The accident occurred last September at Cooper's new home. The anchor had recently purchased a house that earlier used to be a firehouse. On the day of the accident, the interior decorator Killian O’Brien was at the home when she fell through a gaping hole that earlier held the fire pole. Apparently, someone had removed the covers of the hole before O'Brien arrived on the premises. It was a 17-foot fall for O’Brien, and she was injured. Her lawyer claims the fall could have killed her. O'Brien has filed a lawsuit against Cooper.  

A slip and fall accident can leave a victim suffering from serious injuries. These include

• ·         Concussions
• ·         Contusions
• ·         Fractures
• ·         Spinal cord injuries
• ·         Head injuries
• ·         Brain injuries
• ·         Sprains
• ·         Strains

The victim may require weeks and months of hospitalization, surgeries and extensive physical therapy and rehabilitation. There may be extensive losses, including medical bills and days lost from work.

Scott Grossman is a New Jersey slip and fall accident lawyer representing victims injured in slip and fall accidents in the state of New Jersey.

The city of New Brunswick and its outdated inspection laws are the focus of a new premises liability lawsuit filed by the family of a Monmouth County college student, who suffered serious injuries in a fall accident at a friend’s off-campus house in 2008.

Howell-resident Frank Ozello Jr. was standing on a second floor landing, leaning against the railing when the railing broke under his weight, and sent him crashing to the floor. He suffered critical injuries, and had to be placed in a medically induced coma. He suffered brain trauma, broke 6 of his vertebrae and suffered three skull fractures. Ozello spent 6 weeks at a brain trauma center. He has been recovering physically, but still shows signs of brain damage.

The house where the accident occurred had several violations, including damaged handrails, broken windows and a weak and unstable door stairway. After the accident, inspectors found that the property owner had installed a spiral staircase by removing ceiling joists.  This probably weakened the structural integrity of the home further. The owner of the house Monroe-resident Jason Cyrus, is also named in the liability lawsuit. Cyrus, who once lived at the property, moved out and converted the home into a rental property without informing the city. By doing so, he was able to escape mandatory property inspections every three years.

After Ozello’s scary fall, the city found approximately two dozen violations on the same property. Among these were illegal conversions of a basement and a attic into extra bedrooms, and absence of smoke detectors and fire alarms. The city has moved fast to declare the house uninhabitable.

It shouldn’t be this easy for a property owner to rent out a derelict, uninhabitable property to unsuspecting tenants, who may have no idea of how unsafe the property is nor of the property owner’s duty to maintain safe premises.  

Scott Grossman is a New Jersey premises injury lawyer representing victims who have been injured in slip and fall accidents, amusement park accidents, and dog bites, in the state of New Jersey. 

The results of a study released earlier this month, show that the number of fatalities from unintended injuries increased by 11 percent between 1999 and 2005. Most troubling of all has been the sharp increase in the number of people killed in accidental falls and poisonings.

Researchers at the John Hopkins School of Public Health say that there were approximately 20,000 more deaths from unintentional injury in 2005, compared to 1999. Approximately 89 percent of the increase in fatalities could be traced to two causes –

• Accidental poisonings in the age group of 15 to 64
• Fall accidents in those above 45 years of age

Poisoning death rates seem to have risen among all racial groups, but have doubled in Asian and Native American men. Among whites, the increase in poisoning deaths has been dramatic - there has been a 104 percent increase for men and a 172 percent increase for women. Most poisoning deaths, according to the researchers, can be traced to the abuse of prescription drugs. The spike in poisoning deaths has been easy to explain. During the study period, the use of opioid analgesic increased, enhancing the risk of addiction and abuse. 

In the case of deaths from fall accidents, the increase has been the most significant in whites above the age of 45. Drilling down further, the increase was much sharper for women than men. Rates for white women dying in fall accidents increased by 64 percent in the 45-64 age group, and 48 percent for women above 65 years of age. The researchers are at a loss to explain the increase in the number of fall accident deaths, and say further studies are necessary to identify the reason for this increase.

Scott Grossman is a Bergen County slip and fall accident attorney, representing victims of slip and fall accidents in Bergen County, and across the state of New Jersey. 

According to the report, annually fall accidents kill more than 16,000 people in the country. Besides these, more than one million people are injured every year. Most of these accidents are caused because of factors like poor walking surface, lack of visibility, poor accessibility, and weak hand rails and guard rails.

According to the National Floor Institute, the number of seniors in the country between 2005 and 2020 is expected to increase from 35 million to 77 million. Not only are these people more likely to slip and fall injuring themselves, but the cost of treating these injuries is higher for an elderly person than for someone younger.  As Bergen County premises liability attorneys frequently see, the kinds of fall injuries that elderly people face are also the number one reason they have to be hospitalized.

According to 2000 statistics, most of the time, premises injury lawsuits are won by plaintiffs. Besides, the average compensation awarded to plaintiffs has also risen steadily.

In 2001, Suzanne Ogborne was strolling through the Mercer cemetery, when an employee locked the gates at 4.30 pm – the cemetery's closing hours - leaving Ogborne inside. After trying in vain to find another open route out of the cemetery, Ogborne finally scaled the wall, and jumped over and down to the other side. The fall left her with a broken tibia. She had to undergo surgery, and was forced to remain away from work for three months. She also suffered a pulmonary embolism, a disorder characterized by blockage of a lung artery and caused by a blood clot traveling from the leg, as a result of her injuries and the treatment. The condition can lead to a loss of oxygen in the blood, and carries the risk of organ damage because of this loss of oxygen. 

Premises Injury Lawyer

It's not always easy to pursue claims against government bodies because of governmental immunity. Private citizens are often faced with a solid block of wall when they try to come up against a government entity. Litigating claims when you have been injured on another's property, private or government, involves hiring an experienced Monmouth and Bergen  County premises injury attorney to file a claim for injuries sustained. If you have been injured on another's property – through a slip and fall accident, on an elevator or stairways etc. – contact a Monmouth and Bergen County premises injury lawyer at my firm for a free evaluation of your case.

New Jersey's premises liability laws make it mandatory for commercial space owners to ensure that their properties are reasonably safe. Owners can be held liable for any injuries that occur on their property.  Examples of how you can be injured on another person's property include

• A slip and fall accident on a wet and slippery floor
• Falls because of insufficient lighting
• Falls because of standing water, snow or ice
• Falls on elevators or stairways that are improperly designed or have broken steps

Damages can be claimed like with any other personal injury lawsuit, including compensation for medical bills, pain and suffering, lost wages etc. If you've been injured on another's property, you may be able to claim compensation for your injuries.   Contact a New Jersey premises injury attorney to evaluate your options for compensation.