You need a lawyer after a slip and fall at Walmart because you deserve fair compensation for your accident. You need a lawyer because, rest assured, Walmart (or its insurance company) will fight against paying the compensation you deserve. Having a lawyer lead your case may provide several benefits, as attorneys know how to negotiate with well-funded defendants like Walmart.
Following a fall, your focus should be on recovery. If you even attempt to handle your own case, you may risk your health and fail to prepare a strong case against Walmart. Allow an experienced slip and fall accident lawyer to handle your case while you rest, get the needed treatment, and put your life back together.
Walmart Is Known for Fighting Against Slip and Fall Claims
Walmart is ready to defend slip and fall accident claims. The massive retailer’s website explains that it “uses a combination of insurance, self-insured retentions, and self-insurance” to protect itself from liability claims (and simultaneously cover the cost of fall-related injuries).
Because Walmart uses self-insurance, it may have direct financial exposure for the cost of your fall.
Walmart will fight to pay you as little as possible, and you should take this intent seriously because:
- Walmart is a massive corporation with immense financial resources: As of September 2023, Walmart is worth more than $380 billion. This provides the organization with a deep trove of financial resources, and its executives use those resources to fight against slip-and-fall claims.
- Walmart has lawyers: Lawyers are one of the resources Walmart purchases with its considerable financial means. Walmart’s lawyers have a clear directive: to pay as little as possible to shoppers who fall or suffer other accidents on store property. Walmart hires experienced, well-paid, and capable lawyers. You need a capable attorney leading your claim, or you may find yourself out of your depth dealing with Walmart’s attorneys.
- Walmart leadership wants to minimize costs (including litigation costs): Walmart’s profit-driven motive means it must minimize costs to the greatest possible degree. The company faces many lawsuits and insurance claims each year, and each case represents a cost to Walmart. By fighting to pay you as little as possible, Walmart minimizes its costs (at the same time, maximizes its profits).
- You’re nothing but a number to Walmart’s executives and lawyers: Walmart leadership cares little about you or the circumstances of your slip and fall accident. It won’t care about the nature of your injuries or how much money you need to cover lost income, medical bills, and other damages. Walmart only cares about paying you as little money as possible.
Walmart’s executives, lawyers, and insurance providers may or may not admit liability for your slip and fall.
Rather than paying you the compensation you deserve, Walmart and its representatives may:
- Accuse you of causing your own fall (whether by wearing certain footwear, engaging in high-risk behavior, being impaired, or for other reasons)
- Deny its financial responsibility for your fall
- Claim that your fall-related injuries happened before the fall (and are therefore not Walmart’s responsibility)
- Undervalue your fall-related losses
- Offer a lowball settlement and refuse to negotiate in good faith
- Delay the processing of your claim, hoping that you will become financially desperate and accept a lowball offer
These are just a few challenges you may face when seeking compensation from Walmart for a slip and fall. You don’t have to face these challenges alone—a lawyer will handle these challenges for you.
Who Can Seek Compensation for a Slip and Fall at Walmart?
Walmart is open to the public. In most cases, anyone who falls at a Walmart can seek compensation for medical bills, lost income, pain and suffering, and any other damages related to the fall.
Those who may seek compensation for a fall at Walmart include:
- Shoppers
- Walmart employees
- Non-Walmart workers performing services at a Walmart
- Any other person who falls while on Walmart property during store hours
If you have questions about your eligibility to file an insurance claim or lawsuit against Walmart, an attorney will review your case.
What to Do After Slipping and Falling at Walmart
Those who slip and fall at a Walmart store (or on Walmart property) deserve fair compensation for their damages. You also deserve to recover from your injuries without worrying about an insurance claim or lawsuit. With these goals in mind, your post-fall checklist should include:
Receiving a Complete Medical Evaluation
Every fall victim should seek medical attention as soon as possible. While you have likely already left the Walmart where you fell, you may still need a thorough medical examination.
Seek a detailed exam from a detail-oriented doctor because:
- Injuries require diagnoses: You deserve to know exactly what injuries you suffered from a fall. Only then can you know what treatment is necessary and how long you may take to recover. A doctor may conduct a physical exam and take medical images (X-rays, CT scans, MRIs, or otherwise) to diagnose your fall-related injuries.
- Your health can be at risk: Falls can cause life-threatening injuries, including but not limited to internal bleeding and brain injuries. If you do not receive a diagnosis and treatment for your injuries, you can be risking your life (or your long-term health).
- You need to document injuries to receive fair compensation from Walmart: Getting medical attention also benefits any insurance claim or lawsuit you pursue against Walmart. With a doctor’s diagnosis and images of injuries, Walmart representatives may be unable to credibly deny your fall-related health problems.
If you have yet to seek a full physical exam after your fall, do so as soon as possible. If you hire a personal injury lawyer (and you should), the attorney can refer you to a medical professional.
Hiring a Slip and Fall Accident Lawyer
Hiring a lawyer is another essential step after a fall at Walmart.
Do not wait to retain a slip and fall attorney because:
- Your case likely has a filing deadline: Florida generally limits the time to file a slip and fall accident claim or lawsuit. If you wait to hire a lawyer (who will file your case), you may risk your opportunity to seek compensation for your fall.
