If you were involved in a slip and fall accident in New Mexico, you should seek out an attorney right away to determine your next steps. It is not recommended to attempt to seek damages for your injuries on your own, as a personal injury attorney can handle your claim and negotiate fair damages for you.

Slip and falls at grocery stores or on a rental property are always a possible risk when going about everyday life. The good news is the owner or property manager may have failed to address any hazards for you and others living or shopping on the same property, which may hold them liable. Such a case is not clear cut and will require investigation by your attorney to understand who may have dropped the ball on keeping everyone safe.

Seeking medical attention for injury treatment is your first priority. Your attorney will consider all medical bills related to the injuries and factor those into a potential settlement. Our attorneys have decades of experience in litigating slip and fall cases across New Mexico. We understand what it takes to win a case and help you receive the compensation you deserve.

The key to look at in any slip and fall case is negligence. It is not enough to just have a slip and fall on its own to prove negligence. Was there a risk caused by the property owner’s actions or lack thereof that could have been prevented? It must be proven that property owner or landlord failed to prevent the slippery conditions that resulted in an injury. No negligence means no liability by the other party.

A common argument commonly used in slip and fall cases is that conditions might have been unsafe for the resident. Again, you must show that the owner or landlord knew of such unsafe conditions to have a strong case at all.

If a store owner just finished mopping the floor and you fell, that is a dangerous condition presenting a real risk to those on the property. Any reasonable person would not be able to avoid such a situation if they are unaware the floor is wet. It’s a risk to the customers on the property and not a hazard you would expect to encounter when going shopping. In fact, negligence like the above example may encourage shoppers to avoid this kind of situation in the future because their safety was compromised due to being completely unaware of the risk of shopping when a floor is wet.

Another area to look at is slipping on snow outside a rental property where you have signed a lease to live on the property. Depending on what your lease says, slipping on the property may not be considered negligence by you landlord if your rental agreement explicitly says you must shovel the snow yourself. If the rental agreement says the landlord will be responsible for shoveling the snow, the landlord will be responsible even if you don’t tell them about the snow.

As you can see determining negligence in a slip and fall case takes investigation by an attorney. Not every slip and fall case has a simple immediate answer on who is liable.

The best thing you can do before contacting a slip and fall lawyer is to provide any documentation and evidence you have relating to the incident. That will help your attorney to have material to review in assisting them in determining whether there is negligence on the part of the property owner or landlord.