Why Choose a Cava Law Firm to Handle Your Slip and Fall Claim?
At Cava Law Firm, we are a family-run firm. Our practice is led by a father-daughter team, Christopher F. Cava and Jennifer L. Cava-Foreman. This multi-generational leadership combines decades of seasoned, tough-as-nails trial advocacy with forward-thinking, aggressive legal strategies designed for today’s courts.
Our practice is heavily focused on personal injury litigation. This means we build every case with the expectation that it may go before a judge and jury. Insurance companies know which law firms are willing to go to trial and which ones will accept a quick, low settlement. Our reputation for trial readiness frequently persuades insurers to bring fair offers to the table much sooner, as they know we will not back down.
We are a true local firm, not a satellite office for a large Boston corporation. Our office is located at 2 Mattoon Street, right in the heart of Springfield’s historic district and just a few blocks from the Quadrangle.
We have spent our careers in the local court systems of Hampden County and the surrounding areas. We know the judges, the court procedures, and the defense lawyers who will likely be on the other side of your case. This hometown advantage is invaluable.
Our Commitment to You
We built our firm on a foundation of trust and direct accountability to our clients. When you work with us, you get:
A Contingency Fee Guarantee: You owe us nothing unless and until we secure a financial recovery for you.
Direct Attorney Access: Your case will be handled personally by our attorneys, not passed off to a paralegal or case manager. You will speak directly with the lawyer responsible for your claim.
A Free Case Evaluation: We will review the facts of your fall and provide an honest assessment of your legal options at no charge.
Maximizing Your Compensation After a Serious Fall
Compensation, or damages, is meant to reimburse you for everything that was taken from you because of the property owner’s negligence, which your attorney must prove negligence through clear evidence and legal strategy. It is categorized into two main types.
Economic Damages (Special Damages)
These are the tangible, calculable financial losses you have suffered. They include:
Medical Expenses: This covers everything from the initial emergency room visit and X-rays to future needs like physical therapy, injections, or potential surgery.
Lost Wages: You are entitled to reimbursement for the paychecks you missed while unable to work during your recovery.
Loss of Earning Capacity: If a serious back, head, or limb injury prevents you from returning to your former job or working at the same capacity, you may seek damages for this diminished future income.
Non-Economic Damages (General Damages)
These damages compensate you for the intangible, but very real, human cost of your injury. