, you have at some point found a bit of water on your own floor at home without being entirely sure how it got there. In a public setting, spills happen all the time and are not always the premises owner’s fault. You will need to demonstrate that someone who had a duty to keep the establishment safe either actually knew about the spill or should have known about the spill before you got hurt.
• Cause of spill - No one can stop it from raining or snowing outside, and there is a limit to what retail establishments and restaurants can do about patrons tracking it in on their shoes. You may have a much more difficult time if your slip was weather-related.
• Contributory negligence - In many cases, a slip and fall is not 100% the fault of the establishment, nor is it 100% the fault of the individual who fell. In Illinois, the fault can be split. If you contributed to your accident in some way, the amount of your award could be reduced.

An attorney can help you better understand how these rules could apply to your individual situation.

Even at the slow speeds typically involved in parking lot collisions, getting hit by a car while you are walking can be incredibly harmful. A car does not need to be moving very fast at all to seriously injure a pedestrian who does not have the benefit of a car protecting them. Pedestrian accidents are very common in parking lots because vehicles and people on foot are expected to share space. There are no sidewalks in parking lots, so people have to walk through the same areas cars are driving in. Drivers should be well aware that there are people walking around and must take care to avoid them. If you were hit by a car in a parking lot, you should speak to an attorney to find out what rights you may have. You could be entitled to compensation.

What Do I Need to Prove in Order to Recover Damages?

One of the things you will need to demonstrate is that the driver who hit you was negligent. It is fairly rare for a driver who was using the appropriate level of caution to hit a pedestrian, but this is sometimes shown to be the case. Some common types of careless conduct that cause drivers to hit pedestrians in parking lots include:

• Not looking behind them - Drivers should always be looking in the direction that their vehicle is moving. In parking lots, drivers typically need to back up to leave their spot. Careless drivers will sometimes glance behind them once to see if any other vehicles are coming and then back out without continuing to watch behind them for pedestrians. The driver may try to argue that the pedestrian was not visible to them.
• Distraction - When leaving a location, drivers are often distracted. They may be looking through a shopping bag, returning a missed call, checking their email, reading over a receipt, or lighting a cigarette. Distracted drivers can easily hit a pedestrian before seeing them.
• Lack of care - Some drivers majorly let their guards down in parking lots. They figure that they are only driving at slow speeds and do not need to be as careful as they might be on the main road. This is often a mistake.
• Priorities - Fender-benders are common in parking lots for obvious reasons. Many drivers are very focused on not damaging their cars by colliding with another vehicle rather than watching out for vulnerable pedestrians.

Drivers often attempt to argue that they could not see the pedestrian because another vehicle was blocking their view, or because the pedestrian suddenly stepped behind them. A skilled attorney may be able to overcome this type of argument.

People go to work every day without ever thinking about the risks they face when they walk in the company door. Employees hardly consider if they are developing a long-term injury or serious illness from the tasks they are completing while on the clock. Because workplace injuries are much more common than any of us would like to think, all members of the workforce should be aware of the common causes behind those injuries and the steps to take in the event they experience one.

Common Causes of Workplace Injuries

There are certain jobs that come to mind when discussing workplace injuries. This list may include construction workers, steelworkers, and roofers. Realistically, however, some of the most common job-related injuries can happen in just about any setting, including an office cubical.

Examples of some of the most common causes of workplace injuries include:

We tend to trust that when we go to the pharmacy to pick up our prescription medication, we will be given the correct prescription that is safe for us to take. Unfortunately, this is not always the case. Pharmacists can make errors just like doctors and nurses can. Medication errors can have serious repercussions. Taking the wrong medication or the wrong combination of medications can cause serious reactions. People can become seriously ill or even die as a result of a pharmacy error. If your pharmacist made a mistake and you were harmed by it, you may be able to hold them liable for medical malpractice. If you believe that you have been harmed by a pharmacy mix-up, your first step should be to speak to a lawyer.

What Types of Pharmacy Errors Can Cause Harm?

It can sometimes be difficult to identify a pharmaceutical error as the source of a medical problem. More serious errors can cause sudden illness that requires emergency care, in which case it may be somewhat obvious what happened. Other errors are more insidious and can cause gradual harm over time that is not discovered until much later. Common harmful pharmacy errors include: 

• Wrong medication - This is one of the more egregious errors. When a pharmacist inadvertently gives a patient the wrong medication entirely, it can cause very serious effects. Additionally, the patient might be further harmed by not having the condition the original prescription was for appropriately treated. 

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Premises liability lawsuits can happen when a person gets hurt on property someone else owns or manages. However, not all injuries that occur on someone else’s property are grounds for a lawsuit. There are some specific rules that help courts determine whether the owner or manager of a property is liable to the injured person. Whether you can recover compensation for your injuries depends on a number of facts and circumstances, including whether you had permission to be on the property and how the accident happened. If you were injured on another person’s property and want to know whether you can bring a premises liability suit, you will need to consult an attorney.

Who Can Bring a Premises Liability Case?

The type of duty a property owner or manager has to keep others on his premises safe largely depends on whether the injured person was supposed to be there. “Invitees” have a business purpose for entering, like a repairman you invite into your home. “Licensees” are social guests, like neighbors you invite over for a barbeque. For these visitors, a property owner must either fix any dangerous conditions or warn visitors about the danger. A retail manager, for example, must either dry a wet floor or use a “wet floor” sign.