Waukegan Slip and Fall Lawyer

If you have been injured in a slip and fall accident, or trip on someone else’s property due to a hazardous condition, you may be entitled to compensation for your medical bills, lost wages from time missed at work, and pain and suffering. Your case is worth the fight if the other party was negligent in their duty of care towards you.

The Waukegan personal injury lawyers at Rosenfeld Injury Lawyers, LLC will fight for your right to compensation if you have been injured by someone else’s negligence on property owned by them or that they manage. We offer free consultations so call us today!

Call a Waukegan slip and fall lawyer at (888) 424-5757 (toll-free phone number) or use the contact form today for immediate legal advice and schedule a free consultation. All confidential or sensitive information you share with our legal team remains private through an attorney-client relationship.

Waukegan Slip and Fall Statistics

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports that slip and fall incidents are among the most common causes of non-fatal accidental injuries in the United States. In addition, a study by the National Safety Council found that over 2 million people were treated in emergency rooms for slips or trips between 2015 to 2020.

About 97,000 people were treated for slip and fall injuries during that same time in Illinois.  Over ten years between 2005 to 2014, there were about 119,000 emergency room visits due to falls in Illinois alone.

Although most falls are not deadly, they can cause serious injuries that affect your quality of life; some even permanently disabling. For example, the CDC reports that over half of the patients seen in emergency rooms for falls sustained a head injury, and nearly 30 percent suffered from a broken bone.

Non-fatal slips and falls can cause broken bones and severe injuries like:

• Fractures
• Sprains
• Spinal cord damage
• Soft tissue damage (shearing or tearing)
• Head injuries (even fatal with severe head trauma)
• Cuts, lacerations, bruises
• Internal organ damage

Our Illinois Personal Injury Attorneys Will Make Sure to Get You the Compensation You Deserve

When you suffer an injury due to someone else’s negligence on property owned by them or that they manage, you deserve compensation for your injuries. However, after your injuries, you may feel a lot of uncertainty about whether you will be able to afford the medical care you need.

You likely wonder whether you can return to your work duties and whether your family will survive the financial turmoil you are experiencing.

The Waukegan slip and fall accident attorneys at Rosenfeld Injury Lawyers, LLC, specialize in helping those injured through premises liability or workplace accidents.

We can help ensure that you can recover every bit of compensation that Illinois law will allow so that you can focus on your physical rehabilitation.

Common Causes of Slip and Fall Accidents in Waukegan

A slip or fall can occur anywhere and for many different reasons. Still, property owners are responsible for guests invited to or have a right to use their home, office, or facility.

When reasonable measures are not taken to ensure their safety, injured victims may hold property owners or managers responsible for failing to perform regular maintenance or install proper safety devices.

Following are some of the most common causes of these types of accidents:

• Ice and snow: Black ice is a prevalent cause of slip and fall accidents during winter months, and it is up to property managers to take reasonable actions to clear parking lots and walkways so that guests do not injure themselves. Shoveling, plowing, and putting down salt are all reasonable ways to remove this risk.
• Defective elevator doors: Falls down elevator shafts are tragic and can be prevented by marking off areas under maintenance and ensuring that elevator doors are working correctly and will not open when the elevator is not present.
• Wet floors: After cleaning floors, maintenance staff should mark them off so that people know to expect slick surfaces, and when it is raining or snowing, carpets should be placed down so that moisture doesn’t accumulate and create a hazard.
• Lack of guardrails: Guardrails must be installed wherever there is a risk of falls from considerable heights, such as on balconies or staircases.
• Poorly maintained staircases: Many trip and fall accidents occur on defective or littered stairways with debris and hazards. Property owners are responsible for ensuring that stairs are appropriately maintained, well-lit, and free of trip hazards.
• Poorly maintained pavement and sidewalks: Potholes and uneven pavement can be hazardous to people when they don’t expect to trip or have a foot caught by a pothole or sudden rise or drop in the ground beneath them.
• Workplace hazards: From poorly maintained railings to debris and trip hazards, some causes of slip and fall accidents on the job. However, slip, trip, and fall events account for the most severe workplace accidents besides falling objects.
• Lack of supervision: Many injured victims are harmed by nursing home neglect when the staff fails to provide sufficient supervision to ensure everyone’s safety. Many of these accidents are catastrophic; the resident develops other medical conditions after breaking a hip or leg or suffering head trauma.

Nearly all the slip and fall cases are preventable if only the owner or facility manager had taken a few precautionary steps to protect the guests and visitors.

When a person sustains an injury from a slip, trip, or fall accident that wasn’t their fault, they could be entitled to significant compensation.

Their personal injury might include medical bills, lost wages, pain and suffering, and other damages to help them through this difficult time.

How Waukegan Slip and Fall Accidents May Result in Tragic Injuries

Most falls lead to very minor and temporary injuries. Still, some can be severe and require immediate and long-term medical care before the victim can return to regular activities. Others may still leave them forever changed and unable to live as they once enjoyed.

