Proving Negligence In Personal Injury Law

Your attorney will evaluate the four factors that make up negligence in order to determine whether it was involved in your case:

1. The other party owed you a duty of care: “Duty of care” in legalese essentially means that the other party was legally required to take certain actions to protect your safety. Duty of care can be implicit or explicit. For example, a nurse is explicitly required to protect a patient. Or, a driver is implicitly required to avoid hitting pedestrians.
2. The party you are suing violated this duty of care: If they owed you a duty of care and did not live up to it, then they breached their duty of care. For example, if you fell because a property owner who was supposed to maintain their property adequately failed to maintain the stairs and did not post signs warning people on the property, they violated their duty to protect people on the property.
3. That breach of duty directly caused your injuries: If the other party’s reckless, careless, or intentional action resulted in your injury, then it fulfills this criteria. Going back to the previous example, if the property owner failed to maintain the property and you fell and suffered broken bones or a concussion due to the fall, this would meet the criteria.
4. The injuries incurred resulted in significant losses: Losses in civil law are generally measured financially. This means that if you only needed some ice, a band-aid, or a few hours off your feet to recuperate from your injury, it’s probably not grounds for suing. However, if your injuries required ongoing hospital treatment or take you out of work for a period of time, you may be able to seek compensation for your losses.

If You Were Partially Liable For Your Injury

Under Rhode Island law, even if you’re partially responsible for your injuries there is still the opportunity to seek compensation. As a “pure” comparative negligence state, Rhode Island courts reduce the award in proportion to the percentage you are determined to be responsible for your injury. This means that whatever percentage you are deemed to be responsible for your injury is docked from your payout.

Contact Us Today

Slip and falls can result in significant injuries, time lost off work, or even permanent disability. If you or somebody close to you was injured due to another party’s negligence, you can seek financial compensation for your losses. Call Tapalian Law to consult with an experienced personal injury lawyer today.

When A Third Party Is Liable

Even if the fall was due to negligence on the employer’s fault – such as not having the appropriate safety equipment or providing adequate training – injured workers are still unable to sue their employers for damages under workers’ compensation laws. However, sometimes workers fall from ladders due to the negligence of a third party. For example, a ladder may have a defective part that the employer could not have been aware of. Or an outside contractor may have set up the scaffolding improperly. Or a car may have accidentally crashed into the building, causing the worker to fall. At Tapalian Law, we help injured workers hold negligent third parties responsible and recover additional damages for injuries incurred. Damages we can get help you recover include:

• Mental anguish and loss of enjoyment of activities the worker is no longer able to take part in
• Pain and suffering

Since Rhode Island is a pure comparative negligence state, even if the worker was partially liable for their injuries, they may still recover a percentage of compensation correlating to how much they are found to be at fault. This means that even if you were found to be 25% responsible for your fall, you can still recover 75% of the damages the court awards you from the negligent third party. 

Insurance Companies Aren’t On Your Side – We Are

Insurance companies for such third parties are always trying to pay out as little as possible. Establishing liability and negligence requires investigation and evidence, which we will take care of. Our experienced legal team will investigate the incident, gather all necessary evidence, build your case, and give injured workers the best chance of recovering damages in court if insurers don’t want to settle. Insurance companies will have a team of lawyers on retainer to avoid paying out the compensation you deserve, so you need someone to fight for your side.

Contact Us Today

Insurance companies will have a team of lawyers on retainer to avoid paying out the compensation you deserve, so you need someone to fight for your side. If you or somebody you love was injured at work due to third party negligence, call Tapalian Law to schedule a consultation with a top Rhode Island workplace injury attorney today.

• Your legal rights as a victim.
• Proving negligence to claim compensation.
• Steps to take if you sustain injuries from a slip, trip, or fall accident at a store.

What Is a Slip and Fall Accident?

Slip and fall accidents occur frequently and take place when a person experiences a slip, trip, or fall, caused by a contributing factor or condition, that results in injury. Common causes of these injuries in stores are uneven surfaces, wet or slippery floors, cluttered walkways, broken steps, or poor lighting. Something as simple as a doormat with worn out, curled up edges at the entrance to a grocery store, can easily cause a customer entering the premises to trip on the edge of the mat and fall. These types of falls can end up causing severe injuries, from simple sprains to broken bones and spinal cord problems. Falls can be especially detrimental to certain populations, including the elderly. When a person is hurt in Rhode Island as a result of negligence, such as a store owner failing to maintain proper care of their premises and allowing a potential hazard like a worn-out mat, the injured person may be eligible to file a personal injury claim to hold the store liable for their reckless actions. As a Rhode Island slip and fall attorney, David Tapalian has helped clients injured in Providence and throughout RI and MA, hold negligent store owners responsible for their negligence. Property owners, including store owners, are responsible for maintaining safe premises for their patrons and a failure to do so that results in an injury can prove costly.

