What To Do If You Slip Fall in a Parking Lot

1. Seek medical attention

The first thing to do after a slip and fall in a parking lot is seek medical attention. Everything else can wait. You may have serious injuries that require immediate care. Your best bet is to summon the care that you need.

In addition to addressing emergency issues and beginning your path to recovery, an important reason to seek medical care immediately is to document what your injuries are and how they occurred. Immediate medical care prevents the other side from making claims that you received your injuries in some other way. It also prevents the other side from trying to claim that you’re not taking your injuries seriously.

2. Take photos of the accident scene

To win your case, you need to show that someone else acted in a negligent way that led to your injuries. For a parking lot slip and fall, that’s usually the parking lot owner. A great way to show that the parking lot owner caused your slip and fall is by showing the accident scene itself and any conditions like a protruding surface, crumbled flooring or a wet floor.

If you or anyone else can take photos of the accident scene, you can preserve evidence that’s valuable to your case. Your photos don’t have to be professional. You can use your cell phone. Take lots of pictures of the scene close up, and take photos of the surrounding areas. Your photos can be valuable evidence of how your slip and fall occurred.

3. Make a report

You should tell the business about the slip and fall. They may have a form to report an injury, or you may need to create one yourself. Report the accident to the business as soon as you’re physically able. Making a report helps establish a timeline for the accident. As you prepare your case, you may also ask the business to provide copies of previous accident reports to see if the business owners failed to fix a dangerous condition in the parking lot.

4. Gather witness information

Witness testimony is some of the most helpful evidence in any slip and fall case. If there are witnesses to your parking lot slip and fall, try to get their names and contact information. Gather contact information for witnesses who observed anything related to the slip and fall. Even if they didn’t witness the slip and fall but saw events before or after the accident or even saw the accident scene earlier in the day, they can be helpful to your case.

At this point, don’t worry about sorting out what witnesses are valuable and which ones aren’t helpful. Your attorney can help you with that later. Right now, the important thing is to collect their contact information so that you can follow up with them as you build your case.

Related: 10 Facts & Statistics About Slip & Fall Accidents

5. Save your clothing

When you slip and fall in a parking lot, your clothing can help you tell the story. Your clothing can say a lot about what happened to cause your injuries and what your injuries are. Don’t wash your clothing. Take photos of your clothing and then place each piece in a large plastic bag.

6. Keep quiet

Other than making a basic incident report, don’t make statements about the fall to anyone. Your statements about the case are admissible in court, and they can come back to haunt you. Comments that you might think are neutral can actually be damaging to your case. When we represent a client as their slip and fall attorneys in Las Vegas, we handle discussions with the other party on your behalf. It’s best to say that your lawyer is handling it.

7. Evaluate your legal liability

When you understand your rights under Nevada law, you can go about seeking the compensation that you deserve for your injuries. If the parking lot owner or even another person causes your injuries by acting negligently, Nevada law may allow you to claim compensation. In addition to medical bills, many categories of damages aim to compensate you for your physical, mental, emotional and financial suffering. When you understand the law, you can effectively pursue your claim for compensation.

Related: How Long Does a Slip & Fall Case Take?

8. Keep records

When a slip and fall occurs in a parking lot, save any paperwork that comes your way. Medical records, bills, documentation of lost work, receipts from medical aides, and any other types of records can all be helpful to back up your claims. Saving all of your records can make it easier to value your claim and put together the evidence that you need to make your claim successful.

9. Keep an eye on timelines

You have a limited amount of time to bring a legal claim after a slip and fall in a parking lot. The other party might try to distract you in hopes that you’ll miss the deadline. The sooner that you can speak with a slip and fall attorney, the sooner you can formally bring your claim to ensure that you meet the deadlines.

10. Work with a Las Vegas parking lot slip and fall attorney

A skilled attorney in Las Vegas can help you value your claim, take steps to file it and build the evidence that you need to make your claim successful. The legal team at Adam S. Kutner, Injury Attorneys have years of experience to help you evaluate your claim and spot the issues that are important in your case. We empower our clients by helping them understand the law and helping them pursue their claims to the fullest extent of the law.