Here are some of the most common injuries we see following these kinds of accidents:

• Traumatic brain injuries: What is so alarming about these injuries is how invisible they can be. Following a blow to the head, you may feel healthy, only to discover weeks later that the damage done to your brain is just beginning to manifest symptoms. These injuries can have a catastrophic impact, from loss of motor function to loss of memory and cognition and the inability to communicate or concentrate.
• Injuries to the back and spine: A fall from the right distance or angle can easily slip or rupture a disc, break one vertebra, or sever your spine, rendering you partially or fully paralyzed. Caring for the paralyzed is exorbitant, adding insult to injury in many personal injury cases.
• Broken bones: Fractures are prevalent after these types of accidents. The treatment required to allow you to return to your normal activities can be extensive, depending on the fracture type.
• Fractured hands and fingers: If the fall landed directly on your hand, there’s a high risk of fracturing some or all of your fingers. It can cause severe pain and long-term problems that affect your ability to function normally in many areas of life.
• Death: Falls from significant heights can result in losing a loved one. The family must then incur the cost of the memorial and the loss of a companion and role model, and the deceased’s financial contributions.

Slip, trip, and fall accidents are common and often ignored as severe health and safety issues.

The victim often believes their injuries are minor or nonexistent, only to later find out through a diagnosis that they broke a bone, suffered deep tissue injuries, or have a lifelong medical condition that wasn’t readily observable.

By working with a Waukegan personal injury lawyer from our law firm, you can rest assured that we will do everything possible to prove your claim and hold those who should have been more responsible accountable for their negligence. In addition, your personal injury attorney will negotiate directly with the defendant’s insurance company to ensure you receive maximum compensation for your serious injury.

Slip and Falls in Nursing Homes

After developing bedsores, nursing homes slipping and falling rank second in the most catastrophic injuries due to abuse or neglect.

Many of the elderly, disabled, and infirmed individuals residing in nursing homes are at the mercy of staff members providing supervision and assistance with activities of daily living.

Any mishap, neglect, or mistreatment could lead to a slip-and-fall injury based on someone else’s negligence. These fall injuries can significantly harm the accident victims, leading to their death, permanent injury, or disabled state.

A slip and fall can result from:

• Failing to maintain the floor where the victim fell properly
• Failing to provide a safe environment for residents/patients who require assistance to ambulate or cross walkways
• Improperly storing laundry bins led to residents tripping over them
• Failing to ensure a resident did not slip due to a lack of adequate lighting or floor cleaning supplies
• Failure to properly assess safety risks by an RN, CNA, housekeeper, etc
• Injuries from nursing home fall accidents can involve
• Broken bones (fractures) that require surgical repair
• Neck and back injuries that can lead to chronic pain, limited mobility, and physical disability
• Head injuries, which are often overlooked but can result in lifelong cognitive impairment or even death
• Paralysis that leads to dependence on others for activities of daily living (ADLs) such as eating, bathing, dressing, toileting, etc
• Burns that require skin grafting lead to scarring and disability
• Death

Nursing homes fall victims can result in the resident’s death (or eventually decedent) if proper care for their injuries is unavailable or delayed due to nursing home neglect or abuse. These deaths are called “hospital-acquired conditions” because they can occur following a hospital stay.

Medical Malpractice and Nursing Home Abuse

Medical Malpractice and nursing home abuse go hand in hand. When one person causes injury or damage to another, there is negligence. If that negligent behavior results in injury or death, the victim’s family can file a Waukegan personal injury claim or wrongful death.

Slip and fall accidents are prevalent in hospitals, and medical settings due to a lack of supervision expired cleaning supplies, wet floors, and damaged areas where residents and patients are expected to walk or assist someone else with walking.

• The accident scene may have evidence that is vital to the case, including
• The floor is still wet from fresh mopping that was not done thoroughly or at all,
• The floor matting is not in place correctly to provide traction for residents who are required to walk on their own or assisted with walking by another medical staff member
• The resident aggressively stumbles. Still, no one tries to catch them before they fall

If you have experienced a slip and fall injury that has left you with life-changing injuries, please contact us today to discuss your legal options.

Personal Injury Lawsuits Involving Wrongful Death

Surviving family members who lost a loved one in a fatal fall injury caused by someone else’s negligence can file a personal injury lawsuit citing a preventable death. These cases can be heard in civil court, and the family may be awarded monetary damages.

Compensatory Damages

Qualifying surviving family members, including spouses, children, grandchildren, parents, grandparents, and siblings, can file a wrongful death lawsuit seeking compensatory damages. Under civil tort law, compensatory damage involves monetary compensation to family members (or decedents) who lost their lives due to someone else’s recklessness, negligence, or intentional act.

