Slip and Fall Settlements (and other Accident Lawsuits)
Below are some of my many settlements for slip and falls cases. We’ll also look at my settlements for trip and falls and other types of premises accidents.
I’ll tell you what it takes to get a slip and fall settlement.
These are Florida cases.
Additionally, these are cases where a business establishment’s or cruise line’s carelessness caused our client’s injury.
$240,000 Trip and Fall Settlement in Florida (2021)
Shirley was staying at a hotel in Hollywood, Florida. While she was in the pool courtyard, she tripped over a raised edge in the walkway. She said that she didn’t see it before she tripped.
Shirley had horrible shoulder pain. Paramedics came to the hotel and took her to the hospital.
There, an x-ray showed that she broke her upper arm bone (humerus).
After the fall, Shirley’s friend came to the hotel. She took a photo showing that the general area was blocked off.
As you can see from the photo, yellow caution tape was put up after the fall.
It was good to have this photo.
However, it would have been MUCH better if Shirley’s friend would have walked much closer to the alleged hazard that she tripped over and taken several photos of it. She should have taken photos from different angles.
Here is a tip:
Always take photos of the hazard (that caused your injury) from both close up and far away. And use measuring tape to measure the change in height of the walkway. I can’t stress this enough.
Shirley was eventually able to take photos and and video of the walkway. She sent them to me.
I added a red arrow to the area where Shirley claimed that she tripped and fell.
Take a look:
However, I could not see anything wrong with the walkway. This concerned me because, in a personal injury case against a hotel, you must show that the hotel did something wrong in order for you to get compensation.
If at the time of Shirley’s trip and fall, there was nothing wrong with the walkway, she would not have a winnable case.
I assume that the hotel owner or its management company fixed the walkway very quickly after her fall.
A doctor performed surgery on her broken arm
A doctor put a plate and screws in Shirley’s shoulder to fix her arm. This is an x-ray of her plate and screws in her arm.
They used staples to sew up her arm.
You can see the staples:
Medicare paid most of her medical bills.
Raphael and Associates handled the claim for the hotel’s insurance company, The Princeton Excess and Surplus Lines Insurance Company.
Raphael’s first offer to us was only $20,000! Take a look at my email to them after we got that offer.
Shirley’s treating orthopedic surgeon did not think Shirley would need a future surgery.
After a whopping 10 offers later, we settled with the hotel’s insurance company for over $240,000. And we did this without filing a lawsuit.
Here’s the redacted settlement check:
The good news?
The settlement was 12 times the hotel’s insurance company’s first offer.
Take a look:
When an insurance company calculates the settlement value of a case, they assign a certain value to pain and suffering.
I estimate that the hotel’s insurance company assigned $232,953 to pain and suffering.
Check it out:
We had to pay Medicare back from the settlement.
However, they had to reduce their claim by lawyer fees and costs. We paid Medicare $6,543 from the settlement.
After my attorney fees, costs, and paying Medicare and Shirley’s other health plans, she got $154,595 in her pocket.
I did not charge her a fee on $5,000 of the settlement, which was from the Medical payments coverage in the hotel’s insurance policy.
Shirley gave us a 5 star review on Google Maps.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 5 out of 5.
She said:
Justin and Jenny [paralegal] are incredible!! They delivered in a big way financially helping me secure a significant settlement.
They also delivered in a caring way, understanding I was going through a very difficult and challenging time.
They were empathetic and personable; their world guidance and advise made everything so much easier for me.
I cannot thank them enough. I highly recommend working with them.
$210,000 Settlement During Lawsuit for a Fall to the Floor
A guest was eating at a Denny’s restaurant in North Miami Beach, Florida. While exiting the booth, it tipped up. This sent him falling to the ground.
After hitting the ground, he had pain in his hand and wrist. Paramedics came to the scene.
Travelers insured the restaurant. Unfortunately, Travelers wouldn’t offer more than $20,000 to settle his personal injury claim.
Therefore, we sued the restaurant. After we sued, Travelers immediately doubled its offer to $40,000.
However, this was much less than the fair value of the case. We took several depositions of restaurant employees. Surprisingly, none testified that the restaurant had an issue with loose booths.
$185,000+ Settlement for Fall on Stairs at Condominium (Leg Injury)
A guest was visiting someone at a condominium in Miami-Dade County, Florida. He was walking down the stairs.
While walking, he slipped and fell. He suffered a bad leg injury. Miami injury lawyer Justin “JZ” Ziegler worked with an attorney from a different law firm on this case. JZ handled this case when he had only been practicing a couple of years or so.
