A slip-and-fall case is often anything but simple. After a slip and fall, you may be facing ongoing pain, reduced mobility, difficulty returning to work, and other lingering consequences. This raises the question: how much is a slip-and-fall settlement worth?
Working with an experienced slip and fall attorney can make all the difference in your claim. If you have been injured in a slip and fall on someone else’s premises, contact Halperin Law Center today for a free consultation.
How Much Are the Average Slip and Fall Settlement Amounts in Virginia?
There is no fixed amount that you should expect to receive from a slip and fall settlement. Instead, amounts vary based on the facts of your case. For instance, soft tissue injuries that leave no permanent damage and do not require much medical care may range from $10,000 or less. Broken bones and torn ligaments may be worth more. If you are facing ongoing or permanent disability, it is not unreasonable to expect a much higher settlement. You will need to consult with your slip and fall attorney to get a clearer picture of what to expect.
Additionally, when choosing your attorney, look through their client testimonials and settlement history. While past results never guarantee a future outcome, it is useful to know the range of cases that they have experience with from past work. We have settled slip and fall cases from a range of $12,500 on the low side to over $1.35 million on the high side in the last three years.
Factors Influencing Slip and Fall Accident Settlements
In a slip and fall case in Virginia, the following factors can greatly influence how much you come away with from your claim:
- The kind of injuries you have suffered
- Any lasting damage, scarring, or disability
- Any surgeries or additional expenses
- The amount of time you have had to take off work
- The amount of evidence available in your case
- Whether or not the premises manager acted especially recklessly, or was wilfully wanton with patrons’ safety.
One final factor that cannot be overstated is the skill and experience of your slip and fall attorney. Virginia personal injury law involves several statutes and limitations that are unique to the Commonwealth. Moreover, since your injury in Virginia, you want your lawyer to have access to sources of proof. Working with an attorney who is familiar with local legal systems is always recommended for a Virginia personal injury claim.
How Slip and Fall Settlements Are Calculated in Virginia
In Virginia, your settlement amount will be comprised of different categories. These are called damages, and are payable from the defendant’s insurance company, when found liable, to the plaintiff, or injured party. In a Virginia slip and fall, you can receive compensatory damages, including:
Economic Damages
These damages are costs that have clear dollar amounts attached. They may be past or future expenses, and must be directly linked to your accident or injury. Some examples include:
- Medical bills
- Hospital stay
- Ambulance ride
- Surgeries
- Physical therapy
- Prescription drug costs
- Time taken off work
- Childcare expenses linked to the injury
- Inability to return to work in prior capacity
- Transportation costs
- Home healthcare
- Home or vehicle modifications due to disability.
Non-Economic Damages
These damages are harder to quantify, but they are often involved in slip and fall claims. These types of injuries often have unseen consequences that can limit your quality of life moving forward. Non-economic damages, such as pain and suffering, for example, are designed to cover these factors.
Your slip and fall attorney can advise you about non-economic damages that may apply to your case. They will know what amounts are standard in the Virginia court system, and ensure that your settlement accounts for the full extent of the harm done. Some examples of non-economic damages include:
- Loss of enjoyment
- Pain and suffering
- Emotional distress
- Inconvenience
- Disability
Limitations on Punitive Damages in Virginia
Virginia, as a state, has strict limitations on punitive damages that can be awarded in a personal injury case. Under §8.01-38.1, the total cap that can be awarded is currently set at $350,000. Juries are not advised about this limitation when awarding a jury verdict to a plaintiff; a judge must reduce their decision to a maximum of $350,000.
Punitive damages are designed to deter future wrongful actions. As such, they can apply in premises liability cases where a premises manager or someone with responsibility over the location has acted wilfully to harm another person. They might also apply if there have been a series of slip and fall claims without improvement, showing that the manager has known about the problem and failed to rectify it repeatedly.
Virginia’s Contributory Negligence Rule
Virginia is one of the only states that adheres to a strict contributory negligence rule. This is one of the main reasons to work with a slip and fall firm like Halperin Law Center with deep roots in Virginia.
