Philadelphia Top Injury Lawyer Blog

As a Philadelphia personal injury lawyer, I sometimes handle a special kind of slip-and-fall case known as a negligent security case. In an ordinary slip-and-fall case, the court applies premises liability law -- the law making owners of properties open to the public responsible for making sure those properties are safe. This generally means removing hazards like icy stairways, large holes in the floor or live electric wires. In negligent security cases, the same principle is applied to violent crimes -- premises owners can be held liable for failing to prevent violent crime, under certain circumstances. That was put to the test in the Mississippi Supreme Court's ruling in Double Quick Inc. v. Moore. The ruling grants summary judgment to Double Quick, a convenience store company, after determining that violence against Mario Moore was not foreseeable.

Moore was shot after he intervened in a fight between George Ford and Cassius Gallion. Ford and Gallion "exchanged words" inside the store, and assistant manager Wytisha Jackson accompanied Ford outside to ensure that his young son got into the car safely. The fight continued outside as Mario Moore arrived. Moore intervened, threw a punch at Ford and accidentally hit Jackson, who went indoors to call the police. In the meantime, Ford pulled a pistol from his trunk and shot Moore to death. Four months later, the administrator of Moore's estate, Dorothy Moore, sued Double Quick for negligence. In its motion for summary judgment, Double Quick argued that premises liability law applied and Moore failed to meet the standards of that tort, which requires proof of foreseeability. Moore cross-moved for summary judgment on negligence. The trial court ultimately denied both summary judgment motions but granted Double Quick leave to file this interlocutory appeal.

The Mississippi Supreme Court ultimately sided with Double Quick, finding that the case was more appropriately viewed as a premises liability case than a general negligence claim seeking to hold Jackson liable (and Double Quick vicariously liable) for failing to prevent the shooting. In order to make that determination, the court said, it must look at the facts. In this case, Jackson is not accused of shooting Moore, it said; in fact, Jackson was unaware of his presence at first. (That likely changed when he threw the punch.) However, the claim does spring from Moore's presence on the premises, so the court found that it was property a case of premises liability. In order to win such a case, the high court noted, the plaintiff must show that Double Quick breached a duty it owed to Moore. While Moore met most of the criteria for the claim, the court said, the plaintiff did not show that Moore's death was reasonably foreseeable. Indeed, it noted that Jackson voluntarily accompanied Ford and his son outside, and that no evidence of an "atmosphere of violence" was alleged on the site. Thus, it reversed the case and granted summary judgment to Double Quick.

This case is interesting to me as a Philadelphia injury lawyer in part because it shows how difficult it can be to prove a negligent security case. In Pennsylvania and most other states, it's not enough to show that you were hurt by violent crime on someone else's property; you must be able to show that the violence was easy to foresee. For example, if a gate is routinely left unsecured in a neighborhood known to be high in crime, an invasion of the premises may be reasonably foreseeable. In this case, Jackson's decision to accompany Ford outside is being interpreted as a sign that she felt no threat from him, but it could just as easily be read in the opposite way -- that she accompanied him outside precisely because she expected more fighting and thought her presence could prevent it. As a Philadelphia accident lawyer, I work hard to make my clients' cases whenever this kind of dispute arises.

Continue reading "Mississippi Court Rules Lawsuit Over Shooting in Parking Lot Is Premises Liability Claim - Double Quick v. Moore" »

As a Philadelphia personal injury lawyer, I was interested to see a recent ruling on a wrongful death claim stemming from a slip and fall accident in south Jersey. In Risko v. Thompson Mueller Automotive Group, Inc., the court ordered a new trial in the case because of what were described as "outlandish statements" to the jury by the plaintiff's attorney. The trial judge originally interrupted the disputed statements to chastise the attorney and warn that he was considering declaring a mistrial, but ended up allowing the case to continue. After the jury awarded $1.75 million to Peter Risko, the dealership successfully moved for a new trial. The appeals court reversed that order, but the state Supreme Court reversed it again, saying the comments warranted a new trial.

