The Importance of Expert Testimony in Slip and Fall Cases

slip fall testimony expert witness

You’ve slipped and fallen on or near the property of a business due to a dangerous condition. You were paying attention and behaving reasonably, but you fell nonetheless because the business owner negligently permitted a dangerous condition to exist. You suffered an injury as a result, causing you to accrue medical bills, lose out on wages, and endure pain and suffering.

Under these facts, you may think it would be simple enough to gain compensation for your harm from the responsible business. After all, property owners have a duty to ensure that their premises are safe, and when they fall short of that duty, the law says they must compensate any victims that suffered harm as a result. However, slip and fall cases are rarely that simple.

Property owners will often hotly contest every issue in a case. Whether a condition was unreasonably dangerous, whether a condition was the cause of the fall, and whether medical bills and other damages are properly attributed to the slip and fall can all be surprisingly complex questions to answer. To win slip and fall cases, plaintiffs often need to have qualified expert witnesses testifying on their side. Expert witnesses can help explain complex issues to the court, and they are often persuasive to both judges and jurors alike.

The Use of Expert Testimony in Slip and Fall Cases

Depending on the facts of a case, a plaintiff may need to rely on multiple experts to prove their claim. There are the primary functions that an expert witness can serve in a slip and fall case:

• Establishing that a dangerous condition existed. While some conditions are obviously unreasonably dangerous, a closer inspection is required to make this determination for others. For instance, whether flooring, stairs, railings, or construction defects constitute a dangerous condition can depend on the precise risk presented and prevailing safety standards. Experts trained in engineering or that have deep knowledge of building codes can help a court understand why certain conditions should be considered unreasonably dangerous.

• Demonstrating causation. Slip and fall accidents can cause a range of injuries. Some of these injuries can be extremely serious, even fatal. Judges and jurors may not always understand how a slip and fall can cause serious injuries. Accident reconstruction or medical experts can help show how the injury complained of was in fact caused by the fall and not by some other incident.

• Proving damages. Damages are the award of compensation given to a plaintiff that wins their case. In every personal injury case, the plaintiff must prove the amount of damages owed to them. This means that a plaintiff must prove that all of their medical expenses stemmed from the accident, which almost always requires the expert testimony of a doctor. A medical or vocational expert can also be used to help the court determine a fair amount of damages for lost wages.

Injury Victims Need a Well Connected and Experienced Personal Injury Attorney

The difference between prevailing and losing a personal injury case can often turn on whether the plaintiff had effective expert testimony on his or her side. This is especially true when the defense offers expert testimony of its own. Injury victims need an experienced personal injury attorney that has connections to the types of expert witnesses that can inform and persuade the court effectively.

Williams Elleby Howard & Easter, understands the importance of expert testimony in slip and fall cases. The experienced slip and fall injury attorneys at Williams Elleby Howard & Easter, diligently ensure that their clients have the expert support they need in every case.

If You’ve Suffered a Slip and Fall, Contact Williams Elleby Howard & Easter, Today

If you or a loved one has suffered a slip and fall, it is imperative that you have the support of a qualified and experienced personal injury lawyer. Williams Elleby Howard & Easter, can help you understand your legal rights and options, and work to get you the compensation you deserve.
Our firm has an extensive track record of success getting slip and fall victims the compensation they deserve. Williams Elleby Howard & Easter offers free case evaluations and serves clients throughout the State of Georgia. Call us today to discuss your case at 833-LEGALGA.

John Deere Recalls Compact Utility Tractors Due to Injury Hazard

john deer recalls

On December 12, 2017, John Deere recalled more than 3,600 compact utility tractors due to a dangerous product defect. According to the recall, which was announced by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, “The rollover protective structure (ROPS) at the back of the tractor can loosen and fail to protect the operator in a rollover accident, posing a risk of injury.” Although there have not been any reported incidents or injuries to date, the risk of harm was serious enough that a recall was warranted. The recall number is 18-705.
The affected tractors are John Deere model 1023E and model 1025R compact utility tractors. These tractors were sold between March and October of 2017. Anyone with one of these tractors should avoid using it on any type of slope as a rollover could prove extremely dangerous. John Deere is offering free repairs.

GEORGIA PRODUCT LIABILITY CLAIMS

When manufacturers place defective products on the market, they are strictly liable for any harm that occurs as a result. Victims of defective products can sue in actions known as product liability claims. All product liability claims in Georgia stem from Title 51 Chapter 1 § 11(b) of the Official Code of Georgia (O.C.G.A. § 51-1-11), which states that:

The manufacturer of any personal property sold as new property directly or through a dealer or any other person shall be liable in tort, irrespective of privity, to any natural person who may use, consume, or reasonably be affected by the property and who suffers injury to his person or property because the property when sold by the manufacturer was not merchantable and reasonably suited to the use intended, and its condition when sold is the proximate cause of the injury sustained.

Broken down into plain English, this statute means that to win a manufacturing product liability claim, a plaintiff must prove that:

1. The defendant was the manufacturer of the product;
2. The product was defective when it left the control of the manufacturer; and
3. The product’s defective condition caused the harm.

Under the statute, it does not matter whether the person harmed was the purchaser of the product. Traditionally, only those with “privity of contract” could bring product liability claims. O.C.G.A. § 51-1-11 expressly removes this requirement. Anyone harmed can bring a product liability claim, even if the manufacturer sold the defective product to someone completely different.

