In order to build an effective case that will guarantee that you are taken care of after a slip and fall accident, you must act quickly to gather all the information and make the proper documentation that will help you at the time of the trial. If you are not too badly injured at the time of the accident, make sure that you make a thorough investigation of the conditions that led to your injury. Additionally, if possible, you should speak to the person to whom the responsibility of the safety of the area in which you were injured belongs. Properly documenting both the area and your injury are also important steps that will help your attorney build your case against the responsible parties.
If possible, after suffering a slip and fall accident, your first thought should be to assess the situation and determine the cause of your fall. For example, if you fell down at a supermarket, taking note that there was a spill is an excellent starting point. Further, you should get the names and contact information of any witnesses to your slip and fall accident. They will be important parties in establishing fault on the part of the business if they contest the cause of your fall.
The next step should be to talk to the person who was responsible for the area in which you fell. Continuing with the previous supermarket example, you will want to speak to the highest ranked employee of the store on the premises at the time of the slip and fall accident. The reason for this is two-fold. First, you will get the person to make some sort of documentation on his end of the existence of the accident. Second, you want to take note of everything said in this conversation, as it will help you determine any precautions that were or were not taken for the purposes of establishing a breach of duty on his or her part.
After speaking to all the appropriate people and taking note of the conditions that led to your slip and fall accident, you want to start accruing documentation to present to your attorney that will help build your case. This starts at the hospital with a visit to the doctor. This is necessary even if you don’t think you need immediate attention as it will give a credible record of the damage you actually incurred from your fall. You may also want to take pictures of both the scene at which you fell and the injury you suffered. This way, if the injury heals before trial or the owner fixes the condition that led to your fall, you will have a record of the harmful conditions as they once existed.