By: If you live in Orange County and slip and fall, an accident attorney should be your next call. Sure, there are other things you can and should do before you make that call — laughing it off is a positive choice if it doesn’t seem that serious — but once you’ve taken care of the basics, calling a lawyer is always to your benefit.
Here’s why: you don’t know right away if a particular slip and fall is as innocent as it seems. Sure, you might just have a sore rump for a few days — or it might be the start of a case of sciatica that doesn’t develop for months. Any time you have an accidental slip and fall on someone else’s property, let your lawyer know; you never know when it might become an issue down the line.
But what should you do before you make that call to your lawyer>? There are some details you should always get:
Witnesses
If anyone near you saw the fall, ask them if they can spare a moment. Ask them for their contact information and for their permission to contact them in the future if it happens that the fall results in a major medical problem. If they seem particularly patient and willing, ask for their help in filling out an incident report.
Area
Look around the area for the cause of your fall. Loose rugs, signs with feet projecting into the path of traffic, wet spots on the floor — whatever might have made you slip and fall. Try to understand exactly what happened, and take notes if it’s not obvious.
Report
If you’re in a public area, find someone who has authority there and report your fall to them. Ask if they have an incident report that you can follow out, and ask any helpful witnesses to do the same. Be concise, honest, and specific in your report. Always always indicate that you will be contacting your doctor for a follow-up exam.
Follow-up
Then actually go to your doctor and talk about what happened. Ask the doctor what the possible immediate and long-term effects of your fall might be. Once you know what the potential damages may be, you should make that phone call — get a Los Angeles personal injury attorney on the line, not (necessarily) to file a case, but to document your concerns so that if something develops in the future, you’re ready.