Our co-counsel (the other attorney) filed a lawsuit in Miami Dade County. Specifically, he sued the condo association and the property management company.
We hired an expert engineer to inspect the stairs. Engineers require an up front payment to inspect the property. Thus, our co-counsel paid him about $1,500 or so.
We claimed that the stairs weren’t slip resistant. We also claimed that the handrail was not safe.
Attorney JZ attended the deposition (statement under oath) of the condo association.
The defense attorney took our client’s deposition. The defense lawyer our engineering expert.
We settled the lawsuit about a month after mediation.
Confidential Lawsuit Settlement for Hip Fracture from Trip and Fall at Apartment Complex
A guest was visiting a friend at an apartment complex. The apartment complex was located in Miami Beach.
After entering the gate, she walked in the courtyard. While walking, she tripped on a curb. You can see the red curb in the photo below.
I claimed that my client couldn’t see the curb. My argument was that the curb was the same color as the surrounding flooring.
She had an intertrochanteric femur fracture. Basically, she broke the part of her thigh bone that is close to the hip.
Here is what the top of the femur looks like:
At the hospital, an orthopedic surgeon performed surgery on her leg bone. His name was Dr. Wittles. Specifically, they put a rod and screws in her upper leg bone and hip. After they did so, an x-ray was taken.
Here is the actual x-ray showing the rod and screws:
Her orthopedic surgeon was Dr. Wittels. He is a trauma surgeon at Mount Sinai medical center in Miami Beach.
I met with her orthopedic surgeon to see what he thought about her future limitations. He charged $750.00 for me to meet with him in person. I paid him.
Attorneys can pay for a doctor conference. If the case settles, the attorney is paid back from the settlement.
The lawsuit was resolved for terms mutually agreeable to the parties.
$120K Settlement (Trip and Fall at a Mall)
During the day, Tiffany walked through an area at a mall where construction was ongoing. She tripped over a yellow caution tape and fell. Unfortunately, she did not have any good photos of the accident scene.
As a result of her trip and fall, she broke her foot and had foot surgery.
After her fall, she hired me as her trip and fall lawyer. Within days of her fall, I met her at the mall. I took this photo showing her using a walker while her foot was in a cast:
Unfortunately, she had issues with her foot healing and had a mid-foot fusion surgery. While her foot was healing, her son dropped something on her foot. She eventually had the hardware removed.
Tiffany claimed that there was no other way for her to walk other than through the construction. Markel (Evanston Insurance Company) insured the mall.
Of course, Markel claimed that she had other ways where she could of walked. Markel also said that one of the construction workers warned her not to walk through the construction site.
When I calculated the value of her case, I cut it down a lot because she tripped and fell during broad daylight. In other words, a jury could easily believe that, before she tripped, Tiffany should have seen the caution tape that she tripped on.
Basically, a jury could have felt that she did not have to walk through the caution tape.
I Settled Her Case for $120K Because It was Hard to Prove Fault
It was tough to prove liability in Tiffany’s case. We did not have any photos or video showing the hazard that she she tripped on. In May 2020, I settled her case for $120,000.
Take a look at the settlement check:
If her fall would have occurred at night, we would have gotten a bigger settlement. This is because she may not have been able to see the yellow caution tape that she tripped on.
Cases are usually worth more if, before you trip and fall, you can’t see what you ultimately trip on.
If the mall would have been 100% liable, I think we may have been able to settle her case for over $300,000. Even the mall’s insurance adjuster agreed that Tiffany had a serious injury. However, she felt that the mall didn’t do anything to caused her to trip and fall.
This settlement shows you that if you are partially at fault, it can greatly lower the settlement value of your case.
Since Tiffany did not have health insurance or Medicaid, she owed the hospital a lot of money. However, we asked them to greatly reduced their bill.
The good news?
They reduced her bill by a huge amount. Thus, most of Tiffany’s settlement was for pain and suffering damages.
$78,000 Settlement for Misstep and Fall at Condo (Miami-Dade)
A Colombian lady was visiting her condominium that she owned in Sunny Isles. Sunny Isles is in Miami-Dade, County, Florida.
While heading to the parking garage, she exited a door. This was her first time exiting through this door.
Below is a photo of the door that she exited through.
The door had a big step down with no warning sign.
She misstepped. As a result, she fell down the stairs. She went to the hospital where she was diagnosed with a nose fracture. She also had bruising throughout her body.
After reading excellent things about my law firm online, she hired me as her injury lawyer.
I made a claim with the condominium association, who notified its insurance company.
Why was the condominium association (or its property management company) liable?
