What Questions Should You Ask of the Attorney?
Interviewer: When you say interviewing the attorneys, what kind of questions would you suggest people ask so they know they are speaking with the right attorney for them?
Experience Counts in This Field
Jack: I would ask: How long have you been in business? How many of these cases have you handled? What type of settlements do you generally get?
Attorney O’Donnell’s has the Knowledge and Expertise to Handle All Types of Personal Injury Cases
Interviewer: Can you give me an example of one of your most interesting cases?
Jack: I have handled million dollar cases where people sustained very serious injuries.
I’ve had million dollar plus cases where people lost their lives, so cases can range from minor slip and falls and minor parking lot accidents to major accidents with fatalities. I’ve handled everything on both ends and in between.
Interviewer: Is there any more information about personal injury that you would want to make sure is included on your website for potential clients?
Always Inform Management If You Have Fallen at a Retail Establishment
Jack: In slip and fall situations, if you slipped and fell at a store or on someone’s property, it’s important that you let somebody know right away because to be embarrassed and dust yourself off and limp home makes it very difficult to establish that it happened when and where you say it did.
Try to get names of witnesses. Try to get a store manager or a property manager to come over. In every case, you should try to fill out an accident report, and then the rest would be comparable to an auto accident. You contact an attorney and get medical attention for your injuries.
Slip and Fall Accidents Can Be More Difficult to Handle Than Auto Accidents
Interviewer: Do you find slip and fall cases are easier to handle than auto cases?
Jack: No, much harder. It’s largely because there are definitive rules of the road. You run a stop sign or you make an improper left turn. You stopped at a sign and you get rear-ended. Those types of cases are really cut and dried.
Liability Can Be Difficult to Establish in a Slip and Fall Accident
With a fall down at a construction site, for example, the viability of a case can depend if the owner of the property have actual or constructive notice of the condition? Just because someone spills some liquid on a grocery store floor and you come along minutes later and fall doesn’t mean it’s the store’s fault.
The store has got to have an opportunity to know of this or has to have notice of it and have an opportunity to remedy it, so those types of factors are important.
Interviewer: Would a store be still held liable for someone else’s spill for instance?
Jack: No, but if they’ve been told that there’s a spill in aisle four and they didn’t do anything about it, or if they mopped the floor and didn’t put cones down and someone fell, or if it’s pouring outside and people are tracking water in and they haven’t taken any steps to put absorbent mats down, all of those things can be the basis for liability.
In Some Cases, a Retail Establishment Is Also Responsible for the Condition of the Parking Lot
Interviewer: You had mentioned parking lot issues. What would that pertain to a broken curb that you’ve fallen on?
Jack: Yes. Curbs, potholes, ice and snow in the parking lot, ice and snow on the sidewalk out leading to the store, those types of things can indicate liability.
If the Establishment Has a Contract with an Outside Party to Maintain the Parking Lot, That Outside Company May Be Liable for Injuries
Interviewer: So a store is actually responsible if it’s snowing for making sure they have salt or something down in their parking lot?
Jack: Yes, unless they have a contract with a plow service. In that case, depending on the terms of the contract, the plow service could be responsible for any resulting injuries that come from falling in a lot that they haven’t properly cleared of snow and ice.
Interviewer: How does product liability play into personal injury?
Jack: I do not handle those cases but I am happy to refer another attorney if I have a client with that type of case.
Interviewer: It’s still better though to be able to contact you to get someone that would be qualified to handle that versus just going through the phone book.
Attorney O’Donnell Is an Experienced Litigator and Will Pursue a Case to Trial If a Fair Settlement
Cannot Be Reached
Jack: I wanted to add that I am experienced at negotiating top settlements, and if the case can’t settle, I file suit and litigate the claims.
Attorney O’Donnell Has Handled Personal Injury Cases for Thirty-Eight Years
Interviewer: How long have you been handling personal injury cases for auto accidents, for instance, or slip and falls?
Jack: I am proud to say I have been handling cases for the last thirty-eight years.
