Slip and Fall Accident Lawyer in Marion, IL

Offices in Marion, Carbondale, Benton, Harrisburg & Metropolis

Illinois has a high rate of slip-and-fall accidents. The number of people who need emergency medical care due to a slip and fall accident in Illinois is more than 80,000 per year! In the year 2013 alone, more than 650 Illinois residents died from slip and fall injuries. Many suffer traumatic brain injuries from their accidents as well.

If you have slipped and fallen and been injured and are seeking a trustworthy slip and fall lawyer who will find justice for you, consider Lawler and Lawler law firm in Marion and serving

Harrisburg, Metropolis, and the rest of Southern, Illinois. Call 618-997-5555

It’s true, more than a third of all workplace injuries involve slip and falls. Research conducted by the Liberty Mutual Research Institute for Safety shows that businesses in the United States pay more than $16 billion every year due to employee slip-and-fall injuries and deaths.

Contact Our Slip & Fall Lawyers

    Important Notice: Submitting information through this website or contact form does not create an attorney-client relationship and does not mean that Lawler & Lawler has agreed to represent you.
    An attorney-client relationship with our firm only begins when a written contract for representation has been signed by both you and the firm.
    If you are seeking legal representation, please call our office at 618-529-9377 as soon as possible. Legal claims are subject to strict deadlines, and failure to act promptly may affect your rights. Unless and until a written contract is signed by both you and the firm, you should assume that you are not represented by Lawler & Lawler.

    Common causes of slip-and-fall accidents include:

    • Wet floors in stores, restaurants, and nursing homes
    • Badly maintained elevators and escalators
    • Poorly lit walkways and parking areas
    • Cracked pavement or sidewalks
    • Improperly lit stairwells
    • Cluttered supermarket aisles
    • Loose tiles or cracked floorboards

    LET US HELP YOU FIND JUSTICE!

    Slips and fall injuries are also the leading cause of workers’ comp claims nationally and are the main cause of occupational injuries in people 55 and up.

    The Southern Illinois law firm Lawler and Lawler in Marion represents slip-and-fall victims across the state. Since Illinois businesses are legally bound to keep their premises and properties safe for customers and employees, they are often found guilty of negligence when someone sustains an injury that could have been prevented.

    Insurance companies tend to try to settle out of court for much less than they would be ordered to pay if a case went to trial. These companies pretend to care about injured victims but in reality only want to save money. They prey on injured people and their families, especially those without experience legal representation, and will use any statement made by the injured victim against the party in order to try to deny or reduce the amount of a claim.

    If you or a family member are injured in a slip and fall accident in Illinois, it is important to consult with an attorney as soon as possible. Before you make statements to an insurance company or try to negotiate a settlement on your own, get the advice of an experienced slip and fall lawyer who can guide you on the right path to getting the compensation you deserve.

    Raymond Lawler has offices in Marion, Harrisburg, Metropolis, Carbondale and Benton, Illinois and is available to consult with you free of charge. FREE CASE EVALUATION

    Testimonials

    Above and Beyond

    I started with Lawler and Lawler due to the commercials that I saw on TV...they are great and went above and beyond. They never gave up and I felt we were in this together the entire time.

    Extremely Happy

    Lawler and Lawler provided excellent representation. They work hard to see that you are not treated unfairly and your legal rights are upheld and have not been compromised in any aspect of your case. I was extremely happy

    Peace of Mind

    Lawler and Lawler helped me get through a difficult time in my life. They handled my case beautifully, kept me in the loop, and made my recovery much easier. I would recommend them to everyone. They gave me piece of mind, and helped me get my life back.

    Why You Need a Slip and Fall Lawyer in Illinois

    If you have a good slip and fall injury claim, you were injured due to the negligence of another party. However, just because you are eligible for compensation doesn’t mean the responsible party (and their insurance company) will want to pay.slip and fall accidents why you need a lawyer infographic

    Before you receive even a penny, you need to prove that the other party’s negligence resulted in your injury. And proving this is complicated, even for lawyers. It is almost impossible for someone to prove without an attorney representing them.

