Since 2003, our Hamilton slip and fall lawyers have represented victims who have suffered serious injuries by both slipping and falling on residential or commercial properties which were either in a state of disrepair or in which the owners failed to reasonably maintain in terms of maintenance and cleanliness.
Slipping and falling indoors can pose significant dangers in Ontario, as it can lead to serious injuries such as fractures, sprains, brain injuries, and even more severe outcomes. Factors that contribute to indoor slips and falls include wet or uneven flooring, poor lighting, and obstacles in walkways. In the winter months, the risk of slipping and falling indoors can be heightened due to snow and ice being tracked into buildings. Property owners and occupiers in Ontario have a legal obligation under the Occupiers’ Liability Act to take reasonable steps to ensure the safety of people entering their premises, and failure to do so can result in liability for any injuries sustained as a result of a slip and fall accident. It is important for individuals to be aware of their surroundings and take necessary precautions, such as wearing proper footwear and paying attention to warning signs, to prevent slips and falls indoors.
Slipping and falling outdoors in Ontario can be particularly hazardous due to a range of environmental factors. During the winter months, ice and snow can create slippery conditions on sidewalks, parking lots, and other outdoor surfaces, leading to an increased risk of falls and related injuries such as fractures, sprains, and head injuries. Even in warmer weather, rain, loose gravel, and uneven pavement can pose dangers. Property owners and municipal governments in Ontario have a duty to maintain outdoor public spaces in a reasonably safe condition, and failure to do so can result in liability for accidents and injuries. It is crucial for individuals to exercise caution when navigating outdoor spaces, particularly in inclement weather, and to take preventative measures such as wearing appropriate footwear and paying attention to their surroundings.
If you have been hurt in a slip-and-fall accident in Hamilton or elsewhere in Ontario, you have rights. Our slip and fall lawyers have recovered millions in compensation for injured slip-and-fall victims in Hamilton, and throughout all of Ontario. If you’ve been hurt in a slip and fall accident, call us today, no matter where you are in Ontario at 1-844-LALANDE or local in the Southern Ontario region at 905-333-8888. Alternatively, you can send us a confidential email through our website – and we would be happy to explain your legal options to you, at no cost.
Some of the more common injuries that we helped slip and fall clients over the year have been:
Serious Fractures and Broken Bones – slip and falls account for 87 % of all fractures in people over 65. Slip and fall injuries is often the cause of shoulder trauma (fractures and dislocations), patella (knee) fractures, tibial plateau fractures, hip fractures, wrists and ankles. Ankle fractures, such as bimalleolar or trimalleolar fractures, which refers to a three part ankle fractures involving the medial malleolus, the posterior aspect of the tibial plafond and the lateral malleolus are tremendously common. Having three parts, this is a more unstable type fracture and often involves ligamentous injury.
Other types of common slip and fall fractures are:
Spinal cord injuries – Traumatic spinal cord injury as a result of slip and falls have consistently increased over the last 4 decades in the Canada and the US. Falls cause about 31% of traumatic spinal cord injuries in Canada. Slipping, tripping, and stumbling are the most common cause, followed by falls from roofs, stairs and steps and then falls from ladders. People over 61 years old have the uppermost frequency of falls from slipping.
Brain Injuries (TBI) – Slip and falls are one of the most common cause of head trauma and traumatic brain injury, and poses an especially serious risk for older adults. Brain injuries from slip and falls are also a major cause of disability and death in Canada. Serious brain injuries can cause brain bleeds, seizures, render a victim forgetful, confused, disoriented, left with a speech impediment, blurred vision, cause mood swings, changes in behavior, word-finding difficulties or difficulty speaking and distractibility issues, among other things. NBIA.ca has reported that annual occurrence of traumatic brain injury in Canada is 44 times more common than spinal cord injury and 30 times more common than breast cancer. Traumatic Brain Injury occurs at a rate of 500 out of 100,000 individuals yearly in Canada. Brain injury has also been reported as the leading cause of death and disability in Canada for victims under the age of 40. More then 30% of traumatic brain injuries are suffered by kids and youth – and are a leading cause of death and disability among children.
