How do I know if I have a legally valid personal injury claim?

How do I know if I have a legally valid personal injury claim? What has to be proved? And what kind of damages can be sought? This involves an injury sustained at a hotel due to a slip and fall at the pool facility that was unsafe.
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Answered By: Law Office of Mark J. Leonardo
Well you would have to share the actual facts of what happened. Were you attentive? What were the weather conditions? What were the surface conditions? What were you wearing (on your feet) ? What was the hazard you refer to? Was it water or some unnatural hazard? Who created the hazard? Who maintained the hazard? How long was the hazard present? did the owner/maintainer of the property have notice of the hazard? Were there warning signs or cones in the area? What were your injuries? Are there witnesses? Photos? Video? These are just some of the questions that would need to be answered before an attorney could give you an opinion as to whether you have a case. Please be aware that slip and fall cases are difficult and are disfavored by the courts. Even with significant injuries they are not easy cases.

Answer Applies to: California
Replied: 10/27/2011

Disclaimer: The response above does not form an attorney-client relationship. This answer may or may not apply to you and should not be relied upon as legal advice. LawQA does not make any representation as to the expertise or qualifications of this attorney. This attorney may or may not be admitted to state bar of your state.

Answered By: David F. Stoddard
You must prove that someone was negligent, and the negligence caused the fall, which caused an injury. With a fall at a business, you normally must prove that a dangerous condition existed, that the dangerous condition was either created by the owner/operator of the facility, or that the owner/operator was aware of the condition and did nothing to make it safe (remove the condition or warn the public about the condition). If a condition is open and obvious, it is usually not considered a dangerous condition. However, even if it is open and obvious, if it could reasonably be expected that people would get hurt despite it being open and obvious, there still might be a viable case. You can recover from a "slip and fall" case if it is aggressively defended.


Answer Applies to: South Carolina
Replied: 10/26/2011

Disclaimer: The response above does not form an attorney-client relationship. This answer may or may not apply to you and should not be relied upon as legal advice. LawQA does not make any representation as to the expertise or qualifications of this attorney. This attorney may or may not be admitted to state bar of your state.

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