Albany Slip and Fall Lawyer

Did you slip and fall on someone else’s property in Albany, NY?

At Buttafuoco & Associates, we hold negligent property owners accountable when their carelessness causes a serious fall.

If you slipped and fell because a property owner ignored a dangerous condition, you may be able to hold them responsible for the injuries that followed. Our Albany, NY slip and fall lawyer can preserve the evidence before it disappears, show how long the hazard existed, and counter the claim that you were the careless one. At Buttafuoco & Associates, we move quickly to secure surveillance video and incident reports, because in a slip and fall case evidence may quickly disappear. Reach out for a free consultation to find out what your claim is worth.

Slip and Fall Lawyer Albany, NY

A slip and fall claim is a form of premises liability. The property owner is responsible when a dangerous condition on their property injures a lawful visitor. We must show that the owner knew, or with reasonable care should have known, about the hazard and failed to fix it in a reasonable time. A wet floor left without a warning sign, a broken stair, or an icy walkway can each support a claim when the owner had the chance to act and did not.

Falls are the leading cause of nonfatal injuries treated in emergency departments nationwide, sending millions of people to the hospital each year, according to CDC injury data. Albany’s winters make the risk worse. Ice and snow turn sidewalks, lots, and entrances into hazards, and the city requires property owners to clear adjacent sidewalks within 24 hours after a storm under Albany’s snow removal ordinance. When an owner ignores that duty and someone is hurt, our Albany slip and fall attorneys build the case that the fall was preventable.

Types of Slip and Fall Cases We Handle in Albany

Slip and fall injuries happen in many places and take many forms. We handle claims across Albany involving hazards such as these, and the injuries that result from them.

• Wet and slippery floors. Spills, freshly mopped surfaces left without a warning sign, and rain or snow tracked into stores and lobbies. The question is whether staff knew about the condition and had time to clean it.
• Ice and snow. Untreated sidewalks, parking lots, and entrances after a storm. When an owner waits too long to salt or shovel, a preventable fall becomes their responsibility.
• Broken stairs and handrails. Loose treads, missing handrails, and poorly lit stairwells. A defect the owner knew about, or should have found through inspection, can support a claim.
• Uneven and defective walkways. Cracked pavement, potholes, torn carpeting, and raised thresholds that catch a foot and send a person down hard.
• Back injuries. A hard fall can herniate a disc or fracture a vertebra, and these injuries often require surgery and months away from work.
• Brain injuries. Striking the head on a floor or a step can cause a concussion or a lasting traumatic brain injury.
• Neck injuries. The sudden jolt of a fall can herniate a cervical disc or tear the soft tissue in the neck.

Why Choose Buttafuoco & Associates as Your Slip and Fall Lawyer in Albany, NY?

Slip and Fall Claims Built on Evidence

Slip and fall cases at the firm are handled by Dan Buttafuoco, who founded the firm in 1981, and by Mark Freeley, who has tried and settled premises cases across New York for more than twenty years. Both know that these claims are often won by quickly preserving evidence. We send letters to preserve surveillance footage before it is erased, photograph the hazard before it is repaired, and find the witnesses before memories fade. Both attorneys belong to the Plaintiff Trial Lawyers Association. When an accident causes a catastrophic injury, our personal injury lawyer in Albany, NY can pursue the full value of the claim.

Results in Slip and Fall Cases

Our attorneys have recovered millions of dollars for people hurt by unsafe property conditions, including cases the property owner tried to blame on the victim. Past results include:

• A $375,000 recovery for a deliveryman who slipped on snow and ice on unsalted warehouse steps.
• A $200,000 settlement for a tenant who fell in a courtyard the owner left uncleared after a storm.
• A $200,000 settlement for a woman who fell on a defective step she had already reported to management.
• A $125,000 settlement for a teacher who slipped on clear ice on school steps that were never salted.

Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome.

What Is Important to Understand About a Slip and Fall Case?

Damages, Liability, and Compensation for Slip and Fall Cases

Liability rests on negligence. The property owner owed a duty to keep the premises reasonably safe, breached it by allowing a hazard to remain, and caused your injury as a result. Property owners often argue that you share the blame, and in New York, being partly at fault reduces your recovery but does not erase it. Once liability is established, you can recover the losses the fall caused. Those usually include:

• Medical bills, from the emergency room through surgery and rehabilitation.
• Lost income and reduced earning power when you cannot return to the same work.
• Pain, suffering, and the activities the injury takes away from you.

New York sets no cap on these awards. Most slip and fall claims must be filed within the three-year deadline that applies to personal injury cases, so preserving evidence and meeting that deadline both matter from the start. These cases are generally brought in Supreme Court in Albany.

What Is the Slip and Fall Case Timeline?

A slip and fall case moves through several stages:

• We investigate the scene, preserve the evidence, and gather your medical records.
• We file the claim and exchange information with the property owner’s insurer in discovery.
• Both sides take depositions, and experts address the hazard and the extent of your injuries.
• The case settles if the insurer makes a fair offer, and it goes to trial if the insurer does not.

What Are Important Aspects of a Slip and Fall Case?

The strength of a slip and fall claim is decided early, and it rests on evidence of the hazard as it was at the moment of the fall. Photographs, incident reports, and surveillance video matter enormously. Video in particular can show how long a spill or a patch of ice was present, and whether the owner had time to address it. That footage is often erased within weeks, so an attorney who acts quickly to demand it can make the difference between a provable claim and one that comes down to your word alone. Consistent medical treatment and a clear, steady account of the fall answer that argument.

What Should You Bring to Your Slip and Fall Consultation?

• Any incident or accident report you filed with the store, landlord, or business.
• Photographs or video of the hazard and of your injuries.
• The names and contact information of any witnesses.
• Your medical records, your bills, and the shoes you were wearing.
• A short written account of how, when, and where the fall happened.

None of this is required to speak with us, and we can help gather the rest.

Reach Out to Buttafuoco & Associates to Schedule a Consultation

After a serious fall, you may be facing months of pain and mounting medical bills, none of which you caused. At Buttafuoco & Associates, the first consultation is free. Not every fall is someone else’s fault, and we will tell you frankly where yours stands. Contact us to speak with our Albany, NY slip and fall lawyer about what happened and what to do next.