This town received a yearly average of just over 31 inches of snowfall between 1963 and 2016, which is more than enough to give local business owners a reason to prepare for wintery weather. In practice, however, not every landowner is as responsible in this regard as they should be. Negligence can sometimes lead to dangerous slip and falls involving snow or ice in Lowell.
If you were hurt recently in this type of accident, you may have the legal basis to file suit under the state’s civil law and demand compensation for the harm you have sustained. However, you may find it challenging to be paid what you deserve if you try to pursue your claim alone. You should strongly consider contacting a talented slip and fall attorney from The Law Offices of David W. Holub first.
What Duty of Care Do Property Owners Have To Clean Up Snow and Ice?
Lowell landowners are not automatically at fault for every accident that occurs on their property, including slip and fall accidents in icy conditions. Instead, they are only liable for accidents that they had a duty of care to prevent. This could include warning lawful visitors about hazardous conditions in advance, addressing or restricting access to those conditions as soon as possible after learning of them, and—in some cases—regularly inspecting their land for as-yet undiscovered hazards.
Furthermore, you typically cannot file suit over injuries caused by open and obvious hazards. Defense usually tries to argue that a person should have seen the dangerous condition and avoided it because it would be apparent to a reasonable person, but analyzing the specific facts of a case on this issue can be nuanced and complex. That’s why it is important to have a knowledgeable lawyer on your side, utilizing the facts to make the strongest legal arguments for you.
Filing Suit Over a Slip and Fall During Winter Weather
There are two basic things you need to prove in order to successfully sue over a slip and fall in Lowell that is caused by snow or ice. You need to show that the landowner named as the defendant in your claim directly caused your accident by failing to take sufficient care of their property. Additionally, you often must counter defense claims by showing that you could not have avoided your accident by acting more reasonably.
Proving the defendant directly caused the accident could require testimony from witnesses, security camera footage, photos of the accident scene, and other types of evidence that your lawyer could help you collect.
Establishing that you were not at fault for the accident could benefit from preserving what you were wearing, showing evidence that a patch of ice was not obvious, and illustrating that the owner should have cleaned it up. Our team could help you locate the information you would need to construct the strongest possible claim for your unique circumstances.
Contact a Lowell Attorney for Help After a Slip and Fall on Snowy or Icy Ground
Anyone who thinks that filing a civil suit over a slipping or tripping accident is excessive has likely never suffered a serious injury resulting from this kind of accident. If you have found yourself in this situation, taking proactive legal action could be crucial to protecting your well-being both now and into the future.
Slip and falls involving snow or ice in Lowell can result in serious injuries, so get help pursuing compensation from seasoned legal counsel. Call us at The Law Offices of David W. Holub today for a consultation.