Torn Ligaments and Tendons – ruptured tendons can be caused by direct trauma of slip and falls. Common causes of tendon ruptures are quadriceps tendon rupture, achilles tendon injury, rotator cuff tendon injury and bicep tendon ruptures or tears. Ligament tears occur when ligaments around a particular joint tear away from the bone. The most common types of torn ligaments are knee ligaments and ankle ligaments. Torn ligaments can be directly caused by trip and falls.
If you or a loved one has suffered life changing injuries in a slip and fall accident it is important that you contact a Hamilton slip and fall lawyer today to learn your rights.
Knee Fractures: Knee fractures caused by slip and fall accidents can be severe and have long-lasting consequences. When a person slips and falls, the knee can be subjected to an extreme force or awkward twisting motion that exceeds the strength of the bone, resulting in a fracture. The most common types of knee fractures from falls are patella fractures and distal femur fractures. These injuries can cause significant pain, swelling, and loss of function in the knee joint. Treatment for knee fractures typically involves immobilization of the joint, followed by physical therapy, and in some cases, surgery may be required to repair the fracture.
Ankle Fractures: Ankle fractures are common injuries that can result from slip and fall accidents, with the force of the fall causing the bones in the ankle to break. Bimalleolar fractures involve breaks in two of the three main bones that make up the ankle joint, the tibia and fibula, while trimalleolar fractures involve breaks in all three of these bones. These types of fractures are typically caused by a twisting or rotating injury to the ankle, such as can occur in a slip and fall. Symptoms of an ankle fracture can include severe pain, swelling, bruising, and an inability to bear weight on the affected leg. Treatment typically involves immobilization of the ankle joint with a cast or splint, followed by physical therapy to restore strength and mobility. In some cases, surgery may be necessary to repair the fracture. Recovery can take several weeks to several months, depending on the severity of the fracture and the treatment required.
Property owners in Ontario (whom we sometimes call occupiers of a property) have a reasonable duty to keep their premises safe for visitors.
What does this mean?
It means that property owners are required by law to promote positive action and implement procedural safeguards to make their premises reasonably safe – meaning that property owners need to actively promote and ensure that their premises are reasonably safe for visitors.
For example, the law imposes an affirmative duty of reasonable care on property owners to keep their parking lots safe. Allowing asphalt to fall into a state of disrepair full of potholes and divots is not promoting positive safety. It is easy for someone to roll his or her ankle in the winter, potholes and divots to freeze over, and slippery conditions to occur. There needs to be some procedural safeguard put into place – meaning that there needs to be a system of inspection to monitor the premises on a regular basis to ensure that the premises is no in a state of such disrepair which would render the premises. If there was a system in place – then the disrepair would have been caught early enough and likely have been repaired.
Similarly – a problem can ensue when a person slips and falls indoors. Questions can arise as to whether the property was either in a state of disrepair or there was a maintenance issue. When a premises floor falls into a state of disrepair, it means that it has not been adequately maintained and has deteriorated to the point where it may be unsafe or pose a hazard to individuals who use it. This can be due to a variety of factors such as wear and tear over time, exposure to water or other damaging substances, or lack of regular cleaning and maintenance. Signs that a floor is in disrepair may includetrip ledges, cracks, holes, uneven surfaces, loose or missing tiles, and other forms of visible damag which can increase the probability of slip and falls.
Slip and fall accidents can happen anywhere, but there are certain locations where they are more likely to occur. Common places where slip and fall accidents typically happen include:
In an Ontario slip and fall case, the standard of care for residential or commercial occupiers is that of reasonableness, not perfection. An occupier is required to take all “reasonable” steps to minimize risk of injury to its visitors. In order to meet this standard, occupiers must tailor their preventative measures to the particular circumstances which could give rise to dangerous situations.