- Your rights (and financial recovery) are at risk right now: A lawyer’s first responsibility is protecting your rights. Without a lawyer, Walmart and its representatives may try to have you admit fault for causing the fall or accept a lowball settlement offer. In doing so, an attorney will take over communications with insurers, protecting you and your slip and fall case.
- Your lawyer needs to collect evidence as soon as possible: Many types of evidence are time-sensitive. This includes video footage showing your fall. Your lawyer will work to obtain such footage before Walmart erases it.
The sooner you hire your slip-and-fall lawyer, the sooner you can focus wholeheartedly on recovery. Once your lawyer accepts your case, you will transfer all case-related responsibilities to them. Hopefully, this will ease your mind and allow you to recover quickly.
How a Lawyer May Prove That Walmart Caused Your Slip and Fall
Your lawyer will need evidence to prove Walmart’s liability for your slip and fall, including:
- Eyewitness testimony of the slip and fall accident
- Security camera footage of the fall
- Cell phone camera footage of the fall
- Employees’ testimony that the store contained slipping hazards and that management failed to remove those hazards on time
- An expert’s reconstruction of the circumstances that caused your fall
- An expert’s testimony about Walmart’s liability for your fall
- Your own account of the fall
Your attorney may cite past falls in the Walmart location where your fall occurred. This may help establish a pattern of negligence by Walmart representatives, though establishing this pattern is not necessary for you to obtain compensation.
Slipping Hazards That Walmart Is Typically Responsible For
Walmart must maintain clear protocols for spotting and removing slipping hazards in stores, parking lots, and other areas of Walmart property.
Slipping hazards that require immediate removal include:
- Fresh rain, puddles, or melted ice on slick surfaces
- Condensation from air conditioning handlers, pipes, or other sources
- Spills of products, drinks, or other liquids
- Freshly-cleaned tile floors
- Loose debris on the floor
- Loose flooring (including loose tiles)
In addition to training employees about removing slipping hazards, Walmart must constantly monitor its premises. Video cameras and human employees should detect slipping hazards.
If Walmart fails to identify, alert patrons to, or remove a slipping hazard, it puts you at risk. A slip-and-fall accident lawyer will identify every instance of negligence that led you to fall and suffer injuries.
What Else Will a Slip and Fall Accident Lawyer Do for Me?
In addition to documenting your fall and establishing liability, an attorney can:
- Build a claim or lawsuit upon evidence of negligence: Experienced attorneys allow objective facts, evidence, and documentation to speak for themselves. Your lawyer will secure as much evidence of negligence as possible and documentation of your damages.
- Organize documentation of your damages: Your lawyer will obtain medical records, images of your injuries, past income statements, expert testimony, and any other documentation that proves your slip and fall related damages. The more documentation your lawyer secures, the stronger your case may be.
- Demand a settlement from Walmart (or other liable parties): Whether you file an insurance claim or lawsuit, your lawyer will negotiate a settlement on your behalf. Walmart or its insurers should pay their fair share for your fall-related damages, including medical bills.
- File a lawsuit if necessary: If filing a lawsuit is in your best interests, your lawyer will draft and file the paperwork. They will also oversee the legal process, explore settlement options, and weigh whether a trial is necessary.
- Take your case to court if necessary: If your lawyer files a personal injury lawsuit and Walmart’s representatives will not offer a fair settlement, your lawyer will prepare for court to recover the compensation you deserve.
An attorney will provide unbiased, compassionate, determined legal representation An attorney’s experience and training may prove priceless in securing fair compensation for a fall.
Recoverable Damages for Those Who Fall at Walmart
A lawyer will explain the damages you have suffered due to a fall. Several factors, including age, specific fall-related injuries, and the force with which you hit the ground, may determine the cost of your damages.
A fall victim may receive compensation for:
- All medical bills related to your fall, from emergency treatment to rehabilitation
- Pain and suffering, which is a category of non-economic damages common in slip and fall cases
- Lost income, as well as lost bonuses, diminished earning power, and any other professional damages related to your fall
- Any other economic or non-economic damages resulting from the fall
When Walmart fails to protect shoppers and others who enter its property, it must pay for the consequences of its negligence. An attorney will work to ensure you receive all the compensation you deserve and not a dime less.
Recoverable Damages When a Fall at Walmart Proves Fatal
Head injuries, internal injuries, and other injuries from falls can kill their victims.
When this happens, surviving loved ones often deserve compensation for:
- Pain and suffering (including the decedent’s pain and suffering)
- Loss of consortium (which is the loss of the decedent’s non-economic value to their loved ones)
- Grief counseling
- Funeral, burial, and cremation costs
- Loss of the decedent’s income and household services
- Any other economic or non-economic damages resulting from the fatal fall at Walmart
Let a lawyer document and seek compensation for your damages. Keep your attention on your recovery.
Hire Your Slip and Fall Accident Lawyer to Hold Walmart Accountable
Do not wait any longer to hire a personal injury attorney; they must file your case before the statute of limitations expires. Research and hire your slip and fall accident attorney as soon as possible. Consultations are free with no obligation, so you have nothing to lose.
James Wayne Holliday
James Wayne Holliday has been practicing law since 1995. He has been named as a “Best Attorney” Lifetime Charter Member in Florida, an honor awarded to less than one percent of the nation’s lawyers.
Mr. Holliday has earned a reputation as a relentless trial lawyer because of his outstanding work ethic and thorough preparation of his cases for trial.
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