Legal Rights in A Store Slip and Fall Accident

You may be eligible to file a personal injury claim against the property management or store owner for damages incurred if you suffered a slip and fall accident in a store as a direct result of the owner’s negligence. Examples of negligence include not providing adequate, visible warnings of potential hazards and failing to maintain a safe shopping experience. Store owners, or premises owners including national chains, have a legal duty to maintain a safe shopping environment and keep their customers safe while they’re on the property. This duty of care is known as premises liability. If a customer suffers an injury directly as the result of a hazardous condition on the premises of the store, a slip and fall lawyer may file a claim on their behalf to hold the property owner liable for the injuries and damages incurred.

Avoiding Personal Injury Cases as A Business Owner

Store owners must take appropriate measures to ensure their property conditions are safely maintained to avoid dangerous accidents, and potentially expensive personal injury claims. Common preventative measure may include regularly inspecting the premises for potential hazards, providing adequate lighting, and putting up easily visible warning signs where slip and fall incidents could potentially occur, such as a floor transition. If an incident unexpectedly occurs, such as a spill, the property owner must effectively manage the situation right away.

For example, if a glass container breaks and spills in a grocery store aisle while a clerk is unloading a delivery, the clerk should stay with the spill to ensure that customers are aware of the danger and keep their distance and call another worker to bring over the mop to clean up. Once the spill is cleaned and the floor is washed, the worker should place a clearly visible “wet floor” sign to alert customers to a potentially dangerous slippery floor until the area is deemed safe.

If you’ve been involved in a slip and fall incident in a store in Providence or elsewhere in Rhode Island or Massachusetts, it’s critical to report the incident to the manager right away and immediately speak with a slip and fall injury attorney to protect your legal rights and determine your eligibility to file a personal injury claim to seek compensation for your damages.

Establishing An Injury Claim

The injured customer must prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the store owner did not exercise reasonable care in maintaining the property, leading to the harmful condition. They must then prove that the condition was what directly resulted in their injuries. An experienced slip and fall injury lawyer will do this by gathering evidence related to the incident including medical reports and bills, witness statements, photos, store surveillance videos, and more. of the scene, etc. which is where an attorney can help.

Contact Tapalian Law Today

Accidents happen unexpectedly, even to the most cautious people. If your accident was the result of the negligence of a store owner who failed their duty of care, you may be entitled to compensation. If you were injured in a slip and fall accident, call Tapalian Law at 401-552-5000, or contact us online to consult with an experienced personal injury attorney today for free.

• Your legal rights as a victim
• Proving negligence to claim compensation
• Steps to take if you sustain injuries from a slip and fall accident at a store

What Is A Slip and Fall Accident

Slip and fall accidents in a store happen frequently and can be the result of  any factors, such as uneven surfaces, wet or slippery floors, cluttered walkways, or poor lighting. These types of accidents can end up causing severe injuries, from simple sprains to broken bones and spinal cord problems. Slip and fall incidents in the U.S. are a top driver of personal injury claims, which is why store owners around the nation are responsible for maintaining safe premises to prevent these kinds of accidents. 

Avoiding Personal Injury Cases As A Business Owner

Store owners need to take appropriate measures to avoid personal injury cases, like regularly inspecting the premises for potential hazards, providing adequate lighting, and putting up easily visible warning signs where slip and fall incidents may happen. If you’ve been involved in a slip and fall incident in a store, it’s critical to report the incident to the manager and immediately speak with an experienced personal injury attorney to assist with filing an insurance claim and protecting your legal rights.

Legal Rights In A Store Slip and Fall Accident

You can file an insurance fall claim against the property management or store owner for damages incurred if you suffered a slip and fall accident in a store as a direct result of the owner’s negligence. Examples of negligence include:

• Not providing adequate, visible warnings of potential hazards
• Failing to maintain a safe shopping experience

Especially if they’re a national chain, the store owner owes a legal duty to maintain a safe shopping environment and keep their customers safe while they’re on the property. This duty of care is known as premises liability. If a customer suffers an injury directly as the result of a hazardous condition on the premises of the store, they may hold the property owner liable for the injuries and damages incurred.