In Virginia, if you are found to be even 1% at fault for your accident, you are completely barred from recovering compensation in a lawsuit. This means that if the store owner, building manager, landlord, or other responsible party can show that you, in some way, were partially responsible for the fall, then you cannot sue for damages. This rule poses issues for many possible plaintiffs.
Say a store’s video shows you checking your phone a moment before a fall on a wet floor. In this case, even though they created a hazardous condition, your own actions could be interpreted to leave you partially at fault, and you could be barred from receiving anything in a settlement.
In another example, say you fell in a dark parking garage and seriously injured yourself. However, moments prior, you told friends that you were feeling a little tipsy from drinks over dinner. While you may know that you were not impaired enough to have caused the fall, the parking garage owner may attempt to claim that you were responsible and try to smear your character in a public record in court, when you know that you were simply having a lighthearted night out with friends.
If they can make this claim successfully, your case can be thrown out. You could walk away from a claim with no compensation and even with reputational harm by working with an attorney who is not prepared for the unique elements of Virginia’s contributory negligence rule.
How Legal Representation Builds a Slip and Fall Case in Virginia
You will need to prove that all of the following elements exist to make a successful claim for maximum compensation:
Actual vs. Constructive Notice
The building owner must have actual or constructive notice of a hazardous condition to be considered liable. Actual notice means that they knew about the hazard and did nothing. Constructive notice, however, means that they should have known and still did not act. An example of actual notice is a building manager mopping a floor. They know the floor is wet and that it poses a hazard.
Constructive notice, on the other hand, can be more difficult to prove. It involves proving that a reasonable person would have known about the risk, or that the owner should have been aware and addressed the problem.
Evidence Proving Your Fall
Your slip and fall attorney will need to gather evidence that shows the reason for your fall, as well as that the building owner was at fault. They must also prove that you were not at all at fault in your accident to bring a slip and fall case under the contributory negligence standard in Virginia.
Evidence might include:
- Photos or videos of the area
- Surveillance camera footage
- An explanation of the physical dynamics of your fall
- Eyewitness accounts
- An accident report from the building manager
- The clothing or shoes you were wearing, especially for women in high heels.
Medical Documentation
You must see a doctor if you wish to file an injury claim in Virginia. It is not enough to wait and see if you get better. A medical record is necessary to prove you were injured as well as to connect the fall to the premises. Do not wait to see a doctor; otherwise, opposing counsel will argue that the injury was caused by something other than the accident.
Proof of Costs
You must have incurred costs to be able to file for compensatory damages. Accumulating these costs is easy, but keeping clear records of them is another matter. Your attorney will be able to advise you about how best to present your expenses, as well as ensure that you are not undercounting your costs.
All of this must be filed within the appropriate format, jurisdiction, and timeline within the Virginia civil court system.
Statute of Limitations in Virginia Slip and Fall Cases
Under Virginia’s statute of limitations, you typically have two years from the date of the accident to file a lawsuit. However, it is always best to get started right away. Do not wait to get close to the deadline before reaching out to a personal injury lawyer. If you miss this filing deadline, you will generally be barred from recovery forever.
Additionally, many cases depend heavily on video evidence or witness testimony. Witnesses can move away, or video files can be lost or deleted if you wait to build your case. Your lawyers can help ensure that the video of your accident in the hands of the defendant’s store or restaurant is preserved.
What to Do if You’ve Suffered Major or Minor Injuries in a Slip and Fall
- Seek medical attention. You should see a doctor right away, not only for your own injury but also to build a case for your recovery.
- Take photos or videos of the area. Save the outfit you were wearing, and preserve as much evidence as possible.
- Tell a building manager you have fallen and ask them to make an accident report internally. Ask for a copy.
- Call a Virginia slip and fall lawyer. Get started as soon as possible on a case for the best possible outcome.
Contact a Slip and Fall Lawyer at Halperin Law Center for a Free Consultation
Contact Halperin Law Center today to get started with a slip and fall case. We have a long track record of success in such Virginia cases. We offer free consultations, so you can feel confident moving forward with our Virginia law firm. For more information, reach out to a Virginia slip and fall lawyer today.