    If you aren’t represented by a lawyer, the insurance company has almost complete control of the claims process. It assigns an investigator who is on the payroll of the insurer. That investigator is incentivized to find evidence that shows you were responsible, rather than the other party, allowing the insurance company to deny your claim.

    If you are represented by a slip and fall attorney, though, you also have investigators working on your side. A good law firm employs experienced investigators who can efficiently uncover evidence that supports your case.

    And with that evidence in hand, your attorney can prove the causal relationship between the negligent actions of the other party and the injuries you suffered. Once this evidence has been provided to the insurance company, it can’t legally ignore it. And if it does, that just strengthens your case if it goes to trial.

    The other main reason you need a lawyer is to ensure you get all the compensation you deserve. Insurance companies aren’t required to tell you how much compensation you are eligible to receive. If you don’t claim something, the insurer won’t volunteer to pay you for it.

    If you are represented by an experienced law firm, you can feel confident you won’t lose out on any compensation you deserve. Your attorney will help you preserve financial records and will go over your expenses and losses with a fine-tooth comb.

    Hopefully, by the end of the case, the only one sweating will be the insurance company as your lawyer keeps finding new and legal ways to add additional numbers to your compensation.

    Find the Best Slip and Fall Accident Lawyers Near You

    When an insurance company gets involved in a slip and fall case, it usually tries to make you a victim twice over by stiffing you when you need money the most. At Lawler & Lawler, we won’t allow an insurance company to take advantage of your suffering.

    Our attorneys have decades of combined experience fighting to get clients like you the most money the law allows. We understand how important it is to get a fair settlement or judgment and won’t back down until you have been awarded the money you need to recover from your injuries.

    With law offices in Marion, Harrisburg, Metropolis, Carbondale, and Benton, the personal injury law firm of Lawler & Lawler is conveniently located wherever you need a Southern Illinois slip and fall attorney. If you have been seriously hurt in a fall, reach out to us at (618) 529-9377 immediately to schedule a free consultation.

    Frequently Asked Questions for Slip and Fall Accident Lawyer 

    No matter where you are, if you slip and fall, the first thing you need to do is protect your health. This means that you should get medically evaluated and receive whatever treatment is necessary to protect your injuries from worsening or being fatal. Safeguard any medical records or bills you receive because they will be critical to the next step after a slip and fall injury.

    Once you are sure you are safe, contact a slip and fall attorney to determine whether your accident makes you eligible for compensation. Any slip and fall injury, even one that occurs in the home, may be due to the negligence of another party. Experienced slip and fall accident lawyers will determine liability during a free consultation.

    If you decide to press on with your claim after speaking to a slip and fall attorney, you will need to share evidence with your lawyer so they can pursue your case. After answering some questions and providing documents, your slip and fall lawyer will handle most of the rest of the case while you focus on recovering from your injury.

    You may think that if you slipped on a wet floor, it was no one’s fault. But typically, that isn’t true.

    Usually, if a floor is wet, it is because someone was negligent. Floors don’t just get wet on their own. Someone spilled something, tracked in water, or water was filtering in from some other source. Regardless, typically it is someone’s responsibility to dry the floor before it causes an accident.

    If this responsibility is ignored, then the responsible party is liable for any injuries you suffer when you slip on that floor. A slip and fall attorney can prove that the other party’s negligence resulted in your fall (and injuries) to get you the compensation you deserve.

    There are two common ways to calculate pain and suffering: the multiplier method and the per diem rate.

    Multiplier method: When a slip and fall lawyer uses this method, they calculate all your economic losses. Economic losses include:

    • Medical bills
    • Lost wages
    • Equipment or services needed due to the injury
    • Therapy costs

    Once this value is calculated, your attorney multiplies it by a value between 1.5 and 5, depending on how much the pain and suffering impact your life.