Establishing An Injury Claim 

The injured customer must prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the store owner did not exercise reasonable care in maintaining the property, leading to the treacherous condition. They must then prove that the condition was what directly resulted in their injuries. It is essential to gather and organize as much evidence as possible, such as medical reports and bills, witness statements, photos and videos of the scene, etc. which is where an attorney can help.

Contact Us Today

Even if you’re extremely careful, accidents can still happen- and sometimes due to the negligence of a store owner who failed their duty of care. If you were injured in a slip and fall accident, call Tapalian Law to consult with an experienced personal injury attorney today.

What Responsibility Does a Store Have to its Customers?

In all states, including Rhode Island and Massachusetts, owners of property must make a reasonable effort to maintain their property to ensure the safety of visitors. A property owner, such as a retail store, is responsible for inspecting the condition of the property on a regular basis, making timely maintenance repairs and making every effort necessary to ensure a safe environment. If the owner fails to do so and is someone is injured on the property, the owner may be held liable for the person’s damages if found negligent.

Property owners owe a “duty of care” to those who are reasonably expected to be on the premises by exercising reasonable care for the safety of these people. (Typically, trespassers have limited rights.) For instance, a commercial retail business such as Walmart welcomes customers into their stores for the purpose of shopping, and therefore, the business owes their customers a duty of care to keep the premises safe.

A retail store may be found negligent and held liable for a person injured on the premises if the store created the danger, knew of the danger and failed to ameliorate it, or if they should have reasonably known of the danger but failed to take the necessary steps to avoid it.

Types of Premises Liability Cases

Premises liability is one of many types of claims that fall under the larger umbrella of personal injury claims. A lawsuit for premises liability holds a property owner responsible for any injuries or damages that occur on the property. The circumstances for this kind of claim encompass a wide range, some common ones are:

• Slip and Falls
• Dog Bites
• Snow and Ice Removal
• Falling Objects
• Swimming Pool Accidents
• Damaged Property, i.e., broken steps, missing handrails

Negligence in a Premises Liability Lawsuit

In this particular lawsuit, it was determined that Walmart owed the claimant a duty of care as a customer of their store and breached this duty of care by failing to keep the premises safe. The store was held responsible for creating the condition- the rusty nail being on the floor of the store- and the fact that staff knew about or should have reasonably known about the condition and fixed it. By failing to do so, the claimant was injured.

Attorneys on behalf of Walmart argued that Ms. Jones “wholly failed to establish that Walmart placed the nail on the floor or that Walmart knew or reasonably should have known of the presence of the nail on the floor.” They also claimed that the type of nail found in the claimant’s foot was too short to fasten pallet boards. The jury disagreed and Ms. Jones was awarded $10 million for her damages.

Monetary awards in a premises liability lawsuit vary widely and some factors that come into play are the extent and severity of the injuries, length of recovery, how they affect the person’s future well-being and opportunity to earn a living, the affect on the person’s quality of life, and expectation of full recovery, amongst other considerations. In the case of April Jones, the lawsuit stated that Ms. Jones has been in a wheelchair for six years, her “daily life was significantly interrupted”, and the pain from her injuries “has resulted in her loss of enjoyment of life and change in her personality, all to the permanent detriment to her health and physical wellbeing”.

Contact a Rhode Island Personal Injury Lawyer if You’ve Been Hurt

If you, or a loved one, has been injured on someone else’s property due to an owner’s negligence or failure to make repairs, you may be eligible to seek compensation for your losses. Injury Attorney David Tapalian has helped clients all over Rhode Island, Massachusetts, and Florida, who have been hurt in car accidents, motorcycle crashes, slip and falls, and work-related accidents, recover money for their damages. If you’ve been hurt due to another person’s negligence, you may be able to seek compensation for your medical bills, hospital expenses, lost wages, and pain and suffering. Tapalian Law offers a no-cost, no-obligation review of your claim, and if you hire us, there are no fees until we successfully win money for your case. Call the personal injury experts at Tapalian Law in Providence, RI, at 401-552-5000, or use our online contact form to schedule a free consultation to discuss your claim and see how we can help you.

Typically, treatment options are few and far between. However, there is hope on the horizon in Rhode Island for spinal cord injuries as a local team researches novel possibilities. Injury Attorney Tapalian’s alma mater, Brown University, and the Carney Institute for Brain Science, have teamed up in an effort to find innovative treatments for significant spinal cord injuries.

What is a Spinal Cord Injury?