I argued to the insurance adjuster that the condominium association breached its duty to warn by not having a warning sign on the door. My client did not know that there would be a step down upon her exit.
The injured woman ended up having nose surgery in her home country. I paid an US translator to translate her Spanish surgery records to English.
After a tough negotiation, Scottsdale paid us $73,000 to settle her personal injury claim.
Scottsdale also paid its $5,000 Medical payments (Medpay) coverage limits. Since I did not file a lawsuit, I did not charge a fee on this $5,000 in medpay coverage.
Some Florida attorneys charge a fee Medpay, even when they do not sue. However, it is not ethical for a lawyer to charge a fee on Medpay benefits in a Florida case if a lawsuit was not required.
A lady was shopping in a supermarket in West Kendall (Miami, Florida). She claimed that she slipped on water. She fell.
Paramedics came to the store. They took her to the emergency room at a hospital.
The emergency department physician’s note stated that the patient had some loss of consciousness. Doctors diagnosed her with a concussion.
Her orthopedic doctor diagnosed her with a patella fracture. The patella is the kneecap.
You an see it in the image below.
Knee anatomy. Patella.The doctor performed surgery on her kneecap (patella). Specifically, he performed an open reduction internal fixation (ORIF) on her patella.
In his surgical report, her doctor noticed that there was a complete fracture of the patella. A complete fracture is a complete break of a bone. Basically, the bone is separated into two or more pieces.
Her patella fracture was displaced. A displaced fracture is when the two ends of the broken bone are separated from one another. Juries usually award more money pain and suffering for displaced fractures.
All things equal, a complete fracture is worth more than a partial fracture.
There was also a tear of the retinaculim (bandlike structure that holds the patella in place). Two K-wires were placed.
Staples were placed in her skin. She was placed in a knee immobilizer and spent about two (2) days in the hospital.
The discharge summary from the hospital stated that she was noted to have a comminuted, distracted fracture of the patella.
One of the discharge diagnoses was a possible brain concussion. The adjuster from the store suggested pre-suit mediation. He would not make an offer until the client was done treating. We filed a lawsuit.
Our client was married and has several kids.
The adjuster was unwilling to allow us to speak with the store’s employees who observed the client after she fell.
We took the deposition of a witness (off duty employee) who arrived at the scene following the fall.
Liability was hotly contested.
$64,900 Settlement for Fall After Stepping in a Hole in the Grass
Hole in grass-covered with sand next to sidewalk.
A man was leaving an office where he worked. While doing so, he walked through the grass. He walked through the grass because the sidewalk ended in the grass.
He claimed that he stepped in a hole in the grass. His claim was that he didn’t see the hole because it was covered with overgrown grass.
Immediately after he fell, he had ankle pain. After the fall, a co-worker drove him to the doctor. He did not take a photo of the hole.
Shortly after his fall, someone filled the hole with sand.
A few months later, he had surgery to repair an ankle ligament tear.
Chubb Insurance Company handled the claim for the building property manager and owner.
Florida Insurance Guarantee Fund (FIGA) provided coverage for the landscaper’s insurance company.
FIGA stepped in because the landscaper’s insurance company went broke.
A lady went to a business establishment in Florida.
While walking, she slipped and fell. After the fall, she saw a substance on the floor.
Paramedics treated her at the scene. However, she did not take an ambulance to the hospital. Her case would have been worth more if an ambulance would’ve taken her to the hospital.
A child was at summer camp in South Florida. He fell. As a result, he injured his finger. He had surgery to fix it.
I claimed that the camp was negligent by allowing him to be in an unsafe area. The bench was made of wood and had rotted and the bench seat was loose.
$30K Settlement for Trip and Fall on Cracked Pavement
Dawn went to a wildlife safari park in Osceola County, Florida. During broad daylight, she claimed that she rolled her ankle and fell on a broken walkway.
You can see a photo that shows the general area of the cracked pavement:
An employee of the establishment came to the accident scene while Dawn was on the pavement.
They asked her some questions.
Dawn went to the hospital, where x-rays showed that she had a broken ankle. Specifically, she had a non-displaced right lateral malleolus fracture. She was at the hospital for a few hours.
She wanted to hire an injury lawyer. She looked on Youtube for an trip and fall injury attorney who had good outcomes. She watched some of my videos and called me for a free consultation to see if I could represent her.
I personally spoke with her and she hired me.
I asked my client to lawfully take a photo that showed the measurement of the depth and width of the crack in the pavement that claimed caused her ankle to roll. I told her to use measuring tape, a deck of cards or a stack of pennies.
She had this photo taken, which showed a penny in one of the cracks.
In the following months, she received treatment for her broken ankle from an orthopedic doctor.