Compensatory damages paid by the defendant’s insurance company include:

• Funeral costs
• Economic Damages: Including wages the deceased could have earned through future employment or savings used for retirement or education expenses that are now being left behind
• Non-economic damages: Including emotional distress, pain, and suffering the deceased endured before their death, lost companionship, mental anguish experienced by surviving family members, loss of love or affection

Punitive Damages

Sometimes, a Lake County jury can award punitive and compensatory damages. Punitive damages are awarded to punish the individual or business responsible for your loved one’s death or injuries due to negligence. They can also serve as a warning to others who may engage in negligent behavior.

Every state has a different law, but most wrongful death lawsuits must be filed within two years of the date of injury or the date of death from the fall-related accident. If you have lost a loved one because of another person’s negligence and wish to file a claim, please contact our Waukegan, IL, law offices today to discuss your legal options.

In addition to the possibility of receiving compensation for medical bills, lost wages, and pain and suffering, you can hold the individual or entity who caused your loved one’s death financially responsible.

For example, suppose a jury awards monetary damages against that person or company. In that case, they must pay those funds to you and any future financial losses incurred due to their negligence.

All insurance companies typically pay compensatory damages. However, punitive damages might be paid from the defendant’s other assets or policy from a different insurance company.

Public Place and Premises Liability: Legal Concepts and Definitions

Slip and fall accidents can occur at various locations, including government, public or private businesses; transportation; schools; recreational facilities; commercial property, churches; shopping centers; parking lots; health care facilities such as nursing homes, hospitals, doctor’s offices, dentists’ office, etc.

These locations are considered “premises” since they are owned or controlled by an individual or institution.

These premises may have poorly lit stairwells, wet floors from people mopping or attempting to clean up hard spills with towels, and wet basements due to flooding where walking on a tile floor is slick from the moisture.

In some cases, a landowner or establishment may be legally responsible for injuries sustained in a slip and fall accident due to negligence. After a falling event, the injured party can seek compensation through a premises liability claim.

What is Premises Liability?

Premises liability refers to an area owned or controlled by an individual or institution, considered “under one’s dominion and control.”

A property owner may be held liable if someone becomes injured due to dangerous conditions. It includes the conditions of sidewalks, parking lots, stairwells, doors, elevators, or other places open to the public for use.

Negligence is the legal concept that an individual fails to use reasonable care in dealing with another person or their property, which ultimately causes harm.

A premises liability claim can be pursued for any injury sustained due to slippery floors, spills on the floor, or any other dangerous condition on another’s property. If someone has been seriously injured due to a fall, it is important to seek medical attention immediately.

Many personal injury cases arise from slip and fall accidents that occur on someone else’s property, whether the accident occurred at home or in a business setting.

Slip and Fall Claims

Suppose you have been injured by slipping or tripping on an uneven surface due to poor maintenance of another person’s property. In that case, you may have a case for undertaking legal recourse for monetary damages.

You should contact a Chicago personal injury attorney who handles slip and fall cases to discuss your legal options available under premises liability law for compensation.

Disability Lawsuits

When completing a motor vehicle accident report, you may have been asked whether the other driver involved in an auto collision had a disability or medical condition that contributed to causing the accident.

If the answer is yes, you may have a case for filing a disability claim against the at-fault driver to receive compensation for your injuries and damages from losses incurred from the accident.

Many car accidents are caused by drivers with disabilities such as epilepsy or diabetes who were not taking their medication or insulin when injured.

Other drivers may be impaired by alcohol or drugs, adversely affecting their motor vehicle ability.

In addition, individuals not taking medication as prescribed for any disease or impairment, such as depression, bipolar disorder, anxiety disorders, and even schizophrenia, could cause an auto collision that results in injuries to others.

Put Our Waukegan Slip and Fall Lawyers to Work for You

Rosenfeld Injury Lawyers LLC is one of the most successful personal injury law firms in the Waukegan area because we leave no stone unturned in our pursuit of compensation for our clients.

Our Cook County law office has helped thousands of people with cases similar to yours in and around the Chicagoland area, which is why we guarantee our ability to secure damages— or you won’t need to pay for our services.

Contact a Waukegan slip and fall attorney today at (888) 424-5757 (toll-free phone number) or use the contact form to schedule a free consultation to discuss your legal options to seek justice and compensation through legal assistance.

Speak with an award-winning Waukegan slip and fall accident attorney who can review your legal options and decide how best to proceed with your claim.

Our personal injury lawyers accept all injury cases and wrongful death lawsuits involving Illinois residents on a contingency fee basis. This promise ensures you will not pay us for our legal services and advice until your case is resolved through a jury verdict or negotiated settlement.

Our Waukegan, IL, personal injury law firm represents clients and related practice areas, including car accidents, medical malpractice, pedestrian accidents, defective drugs, premises liability, motorcycle accidents, product liability, and workers’ compensation benefits.

Waukegan Slip and Fall Lawyer Resources:

• NIH – Prevent Falls and Fractures
• NIH – State of science: occupational slips, trips, and falls on the same level