The spinal cord, which runs from the base of the brain, down the middle of the back to the waist area, is the major bundle of nerves that communicates with the brain to form the central nervous system. A spinal cord injury occurs when damage to the spinal cord caused by trauma, such as an auto accident or fall, results in a loss of function, mobility, and/or feeling. Depending on the location and severity of the damage, victims may suffer full or partial loss of function in body parts below the location of the injury. A complete spinal cord injury means the person has no function, sensation, or movement, below the level of the injury. An incomplete spinal cord injury means some function, sensation, or movement below the point of injury is retained. A car accident that results in a spinal cord injury can be devastating to the victim and life-changing to their entire family. The expertise of a RI personal injury attorney knowledgeable about auto accident related spinal cord injuries should be sought to seek financial compensation for damages.

How is a Spinal Cord Injury Treated?

Currently, there is no way to reverse spinal cord damage. However, the team of Rhode Island researchers at Brown and the Carney Institute for Brain Science are working on new treatments that include medications and other techniques that would ideally promote nerve regeneration and/or improve the function of existing nerves. There is even some work being performed to change neurological pathway communication to non-functioning organs.

New Spinal Cord Research Underway in Rhode Island

Severe spinal cord injuries disrupt the two-way flow of information from the brain to other organs and neurological systems throughout the body and the goal of this new research is to bridge that gap and restore the communication. The research is being made possible through a $6.3 million grant by the US Defense advanced research projects agency. Neuroscience is on the leading edge of future treatments that can hopefully lessen the significance of traumatic spinal cord injuries related to a car accident. It is good to know that Rhode Island and Brown University have a hand in this front leading research to ameliorate spinal cord injuries and as a personal injury lawyer in RI with first-hand knowledge of these injuries, Attorney Tapalian welcomes any efforts to lessen the pain and significance of these devastating injuries.

Although none of this is comforting for those presently suffering from a spinal cord injury caused by a car accident or trauma-induced spinal cord injury, this is positive news for Rhode Islanders that money and time is being spent on research for future medical treatments for those suffering from traumatic personal injury.

Contact Tapalian Law for a Free Personal Injury Consultation

At Tapalian Law, we encounter a host of injuries suffered by Rhode Island car accident victims. Of all the serious injuries that our personal injury experts come across when representing these hurt victims, spinal cord injuries are one of the most significant. The importance of having a knowledgeable spinal cord injury attorney fighting on your behalf after a car accident caused spinal cord injury, cannot be overstated. An experienced Rhode Island injury attorney like David Tapalian is absolutely necessary in order to seek maximum compensation for your losses including medical and hospital bills, surgeries, physical therapy, lost wages, and pain and suffering. Our skilled personal injury team is here to assist hurt people in navigating treatment and has the compassion essential to understand the difficult psychological issues surrounding an unexpected accident. Contact Tapalian Law’s Providence office today at 401-552-5000, for a free case review of your car accident injury claim, or contact us online to set up a free consultation.

How Changes Will Affect the Rhode Island Slip & Fall Law

Prior to the enactment of the new law, insurance companies were able to keep plaintiff’s slip and fall cases away from the jury. Landlords and their insurance companies would be able to skirt any responsibility for your injury, if they could convince a judge that the danger was open and obvious. That is, defense counsel would file a motion to dismiss your case with an argument that plaintiff should have been aware of the danger, since it was an open and obvious defect. With the removal of this barrier to slip and fall cases in Rhode Island, more claims will now be able to proceed to a jury for their findings of defendant’s negligence.

A defendant landlord can still argue an open and obvious defect. However, with this updated slip and fall law in Rhode Island, their use of open and obvious, in the slip and fall forum, would be restricted to apportionment of assumption of the risk and comparative fault upon the plaintiff. Prior to this new legislation, such a slip and fall case would never even get to the jury. Open and obvious was a complete bar to recovery for an injured plaintiff. The majority of the states in the union, 38 to be exact, already have adopted the same standard. This is a historic and significant change in premises liability law in Rhode Island. It corrects an inaccuracy and unfairness within the law. For example, if a store owner had a defect that violated state building codes and had been left unrepaired for months, that store owner may have been able to get the plaintiff’s case dismissed simply by arguing that the defect was open and obvious and should have been seen by the plaintiff. The slip and fall law in Rhode Island now corrects the requirement of a Goldilocks-type negligence standard upon the defendant. That is, if the defect was too significant, the defendant would argue open and obvious as a complete bar to recovery. However, if the defect was too minimal, they would argue that it wasn’t significant enough to cause the injury that resulted in client’s compensatory damages. The only way an injured victim could have been successful previously, was if the defect was just right, a.k.a. the Goldilocks standard.

