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If you were injured in a slip and fall at Walmart, you have a right to sue.
The law says that Walmart is required to provide a safe environment for its customers, and victims can recover substantial amounts of money for their injuries. Past slip and fall claims against Walmart have been awarded $540,000 or more.
However, Walmart is also one of the most difficult companies to sue—or to recover money from. This is for a few reasons:
- It’s big. You may know that Walmart is the biggest retailer in the country. What you may not know is that the bigger a retail chain is, the harder it is to sue. They simply have the resources for some of the best defense lawyers available.
- Walmart self-insures. Most businesses pay for liability insurance from a third-party insurance company. In other words, any slip and fall claims are paid by their insurer, not by the store. But Walmart is different. It’s so big it created its own company to handle liability claims. So it’s Walmart’s own money that’s on the hook. They will fight every step to pay as little as possible—or nothing at all.
- Walmart is aggressive. The reason they offer prices so low is because they are iron negotiators with all of their suppliers. They’re no different when dealing with insurance claims. Part of their strategy is to make it hard to get money out of them, so that fewer people will try it.
That doesn’t mean you should give up. You can still file a slip and fall claim against Walmart and win. But you need to know what you’re doing. Here’s our complete How To.
Step #1: You need a serious lawyer
Since Walmart defends tooth-and-nail against every claim, you need legal representation that’s more than just competent. There are a lot of attorneys who would like to take on Walmart in court, but not many with a track record of bringing home settlements from large retailers. When it comes to choosing a lawyer, experience matters.
Your lawyer will help you:
- Determine if your injury is a valid claim, and how Walmart was negligent in your case
- Build a base of evidence to prove your claim—so that Walmart is afraid of going to court
- Handle Walmart personally so that you don’t have to deal directly with their aggressive claims representatives or attorneys
But the biggest job of your attorney is to negotiate.
There’s a saying in personal injury law that “everything is negotiable.”
With Walmart, that means not only coming up with hard evidence, but cutting through aggressive tactics at the bargaining table and pushing Walmart to pay what it owes. The better your attorney is at handling these high-pressure negotiations, the better you will likely do.
At John Foy & Associates, we have more than 20 years of experience with these types of negotiations. We have taken on large retailers and corporate brands before—and won. There is a reason we have earned the nickname “the Strong Arm Law Firm.”
Step #2: You need documentation
Because Walmart has such a strong legal team, there needs to be documentation backing up every fact in your claim. Your lawyer will work with you to make sure you have all the documentation you need before you file.
This documentation may include:
- Photos or videos of the scene of the accident (taken at the time of the accident if possible)
- Statements from other customers who witnesses what happened, or saw the hazard that caused your fall
- A diagnosis of your injuries from your doctor
- Medical bills showing how much your treatment cost you, or will cost you over time
- Work records showing time you missed because of your accident
- Evidencedrawn from Walmart’s own public records—or past legal cases—showing that they knew about the hazard you slipped on.
This last item is often the most important. For example, one of Walmart’s own training videos was used against them to prove that their doormats were slippery in a past slip and fall case.
A good lawyer will put in hours of research time to make an airtight case—and they will not charge you by the hour.
Step #3: You file a formal claim
Ideally, when you were injured you told store managers what happened. This creates an immediate record of the slip and fall so that the store can’t claim you’re making it up later or getting details wrong.
However, telling the store manager is just an informal step, and you can still file a claim if you didn’t report it right away. Your lawyer will file a formal claim with Walmart’s liability company, citing the date of the incident, which store it happened at, and what exactly happened.
This claim will give a detailed description of how you were injured and why it’s Walmart’s fault. It will also state the amount of your damages and how much you are requesting.
This initial claim gives Walmart a chance to respond. Their most likely responses are:
- To deny liability, and claim they don’t owe anything
- To make an offer that’s much lower than what you deserve
Don’t be rattled by this initial response. It’s normal, and it means your lawyer will now do what they do best: forcing Walmart to negotiate.
Don’t Leave Your Walmart Slip and Fall Injury to Chance
People get hurt at Walmart all the time. They slip on spilled cat food, or trip on toys left in the aisle. They slip on wet floors or are injured getting boxes from high shelves. Walmart customers have even been injured in parking lots on the way into the store. All of these claims involve Walmart’s own negligence, and Walmart is liable. But countless victims never even file a claim because they think they have no chance.
Don’t get stuck with medical bills you don’t deserve—or a serious long-term injury. Let us give you a FREE consultation with some of Georgia’s top attorneys. Call us at 404-400-4000 or fill out the form to your right and get your FREE consultation today.
