Walmart is a retail giant with over 10,500 stores worldwide, including more than 4,700 locations in the United States alone. The company, founded by Sam Walton in 1962, is headquartered in Bentonville, Arkansas. In the Tampa area, numerous Walmart stores are serving the community. As one of the largest retailers, Walmart offers a vast array of products to meet every household's needs. However, the sheer volume of goods and high foot traffic in these stores make spillage and customer slip and falls foreseeable events that occur frequently. Serious slip and fall injuries can lead to permanent pain, suffering, and disability for the victim.
What You Need To Prove
The simple fact that you suffered injuries in a slip and fall at a Tampa area Walmart doesn’t make you eligible for compensation. After all, people slip or trip on their own shadows every day. In order to become eligible for compensation for your injuries, you must prove the following three basic facts:
- Your injuries weren’t completely attributable to your own carelessness, negligence or intentional act.
- That Walmart knew or should have known of a dangerous condition that caused you to slip and fall and become injured.
- That the premises you slipped and fell at was owned or occupied by Walmart and under its direct control.
Don’t Make The Following Mistakes
Most personal injury lawyers tell victims what they should do after a Walmart slip and fall. Here are a few things that you absolutely shouldn’t do:
- Leave the premises without making a written report with the store manager. Do not sign it. You’re entitled to a copy of that report.
- Not seeking immediate medical attention at an emergency room. Documenting your injuries immediately after the slip and fall is critical.
- Not consulting with and retaining a Tampa area slip and fall lawyer as soon as possible after leaving an emergency room. Don’t try and start the personal injury claim process on your own. You’re likely to damage and devalue your case.
- Giving a claims adjuster a written or oral statement about your accident. No matter what that adjuster tells you, state law does not require you to give a statement.
- Believing that Walmart’s claim adjuster is operating in your best interests. He or she is representing Walmart’s best interests.
- Wash any clothes that might have the foreign substance on them that caused you to slip and fall. Preserve that clothing. It could be critical evidence.
- Discuss your accident and injuries on social media. Walmart’s insurance adjuster will be looking for you on social media. Any prior inconsistent statements that you make on social media are likely to be used against you.
Store Surveillance Video
Just about every store in the country like Walmart maintains some type of a store surveillance video system. Footage of your slip and fall might have been recorded by that system, and you want any such footage properly preserved. The sooner that you retain us to represent you in your Tampa area Walmart slip and fall claim, the sooner that we can send our spoliation of evidence letter to Walmart. Video footage might be the best evidence that you have about how your slip and fall occurred.
Contact A Local Attorney Right Away
Don’t be surprised if Walmart’s insurance adjuster tries to get to you before you can get to us. Don’t believe words like “you don’t need an attorney for this.” Without a knowledgeable, experienced and aggressive Tampa slip and fall attorney from Hancock Injury Lawyers, Walmart's adjuster is going to have you right where it wants you. You’re not going to have much of a chance. Give yourself the best chance possible at obtaining the maximum settlement or award that you deserve by contacting our offices right away for a free and confidential consultation and case evaluation. If we’re retained to represent you, no legal fees at all are due unless we obtain a settlement or award for you.