Home Depot and Lowes Practices Can Lead to Serious Injuries

Home Depot is one of the nation’s largest retailers specializing in hardware and home improvement supplies.  Warehouse stores have increased the practice known as high stacking of their merchandise in order to save space and time.  However such practices often lead to dangerous condition leading heavy objects falling on unsuspecting victims.

Such accidents can lead to serious injuries including:

• Traumatic Head Injuries
• Facial Lacerations
• Spinal Cord Injuries
• Paraplegia and quadriplegia
• Fractured Skull
• Soft Tissue injuries
• Severe Neck Injuries
• Traumatic Eye injuries leading to partial or complete blindness
• Accident Fatalities leading to Wrongful Death Lawsuits

If you or a loved one has been injured in a Home Depot or Lowe’s hardware store contact our California Premise Liability Attorney.  Our goal is to provide you with top legal representation so that you will receive the highest possible compensation for your loss.

Home Depot Premises Liability Laws and Store Owner Operator Responsibility for My Injuries

Land owner and business operators like Home Depot and Lowe’s liability to its patrons vary greatly depending upon the classification of the victim.

Main Causes of accident in Warehouse stores:

• Failure to rectify conditions known to be a hazard to shoppers
• Failure of employees to clean up or properly stack goods in the store
• Failure to maintain clean dry floors leading to slip and fall accidents
• Sawdust on floor on store ground leading to slip and fall accidents
• Wet floors improperly unmarked as wet
• Failure to warn of dangerous conditions

Generally, all visitors fall into one of three categories: Invitee:  An invitee is owed the highest duty of care.  They are any individual who is either expressly or impliedly invited to another person’s premises for their mutual benefit. In most instances a patron who arrives to a store seeking to purchase a product is regarded under California Premises Liability laws as an Invitee. Licensee: Any individual who enters the premises at the owner or possessors consent for a non business or commercial purpose.  The most common example is a social guest.  In order to recover as a licensee, a victim must establish (all three):

1. The owner or possessor knew or should have known of the dangerous condition, and should have known that it created an unreasonable risk of harm, and likewise should have known that the plaintiff would fail to discover the dangerous condition
2. The owner or possessor did not make the condition safe or failed to warn the licensee of the condition
3. The licensee did not know of the dangerous condition or the risks involved.

Trespassers: Unlike an invitee or licensee, a trespasser enters premises without the property owner or possessor’s consent.  Generally, no duty is owed to a trespasser.

• Medical Expenses: Medical expenses include all medical bills and costs, including those incurred in the emergency room, hospital visits, doctor visits, MRI testing facility, radiologists, chiropractors, dentists, or any other treating professional that was necessitated as a result of your injury.
• Future Medical Expenses: Unfortunately, the effects of slip and fall or brain injury can often be felt for months, years, or even a lifetime after the injury occurred. We will work with doctors and other medical specialist to establish the full amount of any future medical expenses to make sure you are adequately compensated for these damages.
• Lost Wages: After an accident, you are entitled to any income you lost. Even if you were unemployed before the accident a Personal Injury Lawyer may be able to procure lost wages damages by demonstrating what you could have earned but for your herniated disc injury.
• Loss of Earning Capacity: In addition to current lost wages, victims of car accidents are eligible to receive compensation for future lost wages.
• Pain and Suffering: A victim of herniated disc injury can further be compensated for mental suffering that could include fright, anxiety, depression, trauma, grief or feelings of distress.
• Property Damage:  Our attorneys will make sure that you receive the full value for all your property damage.

Will Home Depot or Lowe’s Settle My Injury Case?

Will Home Depot settle my case in mediation or force my lawyer to go to trial? Will Home Depot settle my slip and fall case in mediation, or will we be forced to go to trial? Well, this depends on the situation. Whether you are dealing with Home Depot or Lowe’s, the answer to this question will vary. Although many cases do settle in mediation, many other cases must go through trial to reach a settlement or a verdict. So, what determines whether Home Depot or Lowes will settle accident in store cases in mediation or force trial? Consider the following points:

• The cooperation of the property owner and their insurance provider – for an injury case to settle, the defendant essentially has to agree that they were liable and with the specific settlement amount demanded.

  • If the defendant does not accept liability, they will not accept any settlement demand. In these cases, the lawsuit must go to trial where the jury will determine whether the defendant is liable and how much will need to be paid.

  • If the defendant does not accept the settlement demand and is not willing to negotiate (i.e., the defendant is only offering low settlements), then taking the lawsuit to trial will ensure that a fair verdict is reached.

• The competency of your legal counsel.

  • Some lawyers simply want to get these cases over with as soon as possible, so they will accept the first settlement offer even if the case is worth more. They are not willing to negotiate with the property owner/insurance to get a better settlement.

  • Competent lawyers are not afraid to continue to push even after negotiations in mediation have gotten nowhere. A competent lawyer will take your claim to trial to reach a verdict.

Important things to note about taking claims to trial – first and foremost, it is important to understand that taking a claim to trial significantly increases legal costs. Because of this, defendants may actually not want to take claims to trial. Although many people fear trial, trial may be the only way to reach a resolution for some cases. The truth is that it is unlikely for Home Depot or Lowes to force your lawyer to trial. On the contrary, they may push to a resolution before trial.

Selecting the Right Legal Representation for your Injuries

It is important for your attorney understands the extent of your injuries due to negligence of property owners and business operators and employs the proper experts to determine the extent of your injuries and the compensation you are owed. Downtown LA Law Group:  We are a full service plaintiff’s law firm. We are compassionate litigators fighting for the rights of our clients.  Our attorneys can help with your case. Contact us today for a free case evaluation or a second opinion. Remember: It is crucial to act quickly before any limitations can lower or extinguish your rightful claim. Call us for a free consultation with one of our injury attorneys regarding your claim: (855) 339-8879

Here at our law firm, we are committed to making the legal process as simple as possible. Our Zero-Fee Guarantee ensures that our clients will never have to worry about paying any upfront legal fees for our legal services. In addition, our team works on a strict contingency; this means that our clients will not be required to pay anything unless their claims are successful. If you do not win, you simply will not pay anything.