Wintertime is a common time for slip and falls. After being injured in a slip and fall, it is important to know the proper steps to take and have an idea of how long the entire process is.
A slip andfall lawsuit in Philadelphia can take anywhere from a few months to several years, all depending on the extent of the injury and lawsuit.
Steps to Take after a Slip and Fall Injury
The first thing to do after being injured in a slip and fall is to seek necessary medical treatment. Before anything else, make sure that your injuries are being taken care of. If you don’t think you have been injured, it is still smart to be checked out just in case, as some injuries do not show up right away. Not only is this the safest thing to do, the documentation proving that you sustained an injury due to the fall will be necessary to prove your case.
After receiving any needed medical attention, you will always want to report the slip and fall to the correct person. It could be a store manager, store owner, or anyone in charge. They need to be made aware of the situation so a report can be filed with the establishment or property owner.
It is imperative to your case to have a timeline of events and the details of the slip and fall written down and correctly documented. This is where speaking with an attorney is going to come into play. They will help you will all the documentation surrounding your slip and fall will be beneficial to your case and help speed up the timeline.
From your medical records to a detailed statement about what happened (this includes all parties involved), to lost wages and action to be taken, all of this information must be documented from the minute you fall until the moment the case is settled. This information will help your attorney get the case started.
This will be served along with a summons and gives the receiving party 20 days to respond, in which they can either admit or deny any of the allegations.
The next step in a slip and fall claim is the discovery phase. This is where the parties involved learn all they can about the case when interrogations take place and requests for evidence are submitted. This can be a long process and can take as little as 3 months to multiple years. It all depends on how complex the case is along with how severe your injuries are and court schedules.
After all of this, it is either time for trial or a way to settle the case without going to trial, which is ideal since trials are costly and take even longer to play out.
Mediation is an option and is done with a private mediator. Or, you can choose to do a settlement conference, which was conducted before a judge.
Both of these options start at the end of the discovery phase and can take the place of going to trial.
Edelstein Law Firm
At Edelstein Law Firm, we have a team of trusted lawyers that understand personal injury cases. We specialize in personal injury cases that result from a slip and fall, giving us the experience and skills to fight for you and get the justice you deserve.