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Take pictures. If the
condition, which caused your accident, is still visible take
pictures immediately of the entire scene, as well as any
cuts or bruises to your body. This may be critical years
later in proving how the accident happened, and in
establishing your injuries. A small black and blue mark on
your knee which does not hurt very much today, may be the only
evidence which links a knee surgery a year later to an
accident.
Obtain the names and
addresses of witnesses. This is especially
important in establishing where the accident happened if there
was no response by the police or ambulance services. It is
also important in establishing Notice of the condition.
This is a technical legal term which means that the city,
building owner, or shopkeeper, knew or should have known of
the dangerous condition which caused your accident because it
was there long enough for them to know about it and fix it.
Your witness can often provide the evidence your lawyer needs
to prove notice and win your case.
Do not speak to anyone. Insurance
companies and their investigators are especially anxious to
speak to you after an accident. They tape your conversations,
with or without your permission in an attempt to limit their
liability and exposure right from the start before you have a
lawyer.
Do not complete any
paperwork. Send all correspondence to your lawyers, and refer
all callers to the The lawyer, will investigate the
accident, obtain police reports and other records pertaining
to the accident, research the law, file for your medical
benefits and lost wages, establish claims with defendant
insurance companies, and when appropriate, commence a law
suit.
Premise Liability
encompasses any injury which occurs as a result of
dangerous conditions in, on, or about a building. This
includes a wide variety of very different circumstances such
as injuries resulting from lead paint, mold, asbestos,
elevator accidents, ceiling collapses, defective conditions,
and assaults.
Some of these injuries, such as lead
paint, develop over long periods of time, and the defective
conditions are not going to disappear quickly. However, those
injuries, which are the result of a one time incident, must be
documented as quickly as possible. Ripped carpet, exposed
nails, broken glass, lights, doors, or windows are just a few
of the conditions which can cause serious injury and which can
be corrected quickly thereby eliminating evidence of the
defect which caused your injury.
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