Portland Trip & Fall Lawyers
Like a slip and fall accident, a trip and fall can be mildly embarrassing and slightly painful, or it can cause a serious injury. Trip and fall accidents can even be fatal, or they can be permanently disfiguring or disabling. They can also be challenging cases to bring against property owners and their insurance companies, who think of many ways to avoid liability or dispute the injuries you suffered. Getting help from skilled and knowledgeable attorneys, like the team at Rosenbaum Law Group, can mean the difference between having to suffer further by footing the bill for your medical care and lost income, or recovering a full and fair amount of compensation for your pain and suffering and other legal damages. If you’ve been hurt in a premises liability accident brought on by a property owner’s negligence, contact our experienced Portland trip & fall lawyers for a free consultation and immediate assistance in getting the compensation you need and deserve.
Leading Causes of Trip and Fall Accidents in Portland
A trip and fall accident happens because there is something on the floor that shouldn’t be there, or because of some defect in the surface itself. Occasionally people can trip over their own loose footwear or because they lost their balance, but in the vast majority of cases, some foreign object or hazard caused the person to trip and fall. Oregon premises liability law requires property owners to maintain their premises in a reasonably safe condition for the safety of their customers and guests. This duty includes keeping floors and aisles clear of debris and putting up a warning of any permanent hazard that hasn’t been repaired. Some leading causes of trip and fall accidents in Portland include:
- Broken steps
- Loose or broken (or missing) handrails on stairs and ramps
- Unmarked steps or inclines
- Uneven steps
- Torn carpeting
- Rugs or floor mats that are misplaced or bunched up
- Merchandise on the floor
- Trash or debris on the floor
- Displays blocking the aisles
- Extensions cords laid across walking paths
- Items on lower shelves protruding into the aisle
- Malfunctioning escalators
- Mis-leveled or misaligned elevators
- Cracked or broken sidewalks
- Parking lot cracks and potholes
Common Trip and Fall Injuries
The best-case scenario when you trip is that you are able to catch yourself and avoid falling. The second best is being able to break your fall and avoid serious injury. In many cases, however, it’s not possible to break your fall, or even if you do, you suffer a fracture, laceration, or other serious injury. Soft tissue injuries and fractures are common results of a trip and fall. Common injuries can include, for example:
- Sprained wrist
- Sprained ankle
- Avulsion injuries to fingers or hands
- Broken wrists or ankles
- Broken foot
- Broken elbow
- Facial cuts, bruises or lacerations
- Fractured eye socket or ocular damage
- Torn meniscus or other knee injury
- Ruptured disc
- Strained or torn tendons, muscles or ligaments
- Head injury, including concussion or severe traumatic brain injury
Proving Your Trip and Fall Accident Claim
Holding the property owner liable for your trip and fall requires proving they were negligent and at fault. This can mean proving they created the hazard or that they knew about or should have known about it yet failed to fix it or put up a warning or barrier. Trip and fall hazards can be temporary, such as merchandise on the floor, or permanent, such as a broken step. Property owners and their insurance companies will try to avoid liability either way. If the hazard is a temporary one, they’ll say they didn’t have time to learn about it and take care of it before the accident happened. If the danger is permanent, they’ll say the condition was obvious and should have been seen and avoided by the accident victim.
These tactics can reduce the amount of compensation they owe you or help them avoid liability to you altogether. Our skilled and knowledgeable team goes to work investigating and documenting the accident, figuring out how and why it happened, and securing the evidence that proves the full extent of the owner’s negligence while defending you against unfounded claims that you were partially or fully to blame. We’ll also take care to document your injuries and present solid evidence of the harm you suffered so we can recover the full amount of compensation due, whether settling your case out of court or going to trial to secure a jury verdict in your favor.
Contact Rosenbaum Law Group Today
If you have been injured in a trip and fall accident in Portland, or if you lost a loved one in a fatal accident on somebody’s dangerously unsafe property, the premises liability attorneys at Rosenbaum Law Group will work to obtain justice and compensation for you and your family. Call our experienced Portland trip and fall lawyers today for a free consultation about your claims.