Reasonable, however, is not as easy to define as one would think. Reasonable care has been defined by our Courts over the years in many different ways – with most cases pointing to the fact that an occupier must have some type of procedural safeguard in place, which it follows, to protect visitors from harm.
To determine if you have a slip and fall case in Ontario, you should consider the following factors:
If you are unsure whether you have a case, it is recommended that you consult with our Hamilton slip and fall lawyers who can assess the specific details of your situation and advise you on the best course of action.
Our Hamilton slip and fall lawyers have been representing victims injured in trip and fall accidents since 2003. Over the years, we have helped slip and fall victims recover damages in slip and falls caused by:
If you have suffered a serious injury in a trip and fall accident, call our trip and fall lawyers in Hamilton at 905-333-8888 or submit an online enquiry and we will get back to you within several hours.
The limitation to sue is two years in Ontario – unless you have slipped and fallen on snow or ice. If this was the case, it is vital that you speak to a slip and fall lawyer and make sure that you have the property parties on notice withing 60 days.
Our Hamilton slip and fall lawyers are often asked about compensation – or “what is the value of my case” – but unfortunately, it is a question which is very difficult to answer.
It is very difficult to accurately evaluate or properly estimate what a slip-and-fall case is worth until well into your injury claim or lawsuit – and more importantly, that you have reached maximum medical recovery.
Our Hamilton slip and fall lawyers are experienced at properly evaluating an injury, and we are dedicated to obtaining the maximum recovery of compensation for you and your family. However, we do not believe it is possible to resolve serious cases – especially orthopedic cases or cases involving children without a full investigation and medical legal opinion. In order to help our clients recover the maximum compensation possible, we prefer to have medical experts provide a prognosis on how your injuries will affect you in the future. At that point – we would be in a much better position to advise you what your slip and fall case is worth.
Additionally, evaluating your claim or estimating the value of your case is difficult if you or your loved one suffered a loss of income. With many slip-and-fall cases, there is a past loss of income to be calculated from the date of the accident or injury to the settlement date. Then, future income losses would be calculated from the date of settlement or judgment until your estimated retirement date. Oftentimes actuaries and accountants are required to calculate these numbers in order to be as precise as possible – particularly if there are pension and benefit losses. All of this cannot be calculated without your injuries reaching maximum medical recovery.
Equally important is the calculation of your future needs, health requirements, and assistive devices if you were seriously hurt in the fall. We frequently engage the services of an occupational therapist to assist us with determining the future cost of your care. An actuary or accountant would then provide a precise calculation of the value of what you will need for your recovery and beyond, from a medical and rehabilitative perspective.
Our Hamilton slip-and-fall lawyers will present your case in a persuasive and professional way, with the appropriate medical professionals, experts, accountants, and occupational therapists. Factors that will also be important in determining your compensation will be the severity of your injury, your medical treatment, the permanency of your injury or disfigurement, the amount of your lost wages, and how much insurance coverage is available under policy limits.
Lalande Personal Injury Lawyers has extensive experience in litigating slip-and-fall cases in Ontario. If you were a visitor on someone else’s property and were hurt, whether it was your neighbor’s driveway, a parking lot, a roadway, an airport, or anywhere else, and you have suffered an injury in a slip-and-fall accident, you may have the right to file a personal injury lawsuit.
Lalande Personal Injury Lawyers are Hamilton slip and fall lawyers who understand that dealing with trying to recover compensation from an insurance company in a slip-and-fall case can be a complex, confusing, and exasperating time for victims and their families. We also understand that many people have never dealt with a personal injury lawyer before.
Our Hamilton slip-and-fall lawyers make it easy. We encourage inquiries, and we will thoroughly discuss your legal options with you. There is no cost to contact our Hamilton law firm, as our consultations are free, without obligation, and confidential.
Our lawyers are flexible and can arrange a consultation at a time that is convenient for you and your family—and we are happy to answer any questions you may have. Please fill in the contact form below or call us 24/7 at 905-333-8888 or 1-844-LALANDE
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