The underlying case involved the alleged wrongful death of Camille Risko, who fell down in an car showroom in Hammonton, N.J., breaking her hip and leading to colitis and eventually septic shock that took her life. At the summation of the wrongful death trial, Risko's wrongful death attorney compared Camille Risko's experience to torture, noted that the Eighth Amendment to the Constitution outlaws torture, and told the jurors to report to the judge any juror who found for less than $1 million because they would be "ignoring the law." They found for $1.75 million. The judge granted a new trial on the dealership's request, saying he should have declared a mistrial or cautioned the jury about the excessive statements. A divided Appellate Division reversed, and the dealership appealed. The New Jersey Supreme Court found that the inflammatory remarks warranted a new trial on damages only, because the trial judge failed to act immediately. Justice Rivera-Soto concurred and dissented in part, arguing that deference required a new trial on liability as well as damages.

As a Philadelphia accident lawyer, I sympathize with the plaintiff in this case. Because of this series of appeals, Peter Risko now has to wait even longer to put this episode behind him and find out whether he will ultimately be fairly compensated for the unnecessary, avoidable death of his wife. Slips and falls sound like no big deal, but for older people and people who land in an unlucky place, they can be crippling or even deadly. A broken hip would have been a hardship in itself for Camille Risko; the complications she later suffered could have destroyed her quality of life even further. That's why it's vital for business owners to avoid maintenance problems or sloppy construction site practices that create tripping hazards, take away handrails and create other problems for visitors to the site.

Continue reading "High Court Orders New Trial in South Jersey Wrongful Death Case - Risko v. Thompson Mueller Automotive Group" »

As a Philadelphia accident lawyer, I was disappointed to read about the death of a 25-year-old man in an unusual accident. According to the Philadelphia Inquirer, the man died on the night of June 3 after he mistakenly stepped into an empty elevator shaft and fell five stories. The man was not named pending notification of his family, but he was reportedly a resident of the building on Chestnut Street in the Washington Square West neighborhood. The elevator is the older kind with a gated lift. Representative from the state Department of Labor and Industry said it would send an elevator inspector to the building June 6 to determine whether the elevator is safe for other users.

The article said the building itself is older, with external fire escapes as well as the old-fashioned elevator. Police said the light was out as well, and that the man didn't realize the elevator was not at the fifth floor, which is the building's top floor. The accident was reported just before midnight June 3 and the man was pronounced dead at Thomas Jefferson University Medical Center around 1:15 on June 4. The Department of Labor and Industry said it was working with law enforcement to keep the elevator out of service and "secure" until it could send an inspector. A city spokesperson added that the City Licenses and Inspections Commission has no authority over elevators.

One thing that struck me about this story, as a Philadelphia injury lawyer, is the apparent lack of safeguards against just this kind of accident. Elevators have safety rules, which is why the state has elevator inspectors, but it's not clear whether any safety rules were broken in his case. Nonetheless, if a 25-year-old man can walk into an elevator shaft without noticing that the elevator isn't there, as this story suggests, it's easy to imagine unattended children or an impaired person doing the same. If the management of this building failed to install required safety equipment, or failed to maintain the light in violation of regulations, it could be considered legally liable for the accident. And that would entitle the victim's family to file a wrongful death lawsuit, which could help them defray the costs of the death as well as compensate them for a loved one lost too soon.

Continue reading "Man Dies After Falling Down Elevator Shaft in Center City Apartment Building" »

It's been a rough winter for those in in Philadelphia and along the entire East Coast. Record levels of snow, ice, and freezing rain have fallen throughout the region and become quite the challenge for those who live, work, commute, and walk around the Philadelphia area.

