How Much Money Does Walmart Settle for Slip and Fall Accidents?

Large settlements are available in Walmart and other retail store slip-and-fall cases. As outlined below, the exact amount mostly depends on the extent of injuries, liability issues, and the evidence available.

Retail falls disproportionately affect vulnerable people, mostly individuals with pre-existing medical conditions or who are over 65. Tragically, insurance companies often use these vulnerabilities as an excuse to reduce or deny compensation to these victims.

In spite of these obstacles, the average grocery store slip-and-fall settlement is over $50,000. Victims need this money to pay accident-related expenses, like medical bills, and live their best lives going forward. If a Carlsbad personal injury lawyer focuses on the aforementioned three areas, maximum compensation is usually available.

Slip-and-Fall Injuries

Especially if the victim was vulnerable, slip-and-fall injuries are usually permanent, at least to an extent. This status drives up the amount of money Walmart pays for slip-and-fall settlements.

A broken hip, one of the most common slip-and-fall injuries, is a good example. Once it breaks, this joint often never fully heals. Thus, the victim must deal with lifelong limited mobility. Furthermore, that lingering injury increases the risk and/or severity of future trauma injuries, like another fall, or long-term diseases, such as arthritis.

The permanent nature of many slip-and-fall injuries at Walmart underscores the need for a Carlsbad personal injury lawyer to move slowly in these cases. If a slip-and-fall matter settles too early, that settlement may not fully account for all future medical expenses, not to mention future pain and suffering.

On a related note, if cases settle too early, the best evidence, and therefore maximum compensation, is often unavailable. More on that below.

Legal Responsibility for Injuries

In many states, legal responsibility for a slip-and-fall injury or other premises liability injury, like a dog bite, is rather straightforward. California is different. Judges in the Golden State must apply a long list of factors to determine the extent of the duty of care. These factors include:

• Amount of Control: Many Walmarts are, in effect, shopping malls. Small independent retailers, like fast-food restaurants, often rent space inside the store. The rental agreement often determines the amount of control Walmart has over floor hazards in these areas.
• Likelihood of Entry: Almost no one dives into a swimming pool in winter. But the opposite is true at Walmart, as any Christmas shopper knows. The high volume of foot traffic, especially during certain times of year, raises the bar, in terms of legal responsibility.
• Nature of Entry: Walmart owes a high duty of care to shoppers, whether or not they spend any money at the store. However, if a teenager slips and falls while skateboarding on the sidewalk, the duty of care is much lower.

The duty of care requires Walmart and other grocery stores to go out of their way to prevent accident injuries. Depending on these factors, along with others, such as the cost of preventing injury, that duty ranges between putting a store on lockdown and barely lifting a finger.

Available Evidence

Moreover, liability usually attaches if the owner knew about the injury-causing hazard. This evidence could be direct or circumstantial.

Direct evidence of actual knowledge is usually the best evidence on this point. Such “smoking gun” evidence includes restroom cleaning reports and video surveillance footage. Most defendants hide such evidence as long as possible. If a case settles before the best evidence is available, the victim must often settle for less.

Compensation in a Walmart slip-and-fall case usually includes money for economic losses, such as medical bills, and noneconomic losses, such as pain and suffering. Additional punitive damages may be available as well, in some extreme cases.

Contact a Hard-Working San Diego County Lawyer

Injury victims are entitled to substantial compensation. For a confidential consultation with an experienced personal injury lawyer in Carlsbad, contact the Pursley Law Firm. We routinely handle matters throughout the Golden State.