Slip and Fall Lawyer in Long Beach

One minute you’re enjoying a walk along the Long Beach waterfront, the next you’re slipping on some broken tile and falling. What should have been a fun day at the shore quickly turns serious. Not only do you have to worry about unexpected medical expenses, but you might not be able to work for a while. And if the slip and fall accident victim is elderly or has an underlying condition, the injuries can even be life-threatening.

The one silver lining is that you can take legal action if the owner of the property did not properly maintain it. If you were injured in a slip and fall accident in Long Beach, you need the services of an experienced personal injury attorney. At The Dominguez Firm, we have successfully been helping accident victims for almost 35 years. In that time, we have won over $1 billion* for our clients. Put our winning record to work for you. Contact us at 800-818-1818 for a FREE consultation today.

Below you’ll find more information on Long Beach slip and fall accidents, your rights and how our slip and fall attorneys can help you.

What Are the Most Common Causes of Slip and Fall Accidents?

This type of accident happen for a variety of reasons as listed below.

• Poor lighting
• Uneven flooring
• Loose flooring, including tiles, rugs and wooden planks
• Broken or poorly maintained stairways
• Potholes
• Slippery floors due to spills, water, ice, or snow
• Lack of warning signs near a construction site
• Objects such as electrical cords on the floor

Certain settings, such as swimming pools and construction sites are also prone to having more slip or trip and fall accidents.

What Are Some Common Slip and Fall Accident Injuries?

Some accident victims are lucky enough to walk away with a few scrapes and bruises. Others, however, may need a trip to the hospital. Here are a few of the more serious injuries:

• Broken bones
• Head and brain injuries
• Spinal cord injuries
• Torn ligaments or tendons

The age and health of the person also influences the seriousness of their injuries. The elderly are particularly vulnerable. For those over the age of 65, falls are the leading cause of injury and death.

Do I Even Need a Fall Accident Lawyer? The Insurance Company’s Offer Seems Fine.

Slip and fall accident cases are not as routine as you may think. You can suffer serious injuries that require long-term therapy and leave you unable to work for long periods of time. That insurance company offer that seemed fine could run out quickly, especially if you develop any complications. And once you accept their offer, there’s no going back and asking for more.

Insurance companies are businesses. They are looking to make high profits. To do so, they need to avoid paying out generous settlement amounts. This holds true regardless of the extent of your accident injuries. This is not the time to be your own lawyer.

Another reason to hire an attorney is because insurance companies take claims much more seriously when they know the person has hired a lawyer to represent them. This gives you much-needed leverage against them. Plus, you can concentrate on your recovery while your attorney negotiates with them. Unless you negotiate insurance settlement claims for a living, this is something you should let your lawyer do for you.

How Do Personal Injury Attorneys Prove Liability (Responsibility) for These Types of Accidents?

The word liability is used by attorneys to describe a person’s legal responsibility. For property owners, this means keeping their premises (land and/or structures) safe for anyone who passes through or visits them. This holds true regardless of whether the property is public or private. The government, at every level, must also keep their property safe for visitors.

The most common responsibilities of a property owner are:

• To reasonably maintain their property
• To make sure the property is inspected as legally required. This is especially true for commercial property owners and those who have tenants.
• To make any needed repairs promptly.
• To put up warning signs if there are any dangerous conditions present.

If the property owner doesn’t show the level of care necessary and you injure yourself because of it, you would have the right to file a personal injury claim against them. Your personal injury lawyer would then present evidence to show the owner’s negligence was liable for your injury.

What Compensation Could I be Entitled to for My Long Beach Slip and Fall Injury?

You would be entitled to two types of compensation, also known legally as damages; economic and non-economic damages. Economic damages compensate you for the financial losses you’ve suffered due to your Long Beach slip and fall accident:

• All medical bills stemming from your slip and fall accident, including:
  • Ambulance fees
  • ER fees
  • Medical treatments
  • Visits with medical specialists
  • All surgeries
  • Mental health counseling
  • Rehabilitation
  • Physical therapy
• All lost income

Non-economic damages are meant to compensate you for your emotional losses. These include:

• Pain and suffering
• Anxiety
• Disfigurement
• Loss of enjoyment of life

Most times, non-economic damages make up the largest part of a slip and fall accident victim’s final settlement or verdict amount. This is because there is no limit as to how much can be awarded in non-economic damages.

Does the Law Place a Limit on the Time I Have to File My Lawsuit?

Yes, you have two years from the date of your Long Beach slip and fall accident to file your lawsuit. If your accident occurred on government property, you only have six months to present your claim. Nonetheless, our lawyers strongly recommend taking legal action immediately. There are several reasons why:

• The sooner you involve us, the better. We can immediately collect evidence, interview witnesses and start all needed legal documentation. If you wait, vital evidence will certainly be lost which reduces the value of your claim.
• Defense lawyers will question why you waited. They’ll see this as a sign you weren’t seriously injured. Even worse, they might try to prove your injuries were caused by a later event, not your slip and fall accident.
• Defense attorneys will also challenge witness testimony if you wait too long. They’ll try to cast doubt on their memory if it’s been almost two years.

