Can I Sue for a Slip and Fall Causing Damage to my Mouth?

Slip and falls and trip and falls are responsible for countless mouth and dental injuries, but exactly what are the health issues that are associated with these accidents? Here are some of the common injuries to your mouth that can happen if you slip on something and fall down:

• Excessive bleeding – from the mouth, lips, or gums, which can cause loss of consciousness, hemorrhagic shock and other potentially fatal conditions.
• Severe pain in and around your mouth that makes it difficult to eat, breathe, or talk
• Teeth discoloration, scars, and other forms of permanent disfigurement
• Chipped or cracked tooth (tooth fracture)
• Tooth avulsion, where the tooth has entirely dislodged from the socket
• Damage to the bones and ligaments that hold the tooth in place, i.e., tooth luxation
• Broken jaw, which can cause permanent misalignment of the teeth and lead to eating and breathing problems.

Please note that some of these injuries, like tooth avulsions, are medical emergencies that require immediate care. Otherwise, you will permanently lose the tooth and will need to undergo expensive treatments for a replacement tooth. But even if the condition is not an emergency, waiting to treat a mouth injury can have painful, long-term consequences to your health. That’s why you should go to a hospital right away and make sure that your injuries are properly evaluated.

Fortunately, most people with a mouth or tooth injury can experience full recovery if they seek medical attention from an emergency room or their dentist’s office. The course of treatment you will need depends on multiple factors, like the location of the injury and potential health complications. Here are some of the procedures that may be recommended to you:

• Cosmetic surgery
• Dental implants
• Root canal
• Jaw surgery to correct / prevent misalignment of the teeth
• Bone grafting

All of these are invasive and expensive treatments, and they will surely cause you to lose time from work and other important obligations. You may also experience significant pain and discomfort during your recovery, especially if you need multiple procedures over many months. If the injury is severe enough, no amount of treatment will provide you with a permanent fix, meaning you will have some form of pain and disfigurement that will never go away.

You should not be left with the burden of medical bills, lost wages and expenses when you are the victim of negligence or misconduct. Contact our law firm and talk to a slip and fall lawyer that can educate you on your legal rights.

As a general rule, those who are injured from a dangerous condition on someone else’s property have the right to seek payment for the harm they’ve suffered. The legal principle that applies here is called premises liability, which has to do with an owner’s duty to ensure that their home, store, building, etc., is reasonably safe. For example, a store owner has a duty to remove hazards like water on the floor and grease spots in the parking lot, which are common causes of slip and fall accidents. They must also make repairs and replace defective / worn out items for the sake of preventing injury to guests and visitors.

Owners of commercial premises generally have a higher degree of liability in accidents compared to homeowners, since the possibility of injury is greater at places like stores and office buildings. But no matter the type of property, there are a series of tasks that must be taken care of in order to keep people safe. This is why the presence of a hazard and you being injured from it gives you the right to sue the owner of the property. Conditions that can cause a slip and fall include, but are not limited to:

• Water leaks
• Poor lighting
• Failure to use anti-slip mats
• Improper cleaning techniques
• Not using Wet Floor signs
• Oil and grease on floors (at restaurants and other places that serve food)
• Snow and ice on the ground
• Loose wiring / cords
• Uneven flooring
• Missing tiles or carpeting
• Improperly designed or broken hand rails
• Merchandise falling off or shelves or racks

For more information on California’s premises liability laws and your right to demand compensation for a slip and fall incident, contact us today.

Slip and fall injury case values can range from $10,000 to $2,500,000 and above, depending on the type and number of injuries, degree of pain and suffering, and the defendant’s involvement in causing the accident. With so many issues to consider, we can’t say for sure what the average claimant is entitled to, but the clients we represent usually receive $75,000 or more for a slip and fall accident claim. Please note, however, that you should not use this as a measure of what you will end up with from a lawsuit. To obtain a case value that’s specific to your circumstances, please give us a call and schedule a free case review. This will give us an opportunity to learn about what happened to you and come up with a payment amount that accurately reflects the harm you’ve suffered.

For some people, the length of time to settle a slip and fall case may be a few weeks, while others need to wait 2 or more years before they receive payment. In the event you take your case to trial, it will probably take more than 3 years to obtain your medical expenses, lost income, and other qualifying damages. A trial, by the way, is unlikely to happen, since well over 90% of all slip and fall and trip and fall claims are settled through negotiations with an insurance company.

If we had to come up with an average timeline, claims for accidents on residential properties take around 4 to 8 months for the most part. If you are suing a business (injured on a commercial property), it will probably take 8 to 12 months before a settlement is reached. But the time needed to settle a slip and fall lawsuit varies due to a number of factors may or may not be relevant to your case.

Starting from when you sustain a slip and fall injury, you have 2 years to file a claim for monetary compensation. If, however, the incident took place on a government owned / operated property, you must file a claim within 6 months. We will talk more about government liability claims in the next section, but for now, let’s discuss the deadline to sue a private entity, like a store owner or apartment complex.

As we mentioned, the statute of limitations for a slip and fall lawsuit is 2 years, though an exception can be made if there is a delayed diagnosis of injury following your accident. This can happen with loss of function, brain damage, and other health conditions that can take a long time to develop. If you are already past the 2-year mark when you discover such an injury, you have 1 year from the date of realization to sue the responsible individual or entity.

Other issues in your case may play a role in the amount of time you have for a slip and fall accident claim, though you can generally assume that 2 years is the deadline for a lawsuit. If you would like to verify how long you have to sue for slipping and falling down on someone else’s property, give us a call at your earliest convenience.

Did you fall down and hurt yourself on property that’s owned or managed by the government, like the State of California or County of Los Angeles? Or, maybe you were injured on the premises of a public school, which is also an entity of the government. As someone that is suing the government for a slip and fall, you only have 6 months from the incident date to file a claim.

Claims against government agencies have many complications, including the claims process, which has to take place before you can file a lawsuit. The paperwork is different for each city, county, and school district, so that alone can cause problems. It’s also challenging for the average claimant to prove a case of liability and locate the necessary evidence to show why they are owed a certain amount of money.

If the government agency denies your request for payment, you only have 6 months from the date of rejection to initiate a lawsuit. This and many other issues can make it difficult to obtain compensation, even if it’s clear that a government employee or department is responsible for causing your injuries. That’s why you must reach out to a slip and fall lawsuit attorney who can provide you with effective representation.

At DTLA Law Group, we have a dedicated team of slip and fall lawyers who are ready to assist you. Representing your interests and bringing you maximum payment for your injuries is our primary motivation.

Only you can decide for yourself if filing a lawsuit is the right course of action. Our job is to help you make an informed decision, which is why we invite you to meet with us for a free case evaluation. If you decide to retain our law firm, all legal fees are deferred until the end of your case. Even better, it’s the party at fault that covers the cost of legal representation, meaning you pay absolutely nothing to hire a slip and fall accident attorney. You also pay nothing if we don’t recover your settlement, as all clients at our law firm receive a Zero Fee Guarantee.

The road to justice may not be easy, but we promise that we are with you every step of the way. Please schedule a free case review with one of our legal experts as soon as possible.

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