This week, several inches of ice and freezing rain fell across a large region of the country again. This storm left several business parking lots, town sidewalks, and streets icy and unplowed as already cash strapped businesses slacked on taking care of the ice on their property. With so many storms this year, several businesses are running low on snow and ice removal funds.

A Philadelphia injury lawyer advises you to be careful, as what this could mean to you or a loved one is a slip and fall accident as a result of ice or slick snow. If you have become injured due to a slip and fall on ice or snow you may be able to receive compensation from whoever is determined to be responsible.

This all will depend on where you fell, when you fell, what the weather conditions were like when you fell and more. If you or a loved one has suffered injuries from a slip and fall, do not hesitate to contact a Philadelphia injury lawyer to find out what you may be entitled to today.

According to widely cited sources, 450,000+ Americans suffer from some form of spinal cord injury (a.k.a. SCI). 10,000 or so new cases of SCI develop every year, and more than 4 out of 5 victims are healthy young men between the ages of 16 and 30. This blog post will touch on the basic causes and consequences of SCI and connect you with a trustworthy and experienced Philadelphia injury lawyer who can answer your burning questions about how to get compensated for your SCI-related medical bills and how to deal with the overwhelming logistics (e.g. insurance forms) that you are struggling with.

Causes of SCI

Common causes included car, truck, and motorcycle accidents, violence and sports injuries, and falls. Diseases such as spina bifida, Friedreich's ataxia, and botched surgeries can also cause serious damage to the nerves running from the base of your brain down to your pelvic region.

Classifications of spinal cord injuries

A good rule of thumb is that the higher up on your spine the injury is, the more widespread your damage will be. So if you suffer an injury to your C1 vertebra in your neck, you might expect massive loss of function, including perhaps paraplegia or quadriplegia. If you suffer damage to your sacral vertebrae -- that's the lower part of your back -- you will still suffer serious effects but perhaps not as serious as you would get from cervical nerve damage.

There are essentially four regions of the spine: Cervical, thoracic, lumbar, and sacral. Sacral nerve damage is associated with loss of function and paralysis of your hands, diaphragm, head, wrists, biceps, neck, and triceps. Damage to the thoracic spine can cause function loss to the abdominal muscles and chest muscles. Lumbar injury can result in loss of function of leg muscles. And sacral damage can yield sexual dysfunction and problems with bowel and bladder control.

Spinal cord injuries can be classified as "incomplete" or "complete." These classifications are loose: essentially they refer to your level of voluntary control and sensation in specific regions. A complete injury means that you've totally lost sensation and control over the injured region. Incomplete means that you've only lost partial control. Obviously, this classification is in some sense artificial. Some complete injuries can actually reverse themselves. And incomplete SCI injuries range from minor and inconvenient to life altering and debilitating.

What to do now?

Your first priority should be to get the most appropriate medical, surgical and rehabilitative help you can, as quickly as you can. Unfortunately, nerve damage is very hard to reverse, and it can take a while for injuries to the spine to "show up" in the form of loss of function or side effects. Moreover, if you don't follow a rigorous and carefully structured rehabilitative plan, you could wind up exacerbating your injury (making it worse) and causing additional damage.

On the other hand, medical science is rapidly evolving, and physicians and clinicians are constantly trying out new breakthrough technologies and procedures to provide additional function and ease the pain of SCI.

In terms of getting compensation from liable parties who caused injury to you - such as a careless surgeon, a fatigued trucker, or an overly aggressive sports opponent - your best bet is to consult a Philadelphia accident lawyer or Philadelphia medical malpractice lawyer as quickly as possible. Or, if you are too sick and injured, delegate a relative to contact an attorney for you. If you lack good representation from the get go, you may accidentally say or do things that could impede your ability to collect much needed money to pay for your spinal rehabilitative surgery, time off of work, pain medications, and so forth.

