Slip, Trip, or Fall Chris Stolmeier
San Antonio Slip and Fall Lawyers
Staying or living at a hotel for vacation, travel, or business should be a time that you and your family can relax and enjoy. While many of us have this joyous experience, a lot of people will unfortunately be injured in a hotel Slip and Fall accident every year. Those who have suffered serious injuries in a hotel Slip and Fall should know their rights and know how to hold the hotel liable.
Your Rights as a Hotel Slip and Fall Victim
If you have suffered injuries from a hotel Slip and Fall then you have the right to sue the hotel for your injuries. To succeed in a lawsuit against the hotel, you must prove the hotel was negligent. To prove negligence you must show by a preponderance of evidence that the hotel was responsible for your injuries. More specifically, you must prove the four elements of negligence. The four elements of negligence are:
- Duty
Any guest or tenant staying at a hotel is an invitee, meaning the hotel owes you the highest degree of care. The hotel must act as reasonable as any other hotel would act under similar circumstances in maintaining its premises.
- Breach
You must then show the hotel breached its duty of care to you. A hotel breaches its duty of care to you when the hotel, resort, or apartment fails to reasonably maintain its premises. However, just because the hotel did not reasonably maintain its premise does not automatically mean it is liable. You must show the hotel or its employees knew or should have known of the dangerous hazard or created the dangerous hazard that caused you hotel Slip and Fall. You can show the hotel or its employees should have known about the dangerous hazard based on the location of the hazard, the amount of time the hazard was there, or the typical hotel practices to maintain such hazards. A hotel can fail to reasonably maintain its premises by allowing these conditions to be present:
- Defective furniture
- Unreasonably slippery bathtub/shower
- Unreasonably slippery bathroom tile
- Dangerously located room service trays
- Dangerously located room service carts
- Grease, oil, or water by buffet stands
- Defective elevators
- Defective escalators
- Defective stairs
- Damaged or defective mats
- Damaged or defective carpeting
- Defective gym equipment
- Unsafe pool or pool surfaces
- Unsafe hot tub or hot tub surfaces
- Uncleaned spills
- Poor lighting
- No wet floor warning signs (Find out how a warning sign can affect your Slip and Fall claim.)
- Improper security (broken windows, doors, window locks, or door locks)
- Causation
Next, you will have to prove the hotel’s breach of duty caused your injuries. Causation is a “but for†standard. Meaning, but for the hotel’s breach of its duty, you would not have been injured. In other words, you would not have been injured if the hotel kept its premises reasonably safe. Slip and Fall injuries can be serious and debilitating. Here are common injuries associated with Slip and Fall accidents.
Injuries can include:
- Cuts, scrapes, or bruises
- Sprains
- Ligament damage
- Broken bones
- Spinal cord injuries
- Traumatic brain injuries (TBI)
- Death
- Damages
Finally, you must prove that the injuries caused by the hotel’s breach of duty resulted in damages. Personal injuries are the most common damages associated with a Slip and Fall accident. This article can inform you about how to calculate your damages.
Contact Stolmeier Law, San Antonio Slip and Fall Lawyers
Now, just because you can prove the hotel acted negligently in causing your injuries, the hotel’s lawyers will still try to play hard ball with you in order to pay you the least amount of compensation possible. Hiring an experienced San Antonio Slip and Fall lawyer will statistically help you receive more compensation than pursuing a claim on your own.Â
We are San Antonio Slip and Fall lawyers. Stolmeier Law has been serving Slip and Fall victims in San Antonio and South Texas for over 35 years. We have the experience and knowledge to fight the insurance companies and win you the most compensation possible. So if you or a loved one has been seriously injured in a hotel Slip and Fall, contact Stolmeier Law, San Antonio Slip and Fall lawyers. Slip, Trip, or Fall? Call Stolmeier Law.