Day: September 20, 2021
5 QUESTIONS TO EXPECT DURING LITIGATION IN A SLIP AND FALL CASE
Accident victims in personal injury cases are often unaware or unprepared for the barrage of questions that the opposing party’s legal representatives will ask during a deposition. These questions are sometimes simple and direct. In most cases, however, they take a vicious turn as the victims are bombarded with questions designed to throw them off balance and disprove their claims. The intent behind these questions is to create doubt on the victim’s statement and claims so it important for them to stick to their story. An experienced legal practitioner knows to properly prepare their client for such depositions by letting them know the kind of questions to expect and how to answer them.
What Day of The Week Did the Accident Occur?
As simple as this question is, a wrong answer can mean the claim gets tossed out. It is expected that the victim knows the exact day of the week the accident happened. All evidence, from surveillance footage, timestamps on photographs, and even signed witness statements are expected to provide consistent data to be considered legitimate.
Where Did the Accident Occur?
Again, another seemingly harmless question. However, it is loaded with traps and an unprepared defendant will fall. Knowing the address of the location where the accident occurred proves the victim is not mistaken in their claims to who is liable. Lafayette slip and fall lawyers who are quite versed and experienced in such cases coach their clients on how to answer such tricky questions.
Is Your Vision Impaired?
These kinds of questions are intended to fault the victim by proving they exhibited some negligence thereby reducing liability on the part of the opposition. The defendant and their attorney should be able to confidently respond that their impaired vision is remedied with the right equipment (glasses or contacts) and cannot have caused them to fall. They should also emphasize the hazardous conditions that could have caused even a person with perfect vision to experience the same plight.
Were You Under the Influence of Drugs or Alcohol?
This question is also geared toward fault transfer. In this instance, the claimant needs to be very careful. If the victim was indeed under the influence of drugs (medicated or recreational) and or alcohol, it is expected that their attorney should know long before the deposition. This allows them to construct a strategic response that will prevent the opposition from passing fault to the victim for the accident.
What Were You Carrying at the Time of the Accident?
It is well known that most slip and fall accidents at work, home, or school are triggered by the victim carrying something heavy or unstable which could have caused them to lose their balance and fall. If the victim wasn’t carrying anything of consequence, there is nothing to worry about. However, if the victim was carrying potentially accident-causing items, the attorney will have to ensure that the client’s response refutes any counterclaims disputing the actual cause of the slip and fall for the items being …
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