Continue reading "Spinal Cord Injury Basics: What you need to know and how to get help" »

Last Sunday, 23-year-old Stewart Haverty fell to his death at a football game between the Philadelphia Eagles and Chicago Bears. The young man allegedly had gotten up onto the colonnade level to have a smoke, when he fell 35 feet onto a flat roof on the west part of Soldier Field. He died of multiple injuries just an hour after the fall, according to the Cook County Medical Examiner's Office. Witnesses to the fall said they saw Haverty jump over a 3-foot barrier - apparently to have some privacy while he smoked. (Soldier Field prohibits smoking). The young man's father discussed the tragedy with Fox Chicago News: "Apparently on his way trying to make it that ledge, he slipped or lost his balance...or, for all I know, he could have slipped while trying to light the cigarette."

Story of the half-time accident quickly made regional headlines. In addition to the tragic and surprising circumstances of the fall; the story raises interesting legal questions about premises liability law. As a Philadelphia accident lawyer might tell you, different property owners owe different "duties of care" to visitors and patrons. Depending on your classification as an "invitee" "licensee" or "trespasser," a property owner will have different obligations to you. Football fans who enter a football stadium should be protected from roof top falls. But this doesn't mean that a football stadium or any other entity can be legally held responsible for your problems if you stray into a prohibited area or hop a clearly marked barrier. All that said, as a qualified Philadelphia injury lawyer will note, even individuals who trespass can successfully sue property owners under certain circumstances.

The general point here is that premises liability law can get exceptionally complicated and surprisingly nuanced. So if you or someone you care about has been hurt or injured - you fell on an ice coated parking lot at a Philadelphia shopping center, for instance - it's at least worth your time and energy to consult with an attorney about possible options you may have to collect money for things like your pain and suffering, your medical bills, your rehabilitation, medications and surgery, and time off of work.

Likewise, a Philadelphia medical malpractice lawyer can provide essential services if you've been mistreated or misdiagnosed at an area hospital, birthing center, or other medical facility.

Continue reading "Tragic Football Death Shakes Philadelphia" »

As any Philadelphia accident lawyer will tell you, personal injury trials can get complicated, emotional, and costly. In an ideal world, individuals and companies who owe a "duty of care" to others in society would be more careful and avoid committing careless or negligent acts that cause harm to other people. Unfortunately, we don't live in a perfect world. But there are concrete and statistically proven "life strategies" you can employ that will diminish the likelihood that you will ever need the services of a Philadelphia injury lawyer.

1. Be mindful while driving

Studies suggest that drivers under the influence of alcohol or drugs or drivers who get behind the wheel while text messaging or talking on the phone (even with a handsfree headset) tend to be far more at risk for accidents. This is because driving requires serious concentration. If you do things like fiddle with a radio, rubberneck at an accident or even engage in a handsfree cell phone conversation with your mom, you will less attentive to the road and less able to react effectively to potential dangers, such as debris in lanes or trucks swerving into your lane.

2. Eat a healthy diet

Avoiding processed foods and refined sugars can do wonders not only for your cardiovascular system and your middle but also for your attention span. People who consume too much sugar (found in foods ranging from sodas to juice to beer) suffer fatigue more easily, reduced attention span and a limited ability to process information.

3. Get sunlight

Some studies suggest that regular exposure to sunlight can help the body replete its stores of vitamin D and can also help produce a positive immune system effect, thus leading to reduced likelihood of injuries and accidents.

4. Get enough sleep

Studies and anecdotal reports suggest that fatigued workers and drivers tend to be more accident prone and more oblivious. Moreover, an upsettingly large percentage of Philadelphians do not get enough sleep or do not get enough regular, uninterrupted sleep. Prioritize getting shut eye to protect yourself and others on the road, at your job and elsewhere.

5. Avoid "catastrophic thinking" and focus on risks that are more statistically likely

Thanks to media hype, many Philadelphians find themselves worried about unlikely events like terrorist attacks, shark attacks, and lightning strikes. Instead, at least statistically speaking, they should focus on avoiding "real" dangers like asthma/emphysema, heart disease and obesity. Don't allow the "shock value" of a scare story to deplete this focus. Pointless worrying does not resolve any issues; and it can actually distract you from effective thinking about problems that really matter.