Contact a Providence Personal Injury Lawyer After a Slip & Fall Accident

Slip and fall accidents, as with all premise liability cases, are some of the most difficult types of personal injury claims in Rhode Island. Even with the removal of open and obvious as a complete bar to the recovery of the plaintiff, slip and fall cases are still extremely complex. However, at least now these cases which would have been prevented and dismissed by open and obvious, can now be presented to a jury for their decision. Should you find yourself injured due to a premise liability incident or slip and fall in Rhode Island, it is essential that you have a competent Rhode Island slip and fall attorney like David Tapalian present your case. As you can see, slip and fall law is very challenging. Even with this new update of the law and the removal of an open and obvious defense, competent counsel is essential if you are to be successful with your claim. At Tapalian Law, we provide a free consultation and review of your Rhode Island personal injury case. Attorney David Tapalian will meet with you and/or speak directly with you the same day you contact us, and immediately put his 20 years of premise liability experience to work for you. With personal injury offices conveniently located in RI and MA, we are ready to help you now. Contact experienced RI personal injury lawyer David Tapalian today for a no-obligations, free consultation at 401-552-5000, or reach us online.

USPS Asks Customers for Help to Prevent Slip & Fall Injuries

Due to an abundance of postal delivery employees who suffer from slip and fall accidents each winter, the United States Postal Service (USPS) is asking customers for help during the wintry weather. The USPS asks customers in Rhode Island, Massachusetts, and other areas hit hard by winter conditions to keep walkways, sidewalks, and areas around mailboxes clear of snow and ice to help prevent a fall. Customers are requested to shovel, sand, and ice their walkways, sidewalks, and surrounding mailbox area, as necessary to assist deliveries made on foot. If your mail is delivered by a mail truck, customers are asked to clear enough snow from around the mailbox to allow the mail truck safe delivery access. Postal delivery employees don’t want to inconvenience customers by skipping a delivery, however if conditions are not clear or safe to deliver on foot or by mail truck, the workers are instructed to skip the delivery and hold onto the mail or packages until safety conditions improve.

How Dangerous Are Slip & Fall Accidents?

Injuries as a result of a slip, trip, or fall, can be relatively minor or extremely severe. The injuries can also result in a fatality. As personal injury lawyers, our Providence and Seekonk slip and fall lawyers have seen slip and fall accidents result in all of the above. Slips, trips, and falls are especially detrimental to the elderly and can frequently be life-threatening. Common injuries that occur from a slip or fall are broken bones, fractures, sprains, and torn ligaments. These types of injuries can range from minor to serious. Frequent results of a fall also are head, back, neck, and shoulder injuries, brain injury, concussions, and spinal cord injuries. Falls make up 87% of fractures seen among the elderly and are the second leading cause of spinal cord and brain injury.

Do I Have a Valid Slip & Fall Claim?

After your Rhode Island or Massachusetts slip and fall accident, or any type of injury, the most important action to take is to seek immediate medical treatment. Seek the advice of an experienced slip and fall accident attorney at Tapalian Law who specializes in Rhode Island and Massachusetts personal injury law. To determine if you have a valid premises liability claim, your Rhode Island slip and fall lawyer will look to answer some important questions. For example, if you fell on an icy walkway leading into a drugstore in Providence, questions may include:

• Did the owner of the property where you fell have a “duty of care” to protect those people coming onto the property? A property owner, residential or commercial, must use a degree of caution and concern that a prudent and rational person would use under similar circumstances. After a snowstorm, a property owner is expected, and has a duty of care to, keep the walkways maintained and free of snow and ice for customers.
• Did the owner breach the duty of care? Did the drugstore property owner fail to shovel snow and ice and use salt or sand thereby creating a potentially slippery situation where a customer could slip?
• Did the breach cause injury or harm? Did you slip and fall on the slippery walkway resulting in a broken arm?
• Did you suffer damages due to the accident? Damages may be economic (monetary) such as hospital bills, physical therapy expenses, lost wages, etc. or non-economic (non-monetary) such as pain and suffering or a reduced quality of life as a result of the injury.

Contact an Experienced Rhode Island Personal Injury Lawyer After Your Slip & Fall Accident

At Tapalian Law, our Rhode Island and Massachusetts injury attorneys specialize in helping victims suffering from all types of personal injury caused by slip and falls, car accidents, motorcycle crashes, truck accidents, and pedestrian accidents, or any other type of injury caused by the negligence of another person. Our slip and fall lawyers have helped personal injury victims in cities like Providence, Pawtucket, East Providence, Warwick, Cranston, as well as Seekonk, Taunton, Fall River, and New Bedford. If you are suffering due to an accident that took place in Rhode Island or Massachusetts, don’t hesitate to contact our personal injury law firm with locations in Providence and Seekonk, at 401-552-5000, or reach out to us online.

