A slip-and-fall case is one of the most common that a personal injury lawyer (such as one from Dunnigan & Messier P.C.) will deal with and typically occurs when you have slipped and injured yourself on someone's property, such as a business, due to the property owner's negligence when it comes to maintaining the property. Listed below are two ways that a personal injury lawyer can help you with this type of case. 

Determine Negligence

One of the main things that your attorney will do in a slip-and-fall case is to determine how negligent the property owner actually was. This is very important because if the property owner can prove that the accident was caused due to negligence on your part then he or she can have the case dismissed, which will leave you responsible for your own medical bills. In addition, if the owner can prove that you were at least partially responsible for the accident, then he or she may still have to pay, but the awarded amount will be lower. 

The main way that the property owner will try to prove that you were at least somewhat responsible for the accident will be by trying to state that you were not paying attention to your surroundings and that someone who was paying attention would have been reasonably expected to notice the slipping hazard in time to avoid the fall. Your attorney can try to fight this tactic by attempting to compile evidence that shows that the property owner is habitually negligent.

One way that this will be accomplished is by getting statements from customers or former employees that state that basic maintenance was not done on the property. For example, this could include frequently broken lighting, long delays before spills were cleaned up, or frequently icy entryways during the winter.

Identify Recent Repairs

Another way that an attorney can help you prove that you were not at fault for the accident and to counter claims from the property owner that he or she was not negligent is to look for attempts to cover up the cause of the accident. It is very common for a business owner to quickly make repairs after an accident occurred so that he or she can claim that nothing was wrong with the property that could have contributed to your fall.

These repairs can be anything from replacing broken lights to repairing broken steps. By showing that recent repairs were made shortly after the accident occurred, your lawyer can greatly increase the chances of winning your lawsuit because it can strengthen your lawyer's argument that the property owner was negligent in maintaining the property.

Contact a personal injury attorney today in order to discuss how he or she can help you deal with a slip-and-fall case. A lawyer can help you win your case by determining how negligent the property owner was and by identifying recent repairs that may have been meant to cover up the cause of your accident.