    Per diem rate: When calculating economic losses isn’t immediately possible or economic losses are quite minimal, your lawyer might use the per diem rate. This sets a value for each day that you suffer after a slip and fall injury. If the pain lasted for a year, for example, the cost would be 365 times the per diem rate.

    Both of these options may be used to propose slip and fall settlements, and sometimes a combination of methods is used by attorneys when handling a case. The goal of each method is to get you fair compensation for your suffering.

    Illinois slip and fall laws generally treat these cases as premises liability claims based on negligence. We look at whether a property owner or occupier owed you a duty of reasonable care, whether a dangerous condition existed, whether the responsible party knew or reasonably should have known about it, and whether that condition caused your injury. Illinois law requires property owners and occupiers to use reasonable care under the circumstances for people lawfully on the property.

    That does not mean every fall creates a valid claim. The facts matter. A wet floor, broken stair, uneven walkway, poor lighting, or another hazard may support a claim when there is evidence that the condition was unsafe and that the responsible party failed to address it reasonably. We also consider how long the hazard existed, whether warnings were provided, and whether anyone created the condition.

    If you were injured in Southern Illinois, Lawler and Lawler can help. Our Marion slip and fall accident lawyers can review the circumstances and explain what Illinois premises liability law may mean for your situation.

    In most Illinois personal injury cases, including many slip and fall claims, we generally have two years from the date of the injury to file a lawsuit under 735 ILCS 5/13-202. That deadline can be shorter or different in certain situations, so we do not recommend waiting to investigate a serious fall.

    A shorter deadline can apply when a local public entity or one of its employees is involved. Under 745 ILCS 10/8-101, many civil injury actions against a local government entity or employee must be filed within one year. Other special rules can apply depending on who owns or controls the property and the facts of the claim.

    Even when the filing deadline seems far away, evidence can disappear quickly. Surveillance footage may be overwritten, a spill may be cleaned, a broken condition may be repaired, and witnesses may become harder to locate. We encourage injured people to preserve photographs, incident reports, medical records, and witness information as soon as possible. You can also contact us to talk through which deadline may apply to your case.

    We generally need evidence showing that the person or business responsible for the property owed you a duty of care, failed to act reasonably, and caused an injury that resulted in damages. In practical terms, one of the biggest questions is often whether the responsible party knew or should have known about the unsafe condition before you fell.

    For example, if a liquid was on a store floor for long enough that employees reasonably should have discovered and cleaned it, that may support a claim. If an employee created the hazard, the notice analysis may be different. We also look at photographs, video, inspection practices, maintenance records, incident reports, witness statements, and medical documentation.

    We do not treat a fall as automatic proof of negligence. We work to connect the dangerous condition to the injury and to show why the hazard should have been corrected or reasonably addressed. Our Marion personal injury lawyers can help evaluate the available evidence and explain what may still need to be preserved.

    Possibly. Illinois follows a modified comparative fault rule. Under 735 ILCS 5/2-1116, you are barred from recovering damages if you are found more than 50 percent at fault for the injury. If you are 50 percent or less at fault, you may still recover, but the amount is reduced by your percentage of fault.

    For example, if a jury valued your damages at $100,000 and found you 20 percent responsible, the award would generally be reduced by 20 percent to $80,000. The exact result depends on the evidence and how fault is determined.

    Property owners and insurers may argue that you were distracted, ignored a warning, wore unsafe footwear, or failed to notice an obvious condition. We examine those arguments alongside the condition of the property, the available warnings, lighting, traffic flow, maintenance practices, and other facts. If you have questions about fault after a fall in Marion, Carbondale, Benton, Harrisburg, Metropolis, or nearby communities, we can help you understand how comparative negligence may affect your claim.