If you or someone you care about has been hurt in a Philadelphia accident or is in need of a Philadelphia medical malpractice lawyer, don't hesitate to get help. The longer you delay seeking legal advice, the more difficult it may be to get a good result.

Continue reading "Avoiding Philadelphia Accidents and Injuries: 5 Surprising Tips" »

What is your hand worth? Is your right hand worth more than your left hand? You can function with one hand, but what if you earn your living by typing on a computer keyboard? Can you still provide for your family if you only have the use of one hand? Will your employer fire you if you can't produce at the same rate as someone with two functioning hands? No one in Philadelphia likes to think about these things, but people lose a hand or the use of a hand or other body part every day in tragic construction accidents, car accidents, truck accidents and motorcycle accidents.

Insurance companies that insure Philadelphia businesses and residents spend thousands of hours pouring over statistics to arrive at the cost of a limb or an eye or a person's ability to sit or stand or walk. Using complicated calculations, insurance companies decide what they will pay the victim of a Philadelphia personal injury accident if the person loses a body part or the use of a limb or if he loses the ability to perform a basic human function such as walking.

Insurance companies tend to be one size fits all. Without a legal push, they are generally unwilling to factor in the importance of lost function to the individual and his family. Without a legal push, insurance companies are usually uninterested in how the loss will impact the individual's personal and family life. Without a legal push, they are often indifferent to how loss of use will affect an individual's ability to support himself and his family now and into the future. Experienced Philadelphia personal injury lawyers supply that push.

Philadelphia personal injury attorneys fight for the rights and needs of Philadelphia personal injury accident victims. If you are the victim of an accident, don't accept the insurance company's offered settlement without first talking to an experienced Philadelphia personal injury lawyer.

Eighty-five inches of snow! A normal winter in Minnesota or North Dakota where brutal winters are the norm; but in usually temperate Philadelphia it's a record that has closed airports, halted trains, downed power lines, sent school children home, caused cars to careen into each other and sent Philly residents sliding across sidewalks. Mother Nature's most recent wallop has contributed to numerous Philadelphia personal injury accidents and several deaths. Philadelphia car and truck accidents, slip and fall accidents and personal injury accidents caused by snow blower malfunctions have increased in the wake of the latest Nor'easter to blow through Philadelphia.

Yesterday, Pennsylvania highway officials cut the maximum speed on I-476 and later banned tractor-trailers because of dangerous whiteout conditions. Accident reports on I-95 exceeded troopers' ability to respond and non-injury accident victims were instructed to exchange information and struggle home. A woman and her son died and her husband and two other children were rushed to the emergency room yesterday when their car slid off icy I-80 in the Poconos. Amtrak suspended service for several hours along its heavily trafficked Boston to Washington corridor when a high-speed train struck and killed two Philadelphia pedestrians just south of the city yesterday morning.

The snow dumped on Philadelphia is so wet and heavy that it's clogging snow blowers, increasing personal injury risk to fingers and hands as people struggle with malfunctioning snow blowers, attempting to unclog snow-packed chutes. Mixed with rain, the wet snow is causing an icy slip and fall hazard for Philadelphia pedestrians skidding along sidewalks and attempting to traverse ice-slicked parking lots.

When weather plays a role in personal injury accidents, it takes exacting investigation by a highly experienced Philadelphia personal injury lawyer to determine legal fault. If you have suffered a personal injury accident during this latest round of storms, contact an expert Philadelphia personal injury attorney to assess your claim and explain your legal rights.

After this weekend's heavy snow and this past week's below-freezing temperatures, slip and fall accidents in Philadelphia are on the rise. If you are looking for personal injury legal advice, a Philadelphia personal injury attorney can help. There are actions victims can take after a bad slip to help their case.

