When you slip, fall, and injure yourself at a shopping mall, you might expect that you will be guaranteed to receive a settlement for your injuries. However, for a property owner to be responsible for your accident, you will need to become injured as a result of an unreasonably dangerous situation and the dangerous situation will need to have existed for a long enough period of time.

Liability for a Slip and Fall Accident at the Mall

One of the issues with slip and fall accidents is that dangerous conditions can arise suddenly. For example, a customer at the mall might drop a drink and spill it everywhere. Because of the large number of customers who regularly visit the mall, a mall needs considerable manpower to deal with all the accidents that might occur.

Several Parties Could Be at Fault

You will also need to determine who was responsible for the accident. It could be the fault of the owner of the building or it could be the fault of one of the individual store owners. However, the dangerous conditions will need to be apparent for long enough for the mall to respond to them.

After the dangerous conditions become apparent, the party responsible for keeping you safe will need to either clean up the mess immediately or put up a sign that warns you of the potentially dangerous situation.

If there is an underlying problem that has caused the area to become dangerous, such as a defective fountain that is spilling water and creating slippery conditions, the owner of the mall would be responsible for failing to fix it.

The Consequences of a Slip and Fall Accident

Slipping and falling can lead to all sorts of injuries. You might suffer an ankle injury and might be in severe pain afterward. You might then need to have your ankle treated and you might not be able to work until you fully recover. 

Ankle injuries and other injuries associated with a slip and fall accident can lead to lasting health problems. Your ankle might never be the same again and might be more prone to being injured in the future. A slip and fall accident should always be taken very seriously.

How to Maximize Your Settlement

The best way to maximize your compensation for the accident is to work closely with a personal injury lawyer who will help you gather evidence to prove that the other party was at fault and will help you calculate your expenses accurately.

For more information, contact a personal injury lawyer near you.

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