What Happens if You Hurt Your Back in a Fall?

When you hurt your back, you can become helpless and miserable in a hurry. Forget about moving–it can be challenging to sit, stand, or even lie down without tensing in agony.

Sometimes, back injuries heal fully with time and rest. Other times, they don’t. In fact, some injuries continue to grow worse and more painful over time, even if you have been vigilant about avoiding actions that aggravate the injuries.

When back injuries become debilitating, you are not able to work to support yourself. You lose the ability to participate in your favorite activities, and it can be impossible to take care of yourself and your home without assistance. You suffer financially, physically, and emotionally. Often, there is little doctors can do to heal the physical damage. But a knowledgeable and dedicated personal injury lawyer may be able to help heal the financial damage, and the security and sense of justice can go a long way toward emotional healing. If you’ve hurt your back in a fall on someone else’s property or due to conditions caused by others, it is a good idea to consult an attorney who can offer a free case evaluation to learn about your options for recovery.

When You May Be Able to Recover Compensation for a Fall

An attorney is not able to seek compensation for every injury that occurs. The laws of Georgia allow an attorney to file a claim for compensation when someone’s injuries are caused by the negligence, recklessness, or deliberate wrongdoing of another person (or company). If you fell because someone pushed you, that would be an intentional violent crime, and an injury attorney experienced in this type of case could work to recover compensation from the person who harmed you, and potentially others who could be held liable for that person’s conduct, such as an employer or guardian.

Most falls, however, do not occur due to deliberate wrongdoing or reckless conduct. Liability for falls is usually based on negligence. When someone is negligent, they don’t mean to hurt anyone, but they fail to act responsibly, and that lack of responsibility allows others to suffer as a result. A fall that occurs due to negligence is still an accident, but it is an accident that could have been prevented if someone had done what they were supposed to do (or avoided doing something they shouldn’t have done).

When the person who is responsible for enabling the fall to occur is held legally liable, they are required to pay compensation to those hurt by the fall. This, of course, includes the person who fell, but could also include family members as well, particularly if the fall leads to a premature death.

How Negligence is Defined Under the Law

To prove that someone’s negligence is what caused you to fall and injure your back, your attorney needs to establish four facts:

• The person owed a duty to act with a certain level of care toward you. The level of care will be determined by the situation.
• The person failed to act with appropriate care.
• The failure to act with appropriate care was the direct cause of your fall.
• Your fall led to injuries that warrant compensation.

Each of these four issues can be extremely complex to prove.

Duty of Care

This issue deals with the type of conduct required in a particular circumstance. For instance, the driver of a car owes a duty of care to others on the road to drive responsibly, which includes following driving rules. A company that delivers goods in trucks owes a duty to ensure that the trucks are loaded in a safe manner, so that they are not unbalanced and are not in danger of rolling over. The owner of a store, hotel, or other business open to the public owes a duty of care to ensure that the premises are safe for customers. This includes a duty to inspect for potential problems and dangers and to take steps to protect customers from injury. However, the duty of care owed to customers differs from the duty owed to trespassers who enter without permission. The owner doesn’t need to inspect for harmful conditions; they just need to avoid intentionally doing something that could cause harm, such as setting up booby traps.

Often, when someone injures their back in a fall, it is because the property owner failed to warn about a hazardous condition, such as a slick floor or tripping hazard, that remained unaddressed. Or they fail to put up or maintain safe railings on landings. However, the property owner is not always the sole party at fault. A maintenance company representative could also be at fault for leaving equipment out or failing to make repairs in a timely manner.

Breach of Duty

The failure to act responsibly and live up to the duty of care owed under the circumstances is known as a breach of duty. Your attorney will need to show that the person responsible for your fall owed a duty to behave with a certain level of care toward you and that their conduct did not meet that level. This requires considerable evidence, so it is a good idea to begin working with an attorney right away, so your attorney can help you collect evidence to show what happened and why it is someone else’s fault.

Causation

Evidence is also needed to show how the irresponsible behavior/breach of duty directly caused you to fall. Sometimes, attorneys need to bring in expert witnesses who can testify and establish this connection. You need to prove that the fall would not have happened if the person fulfilled their duty of care.

Damages

When a fall causes a back injury, you must establish the extent of the injury and the harm they have caused in your life. It is also necessary to establish the effect the injuries are likely to have on your future.

You may have no idea what to expect in the future, but an attorney who has worked with numerous accident victims who have suffered back injuries can help you determine what your future needs and experiences might be. This can enable you to determine the amount of compensation you will need to cover future needs and the compensation you should be entitled to receive for the suffering you’ve endured and the decrease in quality of life you may be forced to accept in the future.

Find Out How Michael M. Day Law Firm May Be Able to Assist if You’ve Hurt Your Back in a Fall

It is not always obvious when a fall is caused by someone else’s negligence. If your fall occurred at work, it might be covered by the workers’ compensation scheme, or you may be able to file a personal injury claim depending on the situation. At Michael M. Day Law Firm, our experienced legal team can review the circumstances pertaining to your back injury and tell you if we may be able to recover compensation through a personal injury claim. Call us at 404-480-4284 or contact us online now to schedule your free case evaluation.