The number one mistake people make after an injury has happened is that it is not reported to the store or place of business as soon as, or shortly after, an accident happens. In some cases if the injured person waits over a week or longer, the case may be more difficult to litigate.

The reason the slip and fall injury report must be filed soon after an accident is because the lawyer must prove in court that the business or property owner had prior knowledge of the hazard. For example, if a slip occurs on an ice patch on a sidewalk in Philadelphia, contrary to popular belief, the city is not liable for the upkeep of sidewalks and walkways. Rather, the businesses and/or property owners bordering the sidewalk where the accident has happened may be liable by not properly maintaining these thoroughfares.

However, a patch of ice on the sidewalk is not necessarily a liability issue for the business owner either, depending on the time of day or the weather condition of the entire area that day. Ephemeral conditions such as ice patches can be difficult to prove otherwise, because even the best personal injury attorney must convince the court that the property owner had prior knowledge (or "notice") of the ice hazard.

By filing a report quickly, as well as consulting a personal injury attorney, the time and conditions are recorded legally. Personal injury lawyers have extensive experience with winter slip and fall cases, and can quickly provide legal advice. Don't wait to get savvy legal advice and then lose your right for injury compensation by not informing the injury location business owner quickly.

Once again brutish winter weather led Philadelphia headlines as an Alberta Clipper blanketed states from the Great Plains to the Atlantic Coast with ice, snow and freezing temperatures. Philadelphia residents endured a slow, slushy commute this morning peppered with car accidents on the slippery roads. Many Philadelphia schools and businesses opened late this morning to give buses and employees a little longer to navigate Philadelphia's treacherous highways.

One inch of snow was recorded in Philadelphia last night but western Pennsylvania and parts of Central Ohio received up to 6 inches of snow. Snow-related treacherous highway conditions on I-70 near Columbus, Ohio are believed to have played a role in yesterday's tragic truck accident. As reported on national newscasts, the driver of an empty tanker truck lost control of the vehicle which careened across the median and crashed head-on into a mini-bus carrying disabled adults home from a training session. The bus driver and three of the adults were killed in the truck accident.

Philadelphia was fortunate to be spared a highway fatality, although numerous car accidents and truck accidents were reported throughout the area this morning, adding to computing headaches. Things didn't get any easier once people parked their cars and headed across slippery parking lots for the office door. Melting snow and freezing temperatures turned Philadelphia parking lots and sidewalks in skating rinks. Dangerous slip and fall accidents were a serious concern this morning. With sunny skies expected today followed by overnight temperatures in the chilly mid-teens, the melt-and-freeze cycle should continue to make Philadelphia sidewalks and parking lots a dangerous slip and fall personal injury hazard all weekend.

When bad weather results in car and truck accidents or causes slip and fall accidents, investigation by a Philadelphia personal injury attorney can discover possible fault or negligence on the part of drivers or property owners and help you collect the settlement you deserve.

In a single day last weekend, a whole winter's worth of snow fell on Philadelphia. The early winter storm that howled up the East Coast dumped 22.5 inches of snow on Philadelphia, beating the city's 20-inch average winter snowfall total. Still digging out of the drifts, the city is in the path of a new storm that could make driving and walking in Philadelphia even more treacherous. Meteorologists are predicting a wet Christmas Eve storm that could begin as early as tonight, coating roads and sidewalks with ice and turning Philadelphia into a slip and fall obstacle course.

Philadelphia pedestrians are already dodging icy runoff trickling across parking lots from melting stacks of snow. Roof melt flowing through downspouts and across sidewalks and driveways is also creating dangerous slip and fall hazards at Philadelphia businesses and homes. Called "black ice," these thin sheens of nearly invisible ice can make parking lots and sidewalks dangerously treacherous for pedestrians. A single wrong step and your feet can fly out from under you, sending you crashing to the ground. It's the kind of Philadelphia slip and fall accident that can result in a broken leg, broken wrist, broken hip or much worse.

