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If you have never been involved in a premises liability lawsuit before, you might believe that holding a property owner liable for a slip and fall injury is as simple as proving the injury happened on their property. However, it can be challenging to prove that a specific injury stemmed directly from a slip and fall accident in the first place, let alone that a particular landowner holds legal liability for the ensuing losses.
Cases like this are determined by the quantity and quality of evidence you have to support your claim. Here are some examples of commonly used evidence in Philadelphia slip and fall accident cases that, if gathered and preserved after your fall, will be key to establishing that a landowner owes you compensation for your losses.
Witness Testimony and Evidence of the Accident Scene
As with virtually all other types of civil litigation, witness testimony is one of the most common types of evidence used in Philadelphia slip and fall lawsuits. Notably, it can be important to speak not only with people who saw the fall happen but also with those who can attest to the condition of the land where the accident occurred. This might include employees who were supposed to check for spills in a retail store’s aisles or who know how the store’s owner typically delegates that kind of responsibility.
Ideally, there will be some kind of security camera filming and recording the area where the slip and fall accident occurs, in which case it may be fairly simple to establish to a court or insurance company exactly how the accident happened. Barring that, taking photos of the hazard that caused the accident and of the surrounding area before leaving the scene can be crucial to proving a landowner is at fault for allowing a dangerous property condition to exist on their land.
Preserved Shoes and Clothing
One less intuitive but still vital piece of evidence to incorporate into a slip and fall case in Philadelphia is what the injured plaintiff was wearing at the time they slipped and fell. This is primarily useful for contesting allegations of comparative fault made by the defendant(s) against the plaintiff. For example, an accusation that the plaintiff slipped and fell only because they were wearing shoes with no tread or pants that sagged down below the soles of their feet.
Medical Records and Other Evidence of Losses
Finally, it is crucial when suing over any kind of personal injury to be able to establish that the injury stemmed directly and primarily from that specific accident and that its effects are as severe as the plaintiff claims. In addition to comprehensive medical reports generated by physicians who treated the injury in question, it can also be important to collect items such as:
- Pay stubs to demonstrate lost income resulting from the slip and fall accident
- Receipts noting the cost of repairing or replacing damaged personal property
Learn More from a Philadelphia Attorney About Commonly Used Evidence in Slip and Fall Accident Cases
Every slip and fall case is unique, so something that constitutes key evidence for one claim may be entirely irrelevant to another. Still, the types of commonly used evidence in Philadelphia slip and fall accident cases noted above are, more often than not, crucial to establishing fault for your injuries and recovering fair compensation for your resulting losses.
A capable lawyer can help both with collecting relevant information and with making effective use of it throughout the entire legal process. Learn more by calling Lowenthal & Abrams, Injury Attorneys, today.
