What legal action should I take after suffering from slip and fall knee injury?

You need a lawyer otherwise the insurance company will take advantage of you.

I would like to see the written admission by the insurance company. Did you lose wages? Have you seen the videotape and what does it prove?

Generally, if you are injured at in a store due to a "slip and fall" type of accident, you still need to prove that the store was liable for causing the fall. The video tape may assist you in doing this so I would try to get a copy of the video and/or send them a written letter asking them not to destroy the video. As far as a "ball park" for your injuries, it really is impossible to do with the facts given. I would need to know a lot more before I could try and evaluate your case.

You should hire a lawyer who you can trust and who has experience with personal injury cases, including trial experience. Most PI attorneys will meet with you or at least talk to you at no cost and you should take advantage of that by interviewing as many as you need until you find one you are comfortable with. You may think they are admitting fault, but I would find it to be an extremely rare situation for an insurance company to not claim the victim is at least partially at fault in a slip and fall. I am not saying I agree with that, but I would be surprised if that is not the approach they take.

You can sue but must prove the store owner knew or should have known about the dangerous condition and that there was no warning given.

I am surprised to hear an insurance company has "admitted fault" in a slip and fall. I would be weary of this. Very often, insurance companies will be agreeable until right up to the statute of limitations and, if it is missed, they will withdraw their offer and the admission of fault is meaningless. You have significant damages which would justify a case. I would see a qualified attorney with your claim immediately. It is important to remember that there is a statute of limitations, so do not let this matter linger.

You don't say how long ago this happened, but you only have three years from the date of injury to initiate a law suit in NY. Secondly, there must be some sort of negligence on the part of the store to justify suing them, such as vegetables on the floor or liquid upon which you slipped and fell. There must also either be notice to the owner or operator of the substance on the floor before you fell or sufficient time between when it was placed there and when the accident happened to hold them responsible for your injury because they failed to clean it up in a timely fashion.

I am so sorry that this happened to you. Under the circumstances and given the severe nature & extent of your injuries, I would recommend that you hire an attorney to handle the negotiation & settlement of your injury claims related to your slip & fall. There are just way too many pitfalls to going alone without representation.

I cannot evaluate your claim based on the information that you give me. It will be very hard for anyone to evaluate claim until you have some estimate of the cost of the knee replacement and some proof that you're going to need in the replacement. You also have the right to compensation for more than her medical bills. If you lost time from work, you can recover the income that you lost. You can also recover for your pain and suffering, impairment, disfigurement, loss of enjoyment of life. You should not settle the claim until you were reasonably sure that your doctors have either released you from treatment or have accurately assessed your future medical needs.

Injury values vary greatly among jurisdictions. Within my state, the value of your injury could vary from $20,000 to $60,000, depending upon too many factors that you have not described, including location. You should consult an attorney in your area. With most injury attorneys, the consultation is free, and you will get the answers you seek.

When did insurance companies start admitting fault? This is a new idea. Tell me what the fault is. Juries and judges do not like slip and fall cases because there are so many fraudulent claims and exaggerations. But if you have a clear case of fault and no fault on your part ask the dr what percentage of [permanency you have ( maybe 10 or 15, perhaps more) and then ask the carrier for ten times the medical bills. They wont pay it but it might start negotiations. If they think your demand is too high they may not even respond to you.

Depending on exactly how you slipped and fell, the cause, the conditions of the store, and other factors, you may have a very strong claim. You should consult with a personal injury attorney immediately. Do not attempt to negotiate with the insurance company or its attorney yourself.

Assessment of an appropriate settlement requires detailed analysis of liability and damages, including application of legal principles, evidenciary factors, medical documentation, out of pocket expenses, calculation of future losses and experience in your jurisdiction as to likely range of prospective jury awards. To answer the question properly, one would need extensive examination of all the evidence, particularly the medical records.

The real question is what caused you to fall and is the store responsible. They have to be negligent. Just falling in the store is not enough. Get a lawyer.

No; that's not possible on the little information provided. The first problem has to do with causation. A lawyer needs to review a medical report about causation, did the fall cause the need for the surgery, before being able to assess proximate cause. And then the lawyer would need to know more, a lot more about how you fell and what caused you to fall before assigning fault, which might reduce the amount of the settlement. As I said, no it's not possible.

A lawyer handling this claim would consider a number of factors to determine the settlement value of this case. These would include the cost of replacement surgery, rehabilitation, other related expenses, any past and future lost wages, your age, whether there is a chance you might need another replacement years later, the likelihood of a substantial jury verdict in the county where suit would be filed, and a number of other factors relevant to how strong your case would be. All of this is complex enough that you would probably be well served by talking to an experienced personal injury attorney.

You usually ask for three to four times the cost of your treatment. Ad to the base figure of $20,000 the full cost of the upcoming surgery plus the expected cost of treatment beyond that. Ask for FIVE times your medical expenses. Add in value of time lost from work, if any. Some insurance companies/claims examiners pay significantly more (for comparable claims) than others. Do some creative google searches. Even if you miss the top by several thousand dollars by doing this yourself, you are saving the one-third attorney fee. Maybe you could find an attorney to "close the deal" for a reasonable flat fee.

How much to ask for is a complex issue depending on numerous factors that are left out of the facts you recited Especially important is how this will affect your ability to work and enjoy life in the future.

