Mr. Harold Spencer, age 73, died as a result of a trip and fall that occurred as he departed a meeting in Virginia in January 2008. He tripped over a 16-inch wall around a cistern outside the front door of the Warrenton-Fauquier Visitor Center in Virginia. He broke his neck and died in this accident.

The visitor center had failed its final inspection four times for failing to put a guardrail around the cistern.

Mr. Spencer’s family filed a wrongful death personal injury lawsuit in Virginia. Last month the case settled for approximately $1.25 Million Dollars ($1,250,000.00). This slip and fall accident case was reported in the Washington Post.

Studies have shown that accidental falls are amongst the leading cause of emergency room visits. Slip and fall lawsuits, also known as premises liability lawsuits are challenging in Maryland, D.C. and Virginia because these jurisdictions have a very unfair law called contributory negligence.

If a person who falls is found to be even 1% at fault, then he is barred from recovery. Most states, by comparison, have comparative negligence.

The Virginia, Washington D.C., and Maryland personal injury lawyers at Goldberg Finnegan are experienced at handling premises liability cases including slip and falls, trip and falls, and falls as a result of improper maintenance. Our approach to these cases generally involves using a safety engineer expert and/or a human dynamics expert.

If you or a loved one is injured as a result of a slip and fall accident call us at (888) 213-8140.