I asked Dawn to take a photo showing the walking boot that the doctor prescribed for her to wear.
You can see Dawn with a walking boot on her foot:
I sent this photo to the insurance adjuster.
Fortunately, Dawn did not need surgery. Her ankle made a very good recovery.
National Casualty Company insured the owner of the premises. K&K Insurance Group handled the claim for National Casualty Company. National Casualty Company is part of Scottsdale Insurance Company. Scottsdale is part of Nationwide Insurance Company.
K & K Insurance Group argued that Dawn was partially at fault for not avoiding the walkway since they said it was open and obvious. Their first offer to me was $5,000 to settle Dawn’s injury claim.
Here is the email:
Through aggressive negotiation, I settled Dawn’s personal injury case for $30,000.
You can see the settlement check:
Here is a comparison between the first offer and the settlement:
Like most broken ankle cases, most of the settlement was for pain and suffering.
Specifically, I estimate that about 94% of the $30,000 payout was for pain and suffering.
After my lawyer fees, costs and paying the health insurance lien, Dawn got approximately $18,083 in her pocket.
The $30,000 settlement was about 16.4 times the health insurance lien that we had to pay back.
Thus, the pain and suffering multiplier was about 16.4.
How was I able to settle for $30,000 and not a smaller amount?
First, there was something wrong with the pavement that we argued caused her to roll her ankle and fall. Second, the business knew that she fell. This helped her case since it made it more difficult for the business to argue that she was not injured on its property.
Third, she broke her ankle and went to the hospital quickly after the accident. Fourth, we were dealing with one of the better insurance companies. Nationwide Insurance Company generally pays better than other insurance companies.
Why didn’t I settle for more than $30,000?
Because her fall happened outside during broad daylight. The insurance company argued that Dawn should have seen the broken walkway before she fell. In other words, they argued that she should have avoided the broken pavement and not fallen.
If her fall would have happened at night and there was poor lighting, Nationwide would have likely paid us more than $30,000.
Also, Dawn did not need surgery. If she would have had a plate and screws put in her ankle, we would have likely settled for $100,000 or more with Nationwide. This is because the pain and suffering component of the case would have been much larger.
Child Gets $30K Settlement for Fall Off Unsecured Bench (Elbow Fracture)
Actual Bench from our $30,000 Settlement.
An 8-year-old lived with her parents at a condominium building. It was located in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
The condominium had benches. One day, she was on bench. She claimed that the bench tipped forward.
I don’t charge an attorney’s fee on Medpay coverage unless I have to sue for it.
Shopper Gets Over $18,500 Settlement for Slip and Fall on Grape
A shopper at a store in Cape Coral (Southwest Florida) claimed that she slipped on a grape and fell. She claimed that the fall injured her soft tissue in her knee.
She only went to about 3 or so medical visits. We represented the shopper.
The total settlement was about $18,500.
$18,000 Settlement for a Trip and Fall at a Restaurant
My client was a restaurant guest in South Miami, Dade County, Florida. She tripped over a landscape vinyl edging while exiting the restaurant.
The doctor diagnosed her with a wrist sprain. We settled the customer’s case for $18,000.
Nautilus Insurance Company insured the landowner.
The photo below shows Nautilus’ home office.
Nautilus is a W.R. Berkley Company.
Nautilus paid the settlement.
Confidential Settlement
Where a man was shot and killed on the premises of an apartment complex. The case was favorably settled. Justin was one of the attorneys that handled this case while working for an insurance defense firm. This was before Attorney Justin Ziegler only began represented injured people.
Confidential Trip and Fall Settlement
For a lady who fractured her heel bone (calcaneus). She tripped and fell on a misplaced container while shopping at a store. It happened in Kendall, Miami-Dade County, Florida.
Confidential Settlement
For a client, a woman who suffered injury when she was shopping in supermarket in Miami, Florida. She went to grab a bottle wine. It was on a cardboard box. It was improperly (negligently) stacked on other cardboard boxes.
The support structure for the bottles of wine was not proper. We argued that the supermarket had a duty to properly place their items on a display which was stable.
When she reached for the bottle of wine, another bottle (which was on the same piece of cardboard) fell and landed on her toe. Paramedics came to the accident scene and took her to Baptist Hospital.
She was diagnosed with a broken toe at the hospital. She treated with a podiatrist (foot doctor) for several weeks/months. Her toe did not heal properly and she had surgery which was performed at Jackson Memorial Hospital in Miami, Florida.
We sued the supermarket. The insurance claims adjuster called us. She made an offer. However, it wasn’t enough money.