The amount is negotiable. It is impossible to say what the correct amount is without more information. Do NOT try to negotiate this yourself. The insurer has lawyers on retainer who are experts at this sort of thing and while you may not even be aware those attorneys are already advising the insurer how to get out of your case by paying as little as possible. Get an attorney experienced at premises liability cases immediately.

Slip and fall injury cases are always challenging for the personal injury lawyer. So, you are fortunate that the insurance company has admitted liability. I hope that you have this admission in writing as you may find that the insurance company backtracks when you ask for a lot of money. I write this because the costs for a knee replacement are significant and, depending on your age and level of physical activity, you may be looking at more than one knee replacement surgery. There are also associated problems with knee injuries that arise because of the stress placed on other joints and body parts because of the knee injury. For instance, I have had clients develop foot problems such as plantar fasciitis because of gait changes. Hips can be affected and even the other uninjured knee can develop problems. You do not state many important factors such as your age and whether or not there are lost wages involved, so it is difficult to provide an accurate assessment of damages. You also need to be aware that whatever settlement you reach is final and if you have additional problems in years to come, then you cannot go back and reopen the matter. I think any settlement with such significant damages needs to be well into the six figure range. The question of how many hundreds of thousands of dollars depends on some of the variable mentioned above.

It sounds like a good case, but I doubt any adjuster will pay you fair value on the case without an attorney. Certainly give it a try.

Get a lawyer. Slip and fall cases are tough even when the property owner takes responsibility.

You ask two separate questions, which I will answer separately: Question 1: What legal action should I take after suffering from slip and fall knee injury? Assuming your statute of limitations is not about to expire, you should try to settle with the insurance company when you are ready. Your case is ready is when you have fully healed or have reached medical maximum improvement (MMI), which means basically means you are as healed as you are going to get although you still may need medical treatment to maintain your condition. If you are nearing the statute of limitations you should have a lawsuit filed against the grocery store. Generally, there is a four year statute of limitations for slip and falls in Nebraska. If you do not either have your case settled or a lawsuit on file before the statute of limitations expires, you will lose your rights to collect any money for your fall. This assumes you fell within the store, which you indicate was "family owned." If the state or a city, county or other political subdivision is involved, there are other requirements, including significantly shorter time limits. However, the information you provided does not seem to indicate the state or a political subdivision is involved so I will not discuss these other requirements. There are some other things, which again you do not list, which could change the statute of limitations. If cannot reach a settlement with the insurance company, your only option is to file suit and ultimately let a judge or jury decide what your case is worth. Question 2: Can you give me a ball park what I need to ask for this? This is much harder question to answer. I do not have enough information to even provide a "ball park" estimate. A person may be entitled to money for any or all of the following for an injury: (1) The nature and extent of the injury, including whether the injury is temporary or permanent and whether any resulting disability is partial or total; (2) the reasonable value of the medical care and supplies reasonably needed by and actually provided to you; (3) the reasonable value of the medical care and supplies reasonably certain to be needed and provided in the future; (4) the wages/ income you lost because of your inability to work; (4) the reasonable value of the earning capacity you are reasonably certain to lose in the future; (5) the physical pain and mental suffering you have experienced; (6) the physical pain and mental suffering you are reasonably certain to experience in the future; (7) the inconvenience you have experienced; and (8) the inconvenience you are reasonably certain to experience in the future. There is no formula to determine what is case is worth; each case is different. The value of your case depends on the above items. You have listed one of them, past medical expenses of $20,000. However, without information as to the other factors I could not hazard a guess what your case might be worth. DISCLAIMER: This response is based on the limited information provided, makes certain assumptions, and assumes that all events took place in Nebraska. In addition, this response is not a substitute for professional legal advice and does not create an attorney-client relationship, nor is it a solicitation to offer legal advice. If you ignore this warning and convey confidential information in a private message or comment, there is no duty to keep that information confidential or forego representation adverse to your interests. You should seek the advice of a licensed attorney in the appropriate jurisdiction before taking any action that may affect your rights. If you believe you have a claim, you should consult an attorney immediately, otherwise there is a risk that the time allotted to bring your claim may expire.

You should talk with a personal injury attorney - one with experience with "slip and fall" cases or in legal terms, premise liability cases. The insurance company will not pay you full compensation without the threat of a lawsuit and possible trial, and the only leverage you have is to have an attorney represent you.

Ask the insurance company to make you an offer. Then take that offer to a good personal injury lawyer for a free initial consultation. If the lawyer thinks that he/she can get you a better settlement or judgment, then the attorney should be willing to take the case on a percentage of the amount over the insurance company's offer that the attorney achieves. For example, if the insurance company offers $30,000, then you should be looking for an attorney who will take the case for a percentage of any recovery over $30,000 that the attorney achieves on your behalf.

I would call a lawyer with experience in these types of cases who can make sure you receive fair compensation for medical expenses, pain and suffering, loss of normal life, disfigurement, and wage loss. Past and future damages are recoverable.

You need an attorney, and soon. An attorney will have the expertise to make sure you get the most possible out of the claim - not just for past and future medical bills, but for lost wages and pain and suffering. All these things are different to pursue on your own, especially as you focus on your own recovery.