    Illinois premises liability law recognizes that a property owner may not have a duty to warn about certain conditions that are known to a visitor, open and obvious, or reasonably expected to be discovered. However, whether a condition is legally open and obvious can depend on the specific facts, and exceptions recognized under Illinois law may also matter.

    We look at the setting rather than assuming that a visible hazard automatically ends a claim. A person may be distracted for a foreseeable reason, or circumstances may require someone to encounter a hazard despite recognizing it. Courts can also consider the likelihood and seriousness of the harm when analyzing duty.

    Because this issue is fact-specific, photographs and scene details can be especially important. We may want to know where the hazard was located, what the lighting was like, whether merchandise or other conditions drew attention elsewhere, and whether there was a practical way to avoid the danger. Our Carbondale slip and fall lawyers can help explain how these rules may apply to a fall in Southern Illinois.

    Responsibility does not always stop with the property owner. Depending on the circumstances, we may examine whether a tenant, business operator, property manager, maintenance contractor, snow-removal company, or another party had control over the area where the fall occurred.

    The key question is often who had responsibility for inspecting, maintaining, repairing, cleaning, or warning about the condition. A lease, maintenance agreement, work order, inspection log, or service contract may help show who had that responsibility. In a commercial setting, more than one party may have relevant duties.

    We also look at how the hazard developed. If a business employee created the condition, that can be important. If a contractor performed defective work, that may raise a different issue. Identifying the correct parties early can help preserve evidence and avoid missing legal deadlines. If you are unsure who controlled the property, we can investigate the relationships involved and explain how a premises liability claim may be structured.

    Compensation depends on the facts and the losses caused by the injury. In an Illinois slip and fall claim, we may pursue compensation for past and future medical expenses, lost income, reduced earning ability, pain and suffering, disability, disfigurement, and other losses that can be supported by the evidence.

    The value of a claim is not determined by a simple formula. We look at the seriousness of the injury, the length of treatment, whether surgery is needed, whether symptoms are permanent, how the injury affects work and daily life, and the strength of the liability evidence. We also consider available insurance coverage and any arguments about comparative fault.

    For someone with a broken hip, head injury, spinal injury, or other serious condition, the long-term impact may be more important than the initial emergency room bill. We work to document the full effect of the injury before evaluating settlement options. You can learn more about how settlements work and contact us for a free, no-obligation consultation about your circumstances.

    We recommend protecting your health first. Seek appropriate medical care, especially if you hit your head, cannot bear weight, have severe pain, feel dizzy, or notice symptoms that worsen after the fall. Medical records can also help connect your injuries to the accident.

    When possible, we suggest reporting the incident to the property owner, manager, or business and asking that an incident report be created. Take photographs or video of the exact condition that caused the fall before it is cleaned or repaired. Get contact information from witnesses and keep the clothing and shoes you were wearing. Avoid posting details about the accident or your recovery on social media while a claim is being evaluated.

    We can also help send preservation requests for surveillance footage and other records when appropriate. If the fall happened in Southern Illinois, our law offices in Marion, Harrisburg, Metropolis, Benton, and Carbondale are available to help you understand the next steps while you focus on medical care and recovery.

    You are not required to hire a lawyer for every injury claim, but slip and fall cases can become complicated quickly because liability is often disputed. The insurance company may question how long the hazard existed, whether the property owner had notice, whether the condition was open and obvious, or whether you were partly responsible for the fall.

    When we handle a claim, we can gather and preserve evidence, identify the parties responsible for the property, review insurance issues, document your medical and financial losses, communicate with insurers, and explain settlement or litigation options in plain language. That allows you to focus more of your attention on recovery.

    Lawler and Lawler has served injury victims in Southern Illinois since 1988. We understand the communities and courts in this region, and we treat each client as a person rather than a case number. If you were seriously injured in a fall, contact us to talk through your options in a free, no-obligation consultation. This information is general and is not a substitute for legal advice about your specific situation.