Yonkers Slip and Fall Lawyer

If you slip and fall on property belonging to another person or business in Yonkers, you may be entitled to compensation for any harm you suffer as a result. Even if your damages are minor, you could learn your rights and your options for obtaining compensation in situations where it may be fairly obvious that the property owner’s actions contributed to your fall.

A Yonkers slip and fall lawyer should evaluate the circumstances of your case and help you determine if you should file a claim with the insurance company or pursue a personal injury lawsuit. A dedicated personal injury attorney from Tomkiel & Tomkiel could also help ensure that valuable evidence is collected and preserved and that the circumstances of your case are presented in the most favorable light.

Building a Slip and Fall Case

Before a property owner or lessee may be held responsible for the harm suffered in a slip and fall incident, you may need to show that at one or more of the following three conditions apply:

• The owner, lessee, or their employee caused the dangerous condition that directly led to an accident
• The owner, lessee, or their employee knew about the dangerous condition but failed to take appropriate action to warn others or fix the condition
• The owner, lessee, or their employee reasonably should have known about the dangerous condition

A slip and fall lawyer in Yonkers could help you show how these conditions may apply. To make a case under this last point, a court may compare the actions of the property owner to those of a “reasonable” person in the same situation. The court may ask whether a reasonable person responsible for caring for the property would have found the dangerous condition and repaired or removed it.

Additional factors that may come into play include the length of time the dangerous condition existed; the property owner’s schedule for inspecting, repairing, and maintaining the premises; whether the dangerous condition was in place to serve a useful purpose; whether poor lighting contributed to the fall; and whether a warning sign or barrier in the right place could have prevented the fall.

When the Plaintiff is Partially At-Fault

In some cases, a plaintiff may bear some responsibility for their own accident and/or injury. If the plaintiff of a slip and fall failed to exercise reasonable care themselves, the owner of the property where the fall occurred may argue that this failure contributed to the accident.

The property owner could allege that the injured person failed to watch where they were stepping, or that the dangerous condition that caused a minor or catastrophic injury should have been obvious. If a court finds that the injured party contributed to the accident, then any damage award they receive may be reduced by the percentage of fault attributed to them. This is referred to in Yonkers as comparative negligence.

Trespasser Rights in Yonkers

Most people do not know that trespassers actually have rights. Property owners are obligated to adequately warn trespassers of any potential hazards on their property. This may be notably necessary if they know their property attracts visitors.

Abandoned buildings and undeveloped land may pose a threat to trespassers. And if there are no warning signs in the area, a person may be able to take legal action if injured while visiting that property.

Some trespassers may not know they are on the property of another individual, and when they fall, they do not know what to do next. If a person is injured in a slip and fall, they should immediately call a Yonkers slip and fall lawyer to learn all options available to them.

Contact a Yonkers Slip and Fall Attorney Attorney

A knowledgeable Yonkers slip and fall lawyer with Tomkiel & Tomkiel could help you collect and use the right evidence in your case. Our attorneys could also advocate for you at every step in the process and fight for the maximum amount of compensation available. Call today to learn how an experienced local attorney could assist you in reaching a full recovery.