If you have been injured as a result of an accident in a retail store, make sure you do the following:

• Seek immediate medical attention if you need it 
• Document the facts surrounding your accident
• Consult with an attorney

Medical Treatment

Priority #1 is your health and safety. If you need immediate medical attention, call an ambulance or ask someone to call one for you. Do not continue to add to your injury by walking throughout the store. Your shopping can wait. If you are able to leave the store on your own and drive to a medical facility, only do so if you are sure you are safely able to do so. See What do you do if you’ve been in an accident in New England? for more information on documenting your medical treatment.    

Document the Accident

It is extremely important to document the circumstances surrounding the accident. While seeking medical attention may be the only thing on your mind at the time, it is very important to document as much as possible early on. If you are unable to do this yourself, enlist someone to help you. This may include taking photographs or video recordings, obtaining copies of incident or accident reports, or securing witness statements. In most cases, you will likely be tending to your injury and not able to obtain a statement from a witness. However, if you at least obtain the name and contact information of the witness, someone can follow up with the witness to obtain a statement.

If you choose to bring an injury claim later on, documentation that was taken contemporaneously to, or at the time of, the accident will be the most important information when determining how the accident and your injury occurred. It is important to realize that memories fade over time. If an injury claim is made, which has the potential to turn into a lawsuit, it is possible that years will go by before a witness is called to testify. Stories can change. Even the most honest people may remember things differently than how they actually occurred. If a witness statement is taken at or around the time of the accident, it will surely contain more accurate details than the witness’s account from memory years later.

If the accident occurred inside or immediately outside of a retail establishment, there was most likely some type of video surveillance system operating at the time of the accident, which may have recorded the event. Even if the video surveillance did not capture the accident itself, it may have recorded the surrounding area in the moments leading up to the accident, which could be important. In most cases, a video surveillance recording of the accident is the best evidence of how the accident occurred. If an accident takes place in an area that may have been captured by video surveillance, it is important to make sure the video is preserved before it is overwritten or deleted. Many times, when trying to gather and preserve this type of evidence, the establishment may take the position that you are not entitled to it. It is common for this to occur. If you hire an attorney, your attorney may contact these parties to put them on notice of your claim and instruct them to preserve all evidence related to the accident. Different establishments have different video retention policies. It may be possible that there is a short window before the video recording is overwritten. Therefore, it is important to make sure immediate measures are taken to preserve the video as soon as possible. 

In addition to surveillance video, still photographs are an extremely effective way of documenting an accident. While taking photographs following an accident will not show the accident itself, it will show the immediate aftermath. If the accident involved a slip and fall on a foreign substance on the floor, photographs showing the substance may identify the substance itself as well as its source. Photographs of the substance might show how much of the substance was on the floor at the time of the accident. Photos showing the surrounding area will help identify where in the store the accident occurred if it becomes an uncertainty later on. Photos may also help identify witnesses, whether they be employees of the establishment or patrons. 

If the accident occurs inside or immediately outside of an establishment, an incident or accident report is likely generated by store management. However, that is only the case if store management was alerted to or became aware of  the accident. If at the time of the accident it is not apparent that store management is aware of the accident, make sure that the accident is reported. You should provide your contact information and location of the accident. This not only documents the accident as evidence that it occurred, but also informs the store that the incident occurred in a particular location within a certain time frame, which will allow the store to preserve surveillance video.

In addition to the above, make note of and document details that are specific to the accident. For example, if you slipped and fell as a result of a weather condition, make note of the temperature and extent or frequency of any precipitation. Sometimes the smallest amount of information may be helpful. What you might think is a minor detail may be very important to your case. There is no harm in gathering too much information. If something is not useful, it can be set aside. It is preferable to over-document than to under-document. Injury claims can take years to resolve. It is better to have accurate information early on rather than try to piece things together years later.

Consult with an Attorney

If you hire an attorney, he or she will help you collect and assemble documentation concerning the accident. An attorney may ask you various questions regarding the circumstances of the accident to determine what evidence may exist. It is important to identify this information as quickly as possible. Depending on the type of information, it could be lost forever if not timely discovered. 

An attorney will also be able to identify all of the potential defendants. For example, if you slipped and fell on ice in the parking lot while visiting a store, the defendants may include the store, the property owner, the snow removal contractor, the property management company, etc. Oftentimes these potential defendants have agreements between themselves as to who is responsible for defending and paying certain claims. We will not necessarily know the agreements in place at first, so it is important to put all potential defendants on notice, and if necessary, file suit against all potential defendants.

Your attorney will be able to assess the information available and advise you as to options surrounding a personal injury claim. Depending on the circumstances of your accident, an attorney may require more information to accurately assess your case. If you are able to gather the information outlined above, that is great. If you need help, an attorney can assist you. An attorney will have more experience in what to look for, what to request and how to go about doing it. It may be possible for a claim to resolve quickly and easily. Or, it may be the type of case that goes into litigation with certain information not produced until the discovery phase of a lawsuit. The attorney will assist you with the process and be able to advise you as to your options along the way. It may be that you decide not to bring a claim at all.