Don’t wait to hire the Long Beach slip and fall lawyers at The Dominguez Firm. We have our own in-house team of investigators and litigation attorneys ready to spring into action immediately. Let us help you present the strongest slip and fall case possible.

How Long Will My Slip and Fall Case Take?

No personal injury attorney can give you a precise time frame for how long your case will take. Some slip and fall cases settle quickly while others can last over a year. Each case is unique with its own set of circumstances. What your attorney can do is compare your case to similar ones they’ve tried in the past to give you an estimate.

Some of the key factors involved in determining the length of your case include:

How serious your injuries are. If you injuries are serious, permanent and/or life-threatening, your case will take more time. A big reason for this is because you’ll need to reach what’s legally known as Maximum Medical Improvement (MMI). This is exactly what it sounds like; this is the most you will recover from your slip and fall accident injuries. Your attorney will want to wait until you reach MMI before deciding on the proper compensation for your injuries. Reaching MMI can take several months and even a year.

How the insurance company responds. In the great majority of cases, insurance companies make very low offers in the hopes a customer will take their first offer. Another tactic is to be slow to respond so the San Diego slip and fall injury victim will give up and accept the offer.

Having an attorney represent you gives you leverage against these tactics and the insurance companies know this. Simply retaining an attorney can force their hand and obligate them to make a fair offer. Nonetheless, they may dig their heels in and refuse to negotiate. When that happens, The Dominguez Firm is not afraid to go to trial if needed. Unlike many other law firms, we have the resources and award-winning in-house trial attorneys to go to court if we have to.

Naturally, we will keep you informed of what’s happening with your case at all times. We will explain what’s happening and give you our recommendation on how to proceed. We will never act without your consent and will always respect any decision you make regarding what’s best for you and your case.

What if I Can’t Afford an Injury Attorney?

You can afford to hire The Dominguez Firm. That’s because we work on a contingency basis, meaning we get paid from a percentage of your final verdict or settlement. The percentage will be clearly indicated in the representation agreement you sign when you become our client. You don’t have to worry about upfront legal fees, hidden costs, or any out-of-pocket expenses whatsoever. Plus, it’s a set amount. It won’t change regardless of the amount of compensation we secure for you.

Also, in the unlikely event we’re unable to secure compensation for you, you owe us nothing. In other words, if there is no recovery, there is no fee! You truly have nothing to lose and so much to gain from hiring the injury attorneys at The Dominguez Firm.

I Lost a Loved One in a Long Beach Slip and Fall Accident. Can The Dominguez Firm Help Me?

If you are the legal next of kin of the deceased, then yes, you can file a lawsuit against those responsible for your untimely loss. However, you would not be filing a personal injury lawsuit. Instead, your attorney would help you file a wrongful death claim.

In California, the following family members, in order, can present a wrongful death claim:

• The spouse of the deceased
• Any children of the deceased
• The registered domestic partner of the deceased
• The deceased’s grandchildren if they had no surviving children
• Anyone under the age of 18 who depended on the deceased financially

If you have questions about exactly which family members can sue on behalf of the deceased, the accident lawyers at The Dominguez Firm can review your case with you to help determine the line of succession.

Just as with a personal injury claim, your possible compensation can be divided into economic and non-economic damages. Additionally, as of 2022, you have the right to recover non-economic damages for pain and suffering, something that was not available to plaintiffs in wrongful death lawsuits previously.

The economic damages you could be entitled to include:

• Burial costs
• Funeral costs
• Any medical bills the deceased had due to their slip and fall accident injury
• Lost income the decedent was reasonably expected to have earned over their lifetime

The non-economic damages for a wrongful death claim can include loss o:

• Companionship
• Moral support
• Protection
• Affection
• Sexual relations
• Guidance if the deceased had children
• Pain and suffering

Typically, spouses, children or parents are the most common filers of wrongful death claims. While no amount of money can make up for losing a loved one in such an abrupt manner, financial peace of mind can help provide economic stability at such a difficult time. This is especially true if the deceased left any children behind.

Contact the Long Beach Personal Injury Lawyers at The Dominguez Firm

The personal injury attorneys at The Dominguez Firm have helped slip and fall accident victims in Long Beach and throughout Southern California. Our offices have the knowledge, experience, and resources to see your case through to the end. And if both parties can’t reach a fair settlement, we aren’t afraid to go to trial. Not every law firm can do the same.

The Dominguez Firm is not a referral service. We’re a bona fide law firm with a team of award-winning trial attorneys ready to help you. If you or a loved one suffered a slip and fall accident, call us at 800-818-1818 for a free consultation today. And as always, if there is no recovery, there is no fee!