Three Ways Manufacturers of Tractors and Riding Lawn Mowers Might Liable for Injuries

There are three main ways that manufacturers can be held found liable under O.C.G.A. § 51-1-11:

• Design defects;
• Manufacturing defects; or
• A failure to adequately warn consumers of risks.

Design defects are those that are inherent in the intended design of a product. One major factor that courts will look to when deciding if a design was defective is whether safer alternatives existed. For instance, utility tractors and riding mowers should be designed with a rollover protection system, a kill switch that is triggered if a rider falls off of the seat, and mechanisms that allow a rider to go in reverse safely. These are well-accepted safety features that all manufacturers should be aware of. Thus, any design that fails to include these safety features could be considered defective.

Manufacturing defects occur when a product deviates from its intended design. These are usually instances where a product or a handful of products are affected by some type of error during the manufacturing process. Many manufacturing defects are caught by a manufacturer’s quality control program, but some slip through the cracks.

Even when products are designed well and manufactured exactly as intended, manufacturers still have a duty to warn consumers about any potential dangers that their product poses. For instances, manufacturers of utility tractors and riding lawn mowers must supply sufficient operating instructions and warnings.

If You’ve Been Injured by a Defective Product, Contact Williams Elleby Howard & Easter, LCC, Today

The legal team at Williams Elleby Howard & Easter, takes product liability injuries very seriously. Manufacturers that sell their products in Georgia have a duty to ensure that those products are safe to use, and to adequately warn consumers about any dangers posed. When people are harmed by defective products, they deserve to be compensated. If you or a loved one has been injured by a defective product, contact Williams Elleby Howard & Easter, today to schedule a free consultation by calling 833-LEGALGA.

Pedestrian Killed in Crash Involving Brooks County Patrol Car

police car accident pedestrian

On the morning of December 12, 2017, 60-year old Hubert Herring was killed when he was struck by a Brooks County Sheriff’s Office patrol car in Boston, Georgia. It was reported that Herring was attempting to cross the eastbound lane of traffic when he walked in front of the patrol car. Eyewitnesses to the accident reported that the driver of the car had almost no time to react before the collision occurred.

Pedestrian Accidents

Pedestrian accidents happen frequently in the United States, including in Georgia. These types of accidents occur in large cities, small towns, and rural areas alike. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), there were roughly 70,000 pedestrians injured and 5,376 killed in traffic accidents in the United States in 2015. This means that, on average, a pedestrian is killed every two hours and injured every seven minutes in traffic crashes in the United States in 2015.

Statistics gathered by the NHTSA show that approximately 74% of pedestrian accidents occur at night, nearly 15% of pedestrian accidents involve children, and that alcohol is a factor in nearly half of all pedestrian fatalities. When pedestrians are struck by negligent drivers, they are entitled to compensation for whatever harm they have suffered. In fatal accident cases, a victim’s family can bring a wrongful death action.

However, compensation from the driver involved is not guaranteed merely because an accident occurred. Pedestrians, just like auto drivers, have a duty to adhere to certain rules of the road. For a pedestrian to win a personal injury claim against a driver, they must prove not only that the driver was negligent, but also the driver’s negligence as the cause of the accident.

The Georgia “Rules of the Road” Governing Pedestrian Accidents

Auto drivers and pedestrians each have a duty to act with reasonable care when using roadways. When Driver or pedestrians violate rules of the road, they are presumed negligent. This means that if an accident occurs, they will be presumed to be negligent and may owe the other party compensation.

Common causes of pedestrian accidents that are the result of driver negligence are speeding, distracted driving, failing to yield the right of way to a pedestrian in a crosswalk, running a stop light or stop sign, failing to use a turn signal at a right-hand turn, and of course DWI/DUI. Even when drivers are otherwise adhering to these rules of the road, they also have a duty to exercise due care to avoid colliding with a pedestrian in all circumstances.

Although the overall focus of Georgia traffic laws, which are found in Title 40 of the Official Code of Georgia, is on regulating auto drivers, Georgia law has also recognized that there is also a strong public safety interest in regulating pedestrian conduct. Georgia law contains specific rules of the road that apply to pedestrians on all Georgia roadways. Title 40 Chapter 6 Sections 90-99 outline the rights and duties of pedestrians.

Major rules of the road that all Georgia pedestrians should be aware of are:

• Just like drivers must obey traffic lights and traffic regulations, pedestrians also must obey traffic control devices and traffic regulations. § 40-6-90.
• Pedestrians have the right of way only when walking across a crosswalk. When pedestrians cross a roadway at a place other than a crosswalk, vehicles have the right of way. § 40-6-92.
• Georgia law also holds that, “no pedestrian shall suddenly leave a curb or other place of safety and walk or run into the path of a vehicle which is so close that it is impractical for the driver to yield.” § 40-6-91.
• A pedestrian may not walk upon a roadway when they are intoxicated “to a degree which renders him a hazard.” § 40-6-95.
• Pedestrians should generally avoid walking upon a roadway when a sidewalk is provided. § 40-6-96.

For More Information, Contact Williams Elleby Howard & Easter

Pedestrian accidents can raise complex legal questions and the issue of liability is often hotly contested. If you or a loved one has been injured in a pedestrian accident, the experienced personal injury attorneys at Williams Elleby Howard & Easter, can help you understand your legal rights and options. Williams Elleby Howard & Easter, is dedicated to helping victims get the compensation they deserve. Call 833-LEGALGA today to schedule a free consultation.