Winter storms can turn Philadelphia's sidewalks and parking areas into a veritable obstacle course of slip and fall hazards. Philadelphia personal injury lawyers are bracing for another batch of slip and fall accident cases if the predicted storm hits as shoppers hurry to get ready for Christmas. Philadelphia personal injury attorneys warn that property owners may not be liable for slip and fall injuries. Investigation must prove that the condition that caused the injury was actually dangerous. Property owner awareness of the hazard and whether the accident could have been avoided are also factors. Philadelphia personal injury lawyers recommend that slip and fall victims immediately report the incident to the property owner and contact a Philadelphia personal injury lawyer about their rights.

It should be a pleasantly balmy, if breezy, 54 degrees in Philadelphia today. Enjoy it now because tonight the full force of winter will blow into Philadelphia as the fierce winter storm that has hammered the nation blankets the city. Daytime Philadelphia temperatures are expected to drop nearly 20 degrees by tomorrow morning with overnight temps below freezing for the next week. Rain mixed with snow and sleet could make driving conditions around Philadelphia extremely dangerous. Powerful wind gusts over 40 mph could make walking on rain and ice-slicked pavements extremely treacherous and lead to numerous slip and fall accidents.

The storm that's about to descend on Philadelphia has wrought havoc and hundreds of personal injury accidents across the country. Torrential rains caused mud slides in California. Winds over 100 mph ripped roofs off buildings in New Mexico. Fifteen-foot snow drifts immobilized Iowa and Illinois. Southern states are bracing for flooding and tornadoes. Downed power lines, subzero wind chills, power outages, flight delays, falling tree limbs, jackknifed trucks and hundreds of car accidents litter the storm's aftermath. At least four deaths have been attributed to the storm.

When winter storms bring freezing rain, ice and snow to Philadelphia, personal injury accidents and car accidents rise. Unshoveled walks and iced over parking lot puddles create dangerous slip and fall hazards for Philadelphia pedestrians. Black ice on snowy roadways can cause trucks to jackknife and cars to lose control increasing car accidents and truck accidents. When temperatures drop, defective heating products can cause fires in Philadelphia homes. A Philadelphia personal injury lawyer can assist you if you slip and fall. Philadelphia accident lawyers can protect your rights in a car accident. A Philadelphia personal injury attorney experienced in fire and defective product claims can assist you if heating equipment fails. If you become a victim of the coming storm, seek the advice of an experienced Philadelphia personal injury attorney immediately.

When you leave for work in the morning or grab your list and head for the store in the afternoon, the last thing you expect to do is take an ambulance ride to the hospital; but slip and fall injuries are the No. 1 reason for emergency room visits. Slip and fall accidents fell more than one million Americans every year; and nearly 17,000 people die from slip and fall accidents in stores, on the street, at home or in the workplace. In fact, falls account for 25% of serious workplace injuries and are the third greatest cause of workplace injury.

Most slip and fall injuries happen in familiar places like your home, local grocery or workplace. One minute you're walking along and the next you're flat on your back and in pain. More than 55% of people over 40 can expect to suffer a debilitating slip and fall person injury sometime during their lifetime.

Every year, slip and fall injuries cost America $36 billion. With medical bills, extensive physical therapy and missed wages, a slip and fall injury can cost $28,000 and often far more. The extent of injuries and degree of disability can make it impossible for family members to care for a slip and fall victim, necessitating a stay in a nursing home or rehabilitation center. Some elderly victims never regain full mobility after a slip and fall injury. A once-independent individual may be confined to a wheelchair or no longer be able to live independently.

Businesses and employers have an obligation to provide safe conditions for their customers and employees. If you are the victim of a slip and fall injury, Philadelphia personal injury attorneys Rosenbaum & Associates can evaluate your case at no charge and advise you of your rights.