Legal Question in Personal Injury in Washington

I was walking through a grocery store when I slipped and fell.. the first thing I noticed was my knee had a purple spot on it, it bruised very quick. the longer time passed I could feel my back hurting..my friend got someones attention. the first associate came over and looked at me and didn't know what to do, my friend asked her to get some ice, a tissue, and a manager to come to us..the next time I looked around there was 3 associates and they looked around and it seemed that they didn't know what to do... my friend asked again about ice and tissue and manager..then we heard on the intercom a page for maintenance to infants for a wet spill... not at any point did we hear code white..one manager showed up. it took them 7 minutes to get me tissue, 9 minutes to get me ice( ice from mcdonalds in a grocery bag).. then came a wheelchair shopping cart.. they helped me up into the wheelchair and when the manager was trying to shut it, the lock wasnt' working.. that is when the other manager said "this is how you close it..) they had jmmy rigged it to close.. I asked if there was a different wheelchair and they said no..the whole time I was there people kept saying " wow that is a big spill!" and " someone get a camera, go to photo and get a camera" to take a picture of the spill...the edge of the spill was sticky so it had obviously been there a while..my friend asked them that if they called an ambulance to take me to get checked out that I would not have to pay for it... they said that they didn't know... my friend said nevermind, went and got her van and helped me to get into it..I have not been in that store since the accident. I need to go to the chiropractor but I can't afford it and I don't think they are willing to pay for it.. what should I do?


Asked on 5/31/11, 11:26 am

1 Answer from Attorneys
Amir John Showrai The Pacific Law Firm, PLLC

You did not say how long ago this happened, but hopefully, it was fairly recently. The more recent, the better. What you need to do is start looking for a personal injury attorney who is local to your area. Usually, they will at least give you a free consultation to get the basic facts of your case and then tell you what they think they can do.

It is important to start right away so that they can move quickly to talk to witnesses, and file a claim with the store or at least write them a demand letter in regard to your needs. From there, it is possible a suit will be filed to keep things moving, or the store will quickly come to a negotiated settlement with you. If a suit has to be filed, the goal is still to come to a negotiated settlement, but it will inevitably take longer to get there.

Best of luck to you.

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Answered on 5/31/11, 12:44 pm


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