You’re shopping at your local Food Lion, Harris Teeter, Whole Foods, or ALDI when a large box or appliance suddenly falls from a shelf and hits you. The impact knocks you to the floor causing serious injuries, including head trauma, lacerations, torn muscles, and a herniated disc in your lower back. These injuries leave you with massive medical expenses and time missed from work and your family. If you find yourself in this situation, take action and contact Shapiro, Washburn & Sharp today to schedule a free, confidential case review.
Business Owners Owe a Duty of Care to Keep Their Stores Safe for Customers
In Virginia and North Carolina, business owners owe a legal duty to customers to maintain their property in a reasonably safe condition. If you suffer an injury due to falling merchandise, a dangerous area within the store, or other preventable condition, you may be able to hold the owner responsible for your harms and losses. Business owners can be held responsible for incidents that involve:
- Tripping hazards
- Falling merchandise
- Falling furniture
- Unmarked holes
- Faulty or missing railings
- Lack of lighting and caution signs
Pursuing Financial Restitution
If you got hurt while on a business premise, you may be able to pursue financial restitution for the following types of harms and losses:
- Medical expenses (both immediate medical costs from ER care and long-term medical costs)
- Lost income due to time missed from work
- Pain and suffering
Why You Need an Experienced Business Premises Injury Lawyer
Premises liability is a complex and challenging area of law. This is because property owners are not obligated to guarantee the safety of each and every visitor on their premises and they are not automatically required to pay for your expenses stemming from an injury.
Furthermore, the injured victim bears the burden of proving that they were hurt due to a recognizable hazard on the property that the business premises owner knew or should have known about. A skilled and experienced personal injury attorney can help strengthen and improve the viability of your case. For example, our team of experienced business premises injury attorneys can help you by:
- Collecting evidence from the business premises (e.g., surveillance video footage, incident reports, witness statements, etc.);
- Reviewing your medical expenses;
- Calculating your lost wages;
- Negotiating with the property owner’s insurance company; and
- Litigating your case if necessary to get the result you deserve
What You Need to Do Right Away
If you’ve been involved in an accident at a business premise in Virginia Beach, Norfolk, or Chesapeake that you believe was the fault of another, you may have questions about what to do right away. These recommendations may help you with what to do to protect your legal rights:
- Make sure an incident report was filled out at the business premise.
- Contact the authorities.
- Take photos of your visible injuries and the area where the accident occurred.
- Ask for the name of the store manager or business owner.
- Get the name and contact information of any witnesses.
- Jot down your recollection of the incident.
- Get immediate medical attention.
- Contact our law firm to schedule a free consultation.
Why You Should Choose Shapiro, Washburn & Sharp
While the circumstances behind every premises liability incident are different, one fact holds true for all — the time immediately following the accident can be stressful and confusing. The right attorney can provide the support you need. The attorneys at Shapiro, Washburn & Sharp have more than 80 years of combined experience with business premises injury cases. Our team of experienced injury lawyers have handled many complex and devastating premises injury cases. Here are five reasons why you should contact our firm today:
- Rated as a “Best Law Firm” by U.S. News & World Report for personal injury law (since 2010)
- Recognized as Virginia “Super Lawyers” (an honor less than 5 percent of practicing attorneys attain)
- 10.0 Superb rating from Avvo, an independent lawyer rating service
- More than 80 years of combined legal experience
- No Financial Fee If No Recovery Guarantee