The supermarket placed blame on our client for not paying better attention. We also made a loss of consortium claim for her husband.
$18,000 Settlement for Slip and Fall at Hotel
For a woman who slipped and fell on an area between the entrance and seating area near the cafeteria at a Hyatt Place hotel in Doral, Florida. The floor had been been mopped but the hotel failed to place a warning sign which was visible to the client.
While the hotel apparently had a “slippery when wet” warning sign in the area, it was not visible to the client due to the fact that it was placed behind a wall.
My client sustained quadriceps tears injuries which did not require surgery. My client treated for a couple of months and then stopped treating with doctors.
I sent Zurich my client’s medical records and bills. Unfortunately, Zurich denied liability.
The Zurich adjuster said that the hotel did nothing wrong. Zurich did not offer any money to try to settle the claim.
Zurich argued there was a sign up when my client fell. They argued that my client should have seen the water on the floor if the floor was wet.
I called a witness to the incident and she agreed to sign an affidavit (notarized witness statement) stating that there was not a warning sign and that the floor was wet – near the area where my client fell.
As soon as the I sent this affidavit to the insurance company, they offered $10,000.
This shows the importance of getting a witness affidavit following an accident. The case settled for $18,000 from Zurich’s commercial general liability insurance and $5,000 of medical payments benefits.
This was a fair settlement for a wet floor at a hotel that resulted in a torn quadriceps muscle.
$17K Settlement for Shopper (Publix Employee Pushes Cart Over His Foot)
For a young (25 year old) shopper at Publix when an employee accidentally pushed a pallet cart over our client’s pinky toe. The client’s foot bled and he went to the hospital immediately after leaving Publix.
The cut required stitches and x-rays were taken, which determined that he had a fracture of his 5th metatarsal (pinky toe) which resulted in a total of around $4,000 in medical bills.
$13,500 Settlement for Cut and Scar Below Eye (Restaurant Accident)
Someone threw a plate in a restaurant and it cut our client’s face. It happened in Miami Beach, Dade County, Florida.
Our client was a friendly, young lady. She received stitches below her eye. There was virtually no scar after the wound healed.
American Empire Surplus Lines insured the restaurant. They paid the settlement. American Empire Group is part of Great America Insurance Group.
Slip and Fall at Store Leads to $10,000 Settlement
A customer claimed that she slipped and fell on water on the floor. It happened in a store in Orlando, Florida.
She only had 3 or so doctor visits. Her foot healed fast.
$10,000 Settlement for Slip and Fall
Our client, a man, was exiting a premises and slipped and fell sustaining soft tissue injuries. A claim was filed with the insurance company that insured the owner of the premises.We worked on this case with another law firm.
Confidential Settlement for Trip and Fall at Publix
Susan was shopping at Publix in West Kendall, Miami-Dade County, Florida. She claimed that she tripped on a rug that was extending into the aisle.
She fell and was injured.
The good news?
Susan only suffered a bruised leg.
She didn’t get medical treatment. We argued that the rug was left out in the middle of an aisle. In other words, we argued that it was improperly placed.
We got our client a settlement.
Confidential Settlement
An individual who was injured after slipping on the premises of a property, which was adjacent to a construction site. Miami Injury Lawyer Justin Ziegler handled this claim while working for an insurance defense firm. This was before JZ exclusively began representing injured victims.
Confidential Case
We handled a case for a lady who tripped and fell on a loose brick paver at a house that she was renting. She treated with a podiatrist, and her foot was placed in a CAM walker. She had two children and it was very difficult for her to tend to their needs while having restricted movement of her foot.
We alleged that either the homeowner or the person who installed the brick paver was negligent. Unfortunately, her foot had some difficulty healing.
Confidential Case
Justin was involved in a lawsuit brought by a gentleman who was beaten outside of a nightclub. The bouncers brought both parties involved in the fight outside. Sadly, injured patron had a severe traumatic brain injury.
Justin handled this lawsuit while working for an insurance defense firm in 2004. This was before he started exclusively representing injured accident victims.
Confidential Case
A disco ball fell on a guest head resulting in an alleged disc herniation. Justin was one of the attorneys that handled this case while working for an insurance defense firm. This was before he started exclusively representing injured accident victims.
Will an Insurance Company Give You An Advance Payment Before Your Case Settles?
Did someone’s carelessness cause you to slip or trip and fall and suffer an injury in Florida, or on a cruise or boat? Were you injured in another type of accident?
I want to represent you if you’re seriously injured
We want to represent you if you were injured in an accident in Florida, on a cruise ship or boat. If you live in Florida but were injured in another state we may also be able to represent you.
