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Posted On August 10, 2011 Personal Injury

How Much Are Slip and Falls Worth?

According to the CDC, over 1 million Americans suffer slip and fall injuries annually, and up to 30% of them have moderate to severe injuries. This means that a slip and fall injury can result in pain and suffering, lost wages, medical expenses and other damages that demand a high level of compensation. To assess the worth of their case, slip and fall victims in the Philadelphia area should call a Philadelphia or New Jersey personal injury lawyer immediately after an accident.

The Worth of a Slip and Fall Injury

For slip and fall victims to receive compensation, the owner of the property where their injury occurred must be liable for its occurrence. With this condition met, victims can pursue compensation for the following damages with the help of New Jersey or Philadelphia personal injury lawyers:

  • General Damages. These damages are considered “general” to an injury and include reduced earning capacity, pain and suffering, mental anguish and loss of consortium.
  • Special Damages. These are monetary damages that result from an injury, such as lost wages, medical expenses, ambulance cost and cost of home upkeep services.
  • Punitive Damages. These damages are pursued when an injury results from egregious actions or – more often than not – from non-actions. For example, the owner of a building may ignore a code citation, making the property unsafe or hazardous. When a slip and fall injury is the consequence, punitive damages are in order.

Most slip and fall settlements include compensation for general and special damages. Compensation for punitive damages is less common.

Slip and Fall Verdicts

*Results may vary depending on your particular facts and legal circumstances

As the following cases demonstrate, the worth of slip and fall injuries can vary significantly by case:

Philadelphia:

  • A University of Pennsylvania medical student received a court award of $18 million for injuries suffered when he slipped and fell into an open manhole in Philadelphia. The bulk of his award was based on his future earnings, which were lost due to his spinal injury. Trigen-Philadelphia Energy Corp. was found 99.99% responsible for the removed manhole cover that led to the injury.
  • A Philadelphia man received a court award of $390,000 for a slip and fall injury suffered in an icy parking lot. A jury found that the parking lot’s owner did not properly clear away ice and snow, which caused the man to slip and fall.

New Jersey:

  • An 11-year-old New Jersey girl received a settlement of $70,000 for a foot and ankle injury sustained on a school ground running path. Pittsgrove Middle School was found to have insufficiently maintained its grounds.

As the verdicts above demonstrate, slip and fall injuries are often compensated. If you have suffered a slip and fall injury in the Philadelphia suburbs but you haven’t yet consulted with New Jersey or Philadelphia personal injury lawyers, don’t wait until it’s too late to file a claim. Call a New Jersey personal injury lawyer at Console and Associates P.C. today.