Lawyer for Slip and Fall at Dillard’s
Dillard’s is a popular store for many people, with hundreds of retail locations across the U.S. While customers can find good deals there, they can also experience injuries due to the failure of the company’s employees to protect them from hazards on the property. If you’ve been injured in a slip and fall accident at Dillard’s, an experienced premises liability lawyer from The Levin Firm Personal Injury Lawyers can help you understand the personal injury claims process and the services our legal team can provide to assist you with your claim.
About Dillard’s
Founded in Nashville, Arkansas, in 1938 by William T. Dillard, Dillard’s is one of the largest fashion retailers in the U.S. The company offers a wide array of clothing, cosmetics, and home collections through 285 retail stores throughout the U.S., as well as its website.
Dillard’s went public in 1969, offering two classes of stock to keep the Dillard family in control and give them majority voting rights. The company’s current CEO is William T. Dillard II, the oldest son of the company’s founder. Dillard II’s brothers are also in leadership positions with the company, with Alex Dillard and Mike Dillard serving as president and executive vice president, respectively. Dillards owns 90 percent of the real estate its stores occupy.
How Do Slip and Fall Accidents Happen at Dillard’s?
According to the National Floor Safety Institute (NFSI), around one million people visit the emergency department each year in the U.S. as a result of injuries sustained in slip and fall accidents. Slip and falls occur when an individual slips or trips over a hazard and falls.
Some of the types of hazards found in the department store that can lead to slip and fall accidents include:
- Clothing racks, displays, and loose merchandise in walkways.
- Liquid or debris on the floor or freshly waxed floors.
- Damaged flooring materials, such as torn tiles.
- Insufficient lighting in areas of the store, particularly in areas involving staircases.
- Cracked sidewalks or potholes in the parking lot.
The Type of Injuries Sustained in Slip and Fall Accidents
The NFSI reports that bone fractures are among the most common serious injuries sustained in slip and fall accidents, particularly hip fractures, which are significantly more likely in individuals over 65. Other serious slip and fall injuries include traumatic brain injuries and spinal cord injuries; both are considered catastrophic as they have a high likelihood of causing permanent disabilities that will make it difficult for the sufferer to earn an income.
Soft tissue injuries, such as damage to the muscles, tendons, and ligaments, are also prevalent in slip and fall accidents, particularly the soft tissues of the knees, which often result from the sufferer twisting as they slip or trip and fall over a property hazard. Victims also experience damage to the bones and tendons of the wrist due to the body’s instinctive urge to outstretch the arms to catch oneself. Slip and falls also commonly cause lacerations to the victim’s appendages and other body parts.
Seeking Compensation for Injuries Incurred in a Dillard’s Slip and Fall
Although often regarded as minor accidents or frivolous claims, slip and fall accidents can be quite serious, resulting in injuries that can have lifelong consequences. Medically treating these injuries can be expensive, particularly for those facing wage loss due to being too injured to work. Fortunately, those who become injured because they’ve slipped and fallen over a property hazard at Dillard’s can seek compensation for their injury by filing a claim against the company’s property liability insurance policy.
Slip and fall accidents are the most common type of premises liability claim. Premises liability refers to the responsibility that owners, managers, and workers at businesses such as Dillard’s have to regularly inspect the property for hazards that could injure guests and promptly mitigate them. For hazards they cannot repair immediately, the company must post a prominent warning sign in the hazard area so that customers know to stay away from it.
Premises liability matters fall under the wide umbrella of personal injury law, meaning the statute of limitations for personal injury claims in your state likely applies to your case. This limitation dictates how much time a victim has to file a claim after their slip and fall. The civil court will likely bar you from litigating your action if you fail to file a lawsuit before the statute of limitations expires.
The Type of Compensation You Can Seek
As noted, injuries from a slip and fall accident can result in extraordinary expenses and impact the sufferer’s emotional health and quality of life. Premises liability claimants can seek compensation for the expenses and impacts of their injury.
Compensation is called as economic and non-economic damages, respectively, and include expenses and impacts such as:
- All costs associated with medically treating the injury
- Wage loss is associated with the claimant being too injured to perform their job tasks.
- Loss of future earning capacity due to permanent disabilities and their impact on the amount of income the sufferer will earn.
- Property damage sustained in the accident, such as a broken phone or torn clothing.
- Physical pain and suffering.
- Emotional distress.
Hiring an Attorney to Assist You With the Claim
Those injured in a slip and fall accident at a retail store such as Dillard’s often wonder what to do after they’ve reported the accident and sought medical attention for their injuries. An important next step in seeking compensation for the financial and emotional costs of the injury you have incurred is to speak with an experienced premises liability lawyer.