Distracted Walking

Cell phones have made it easy for us to stay in contact with work, friends, and family 24/7 but they are also a major cause of slip and fall accidents. Falls are frequently the consequence of inattention or a distraction, like looking down to use a cell phone. This is known as distracted walking. Like distracted driving, distracted walking can cause injury, both minor and severe. Looking down at a cell phone while walking can cause a crash into another person, a trip down a flight of stairs, a fall off a sidewalk, or worse. Distracted walking can cause a person to unknowingly walk into traffic or take a serious fall, resulting in severe injuries or a fatality. If you must use a cell phone while walking, stop in a safe spot out of the way of other pedestrians and vehicles to make your call or send your text to avoid an injury due to distracted walking.

Workplace Slip & Falls

When we think of workplace injuries, typically we think of a warehouse environment involving forklifts and heavy lifting. And trip and fall accidents do occur in these types of work settings. Fall protection leads OSHA’s Top 10 list of cited workplace violations for the second year in a row. But falls are also a very common source of injury in an office setting. You may wonder- how can someone get hurt sitting at a desk in an air-conditioned office? It’s more common than you think. Some tips for reducing office related slip and fall accidents are:

• Remove clutter- boxes and files piled up can create a tripping hazard, according to OSHA. Store away boxes and files in a desk, a closet, or another appropriate spot out of walkways.
• Secure electrical cords- not only do stretching cords across walkways or under rugs prevent a tripping hazard, they also create an electrical hazard. Ensure electric cords are properly secured and covered to prevent falls.
• Use a ladder- if you need to reach something up high on a shelf, use a properly secured ladder instead of a chair. It may seem like common sense, but many accidents happen in the workplace by workers climbing on rolling chairs.
• Keep corners clear- there are frequently blind spots around hallways or cubicle corners. Keep these areas clear or use mirrors to avoid collisions.
• Use proper flooring- Tiles can be slippery. Using carpets, especially at entryways where people may enter with wet shoes, can reduce the risk of a slip and fall. About 40% of slip and fall accidents at retail locations take place in the main entryway. Flooring should be regularly inspected for any cracks or rolled up edges to reduce falls.

If you have been injured in a slip and fall accident at work, seek out the advice of a Rhode Island workers compensation lawyer at Tapalian Law. After motor vehicle accidents, slip and falls are the second major cause of workplace incidents. Attorney David Tapalian has experience helping those injured in workplace accidents including slip and falls in Rhode Island and Massachusetts. Our injury law firm can establish whether you have a valid slip and fall claim or workers compensation claim and advise you how to proceed.

Have You Been Hurt in a Slip & Fall Accident?

If you have been hurt in a slip and fall accident, it is important to take immediate action in order to validate your personal injury claim. Whether you have been injured at the workplace, at the grocery store, or on someone else’s property, the following tips are important to remember.

• Report your injury right away to the property owner or management and complete an incident report.
• Take photos of the incident location right after the accident, before any clean up or repairs are made.
• Seek medical attention for your injuries.
• Contact a Rhode Island slip and fall personal injury lawyer like Tapalian Law to discuss the details of your injury claim and establish whether or not you have a valid slip and fall claim or workers compensation case.

Even if you seem fine after a fall, you will still want to report the injury, take pictures, and seek medical attention. Seemingly minor injuries can quickly turn into major ones and internal medical problems, such as internal bleeding, can be easily overlooked by the untrained eye.

Contact a Slip & Fall Lawyer in the Providence Area

If you have been injured in a slip, trip, or fall accident, you want an experienced slip and fall attorney like David Tapalian on your side. A skilled injury lawyer who specializes in slip and fall cases will determine the answers to some important questions in establishing a valid injury claim. Did the property owner have a “duty of care” to protect those coming upon the property? Did the owner breach this “duty of care”? If so, did the breach of duty cause harm or injury? Did the injury cause economic damages to the injured such as medical bills or lost wages? To determine if you are eligible to seek compensation for your Rhode Island slip and fall case, contact the injury law firm of Tapalian Law at 401-552-5000 or reach out to us online today. We offer a free consultation and are available to discuss your legal rights with you today.

Common Injuries from Slip & Fall Accidents

Injuries from a slip and fall can range from very minor, a bump or bruise, but can also be quite serious or fatal. In fact, half of all accidental deaths in the home are caused by a fall according to the National Floor Safety Institute (NFSI). Injuries are habitually more severe in the elderly. Fractures are a very common fall injury and can be grave. Other fall related injuries are sprains, torn ligaments, head, back, neck, and shoulder injuries, brain injury, concussions, and spinal cord injuries. Falls make up 87% of fractures seen among those over the age of 65 and are the second leading cause of spinal cord and brain injury. Check out a previous Tapalian Law injury blog for potential slip and fall hazards and how to prevent them.

Elements of a Rhode Island Slip & Fall Case

In a potential slip and fall injury lawsuit, there are some important questions your RI slip and fall attorney will look to answer.

Duty– Did the owner of the property where you fell have a “duty of care” to protect those coming onto the property? A property owner, whether residential or commercial, must use a degree of caution and concern that a prudent and rational person would use under similar circumstances. For example, if you are entering into a grocery store the day after a snow storm, one would expect the property owner to keep the walkways maintained and free of snow and ice for customers.

Breach of Duty– Did the owner breach this duty of care? In the example of the grocery store, did the owner breach the duty of care by failing to remove snow and ice leaving the walkways slippery for customers to potentially slip?

Causation– Did this breach cause injury or harm? Did you, the customer, slip and fall on a patch of ice on the walkway causing a broken arm?

Damages– These can be economic damages (ie. hospital bills, physical therapy costs, lost wages) or non-economic damages (ie. Pain and suffering, reduced quality of life). Did you incur damages for the broken arm such as medical bills, lost time away from work, physical therapy costs, etc.?

Slip & Fall Law in Rhode Island

Rhode Island personal injury cases follow the Comparative Negligence Law. Simply put, this means that if a plaintiff (the injured person) is proven to be hurt and awarded compensation, they may still be found to be partially at fault and awarded a percentage of the damages. In the case of the slip and fall on an icy grocery store walkway, if the grocery store provided video surveillance showing that you were horse playing on the icy walkway for five minutes prior to slipping and falling resulting in a broken arm, the grocery store may claim that you are 30% responsible for the accident. If this is found to be the case, the store may only be on the line for 70% of the damages, with you being responsible for the remaining 30%. So, if your incurred damages amount to $10,000, the grocery store may only be obligated to pay 70% of them, amounting to $7,000. You would be responsible for the remaining $3,000.

Rhode Island General Laws section 9-20-4 What to Do After a RI Slip & Fall Accident

• Report your injury to the property owner and complete an incident report.
• Take photos of the incident location right after the accident, prior to any clean up or repairs being made.
• Seek medical attention for your injuries.
• Contact a Rhode Island slip and fall personal injury lawyer, like Tapalian Law.

Contact a Rhode Island Slip & Fall Injury Lawyer After Your Accident

If you have been hurt in a slip and fall accident, whether at a grocery store, restaurant, a friend’s home, or the workplace, do not hesitate to seek the legal advice of a skilled RI slip and fall attorney like David Tapalian. Big companies have experienced lawyers on their side, so should you. A practiced personal injury attorney may seek video surveillance, witness statements, photos, and prior incident reports deemed applicable to your injury case. Slip and fall accidents can get very expensive with emergency room treatment, surgery, physical therapy, and time lost from work. If your fall occurred due to the lack of reasonable care or maintenance by another person or business owner, you should not be left paying for the high costs. Seek the experience of slip and fall lawyer David Tapalian for a free no-obligations consultation for your injuries. Contact Tapalian Law today at 401-552-5000, or reach us online.

What is Premises Liability?

Legally speaking, premises liability holds property owners and residents liable for accidents and injuries that occur on their property. This could be a homeowner’s or business owner’s property. When someone comes onto your property, they have a “reasonable expectation” of not getting injured. Just as drivers are required to operate their motor vehicle with a “duty of care” to avoid injuring others in a car accident, many states including Rhode Island require property owners to exercise “reasonable care” in maintaining their property for those who may come upon the property such as an invited guest or delivery person. At a business such as a restaurant, owners expect patrons on their property to conduct business and therefore need to keep the property in proper, safe, working condition. If an owner breaches this duty of care, they may be held liable for the injuries that occurred on their property, such as a slip and fall, that took place due to the owner’s failure to fix a dangerous condition on the property that they knew about, or should have known about. The slip and fall attorney’s at Tapalian Law have helped clients who have been hurt in a premises liability accident in Rhode Island and Massachusetts.

Examples of Premises Liability

Slip and falls are the most frequently reported type of Rhode Island premises liability lawsuits. Young children and the elderly are more vulnerable to incurring serious injuries in slip and fall accidents. However, premises liability also encompasses other types of personal injury, including, but not limited to cases involving:

• Slip & falls (wet floors, unsecured rugs)
• Snow & ice (failure to clear snow or ice from walkways)
• Swimming pools (failure to have proper fencing and locks)
• Defective condition of property
• Poorly maintained property (broken steps)
• Elevators & escalators
• Inadequate security or lighting

Proving Fault in a Slip and Fall Lawsuit

Rhode Island property owners owe everyone who legally comes upon their property a duty of care, with the exception of trespassers. If a person has been injured on another’s property due to the owner breaching their duty of care, it is up to the plaintiff to prove that the defendant breached this duty of care as a property owner. Comparative negligence also factors into Rhode Island personal injury accidents and partial fault may be awarded to both parties, based on a percentage of fault determined.

How Can Attorney David Tapalian Help You with Your Premises Liability Case?

If you, or a loved, one has been hurt in a slip and fall accident or injured due to dangerous conditions on someone else’s property, you should speak with an experienced Providence premises liability lawyer to discuss the details of your injuries. Tapalian Law has assisted numerous clients in the Rhode Island and Massachusetts area who have suffered from slip and fall, trip and fall, and other types of premises liability injuries due to a property owner’s failure to maintain the property. We will take the time to assess your case at no charge and advise you as to whether or not we feel you have a valid injury lawsuit against the property owner. Our personal injury law firm works on a contingency basis and we only get paid if you win your case. Don’t hesitate to contact us today for a free evaluation of your premises liability personal injury case to ensure your rights are protected. Contact slip and fall Attorney David Tapalian at 401-552-5000 or via our website contact form.

Why Are Restaurant Employee Injuries So Prevalent?

Anyone who has worked in the Rhode Island restaurant industry knows how fast-paced it is. Whether working as a server or bartender, or in the kitchen, potential harm lurks everywhere. Common worker injuries in the kitchen are burns, especially in restaurants where food is fried. Hot fryer oil can cause second and third degree burns resulting in permanent injury needing extensive care. Not only can hot oil splash while cooking, but spilled oil is slippery and can lead to slip & falls. Slip & falls, sprains, and strains from heavy lifting of boxes or deliveries, can be quite serious and require a long rehabilitation process and physical therapy. As any restaurant employee knows, food prep is a daily task and slicing, dicing, and cutting by both kitchen staff and servers constitutes a great number of kitchen-related mishaps as well. Cuts can be minor but if deep or infected, can quickly become grave. Although only 2 percent of restaurant workplace injuries are considered severe, according to the National Restaurant Association these cases can incur workers compensation claims of $100,000 or more. Incidentally, California has a much higher rate of serious restaurant workplace injuries than average, 31% of accidents are severe, according to a 2015 Workers Compensation Best Practices Report.

How Can Common Restaurant Workplace Injuries Be Prevented?

Proper training is the number one way to can avoid workplace injury. It is imperative that employers in all industries, including the restaurant industry, provide thorough training for employees to assist in the prevention of workplace injuries. The most common types of injuries that occur in restaurants include cuts, lacerations, slips, trips, and falls. Burns, scalds, sprains, strains, and soft-tissue injuries follow these. If you are a parent with a working teenager, ensure they are receiving proper and adequate training as workplace injuries are a common hazard for teenagers, particularly in a food establishment. If safety equipment is needed for the job, the employer should provide the required equipment and maintain its proper working condition. In addition to preventing personal harm to employees by providing training, employers must also follow OSHA regulations.

Why Hire a Personal Injury Attorney to Assist with your Workers’ Compensation Claim?

Healing from a severe workplace injury can take weeks, months, even years, and result in lost wages for the victim thereby making it difficult to provide for their family and pay bills. You may be unable to work again, or unable to work in the same capacity as before you were hurt, resulting in lost, or decreased, pay. After a serious work-related injury, it is to your advantage to have a personal injury attorney experienced with Rhode Island workers compensation on your side to negotiate on your behalf. Sometimes a lump-sum settlement can be negotiated by your injury lawyer to recover damages experienced from your loss. There are many details involved in a worker’s compensation claim and it is to your benefit to have the experience of Tapalian Law on your side to ensure what you are being offered is fair and just. Accidents can change people’s lives dramatically, as well as affect those of their family and loved ones. A workplace injury can be debilitating, cause permanent disputation, scarring, bone damage, and require extended physical therapy, and future surgeries. The full impact of the accident may not be realized until down the road. Be prepared with the help of David Tapalian and his knowledgeable staff. Call us today at 401-552-5000 to discuss the details of your Rhode Island or Massachusetts workers compensation claim, with no-obligation and no fee.