If the suggestion of hiring a lawyer sent chills down your spine with the thought of trying to afford one, rest assured, you’re not alone. Many people are hesitant to seek help with a slip and fall claim because they don’t think they can afford an attorney’s services.
Another reason to rest easy is that personal injury lawyers—including those who handle premises liability cases—only get paid for their services if their clients win the case. You can hire your attorney, have their legal team begin working immediately on the case without any upfront investment, and never worry about receiving a bill you can’t afford.
Instead, when you hire your attorney, they will ask you to sign a contingent fee agreement. This agreement outlines the services the attorney will provide and designates a percentage of the compensation you receive to pay the attorney. Upon the resolution of your case, your attorney will help you collect the proceeds of your settlement or award and remove the agreed-upon percentage before releasing the rest to you.
The Services a Slip and Fall Lawyer Provides
One of the most important qualities an experienced slip and fall lawyer provides to your claim is experience. They have experience with the legal process, experience with valuing claims, and experience with gathering evidence. They have experience with speaking to insurance providers and negotiating settlements. They have experience filing lawsuits and motions and gathering the evidence and documentation needed to prove your claim and justify its value. These are all services they provide to their clients as they fight for their right to compensation after being injured.
Determining Liability and the Value of Your Claim
Your attorney will investigate your accident thoroughly to understand exactly what transpired and who was responsible for causing it. Generally, a slip and fall at Dillard’s results from an employee’s negligence in ensuring aisles are kept clean or failing to report structural issues such as torn flooring materials, parking lot potholes, or poorly-lit areas or to warn guests of these hazards. The company bears the liability for the negligence of their employees and carries the liability insurance policy that can provide compensation.
Your attorney will likely wait until you have reached maximum medical improvement to establish a value to your claim. This is the point when your injury has stabilized, and continued treatment will likely not result in further meaningful progress in your recovery. In addition to monetary losses resulting from your injury, your lawyer will also consider other factors when establishing your claim’s value. They will weigh things such as the severity of your injury, permanent disabilities, and the potential impacts the injury will have on your quality of life.
Communicating With the Insurance Provider
Your attorney will submit your claim to the insurance provider who services Dillard’s liability insurance policy. A claims adjuster will be assigned to the case to evaluate the claim to determine if Dillard’s is liable and how much money they owe you if any.
The claims adjuster is an employee of Dillard’s insurance company, there to save the company money by reducing or even eliminating claims. If the claims adjuster speaks directly to you, they often use tactics to try and get you to accept blame for the accident or convince you the claim isn’t worth much in hopes that you will accept a low settlement.
Your attorney will manage communication with the insurance provider to protect its value from these tactics. While claims adjusters will occasionally pay the full value of a claim or deny it, they often respond by offering to settle the claim out of court for less than its value. If this occurs, your attorney can negotiate with the insurance provider to obtain a higher offer that covers your losses fairly.
Filing a Lawsuit
If Dillard’s insurance provider fails to compensate you slip and fall claim, you can file a lawsuit for a judge or jury to decide on matters of liability and compensation. This legal process is a second opportunity for you to seek compensation if settlement negotiations fail.
It also serves as a legal consequence for insurance companies who fail to fairly compensate third-party claims due to the liability of their insured. Insurance providers generally avoid litigation if possible, as it produces an uncertain outcome, significant time and expense, and the potential of bad publicity for Dillard’s.
As stated above, filing a lawsuit must occur before the statute of limitations expires. The statute of limitations helps to avoid the impacts of time passing, making evidence less accessible and witnesses’ memories fading. If you do not file the claim before the statute of limitations expires, the court will likely refuse to hear your case. Your attorney will manage the timeline of your claim to ensure that this doesn’t happen.
Receiving Your Compensation
Once you resolve your Dillard’s slip and fall claim, your attorney will receive the proceeds of your negotiated settlement or court award. If a healthcare provider or a health insurer has placed a medical lien against these funds for services provided, your attorney will settle those liens on your behalf and take the percentage agreed to as their contingent fee. You then receive the remainder of the funds.
Did You Slip and Fall at Dillard’s? We Can Help
If a slip and fall at Dillard’s injured you, let an experienced premises liability lawyer from The Levin Firm Personal Injury Lawyers evaluate your claim. We can answer your legal questions about your claim and tell you about the services our legal team can provide to assist you. Contact us online or by calling (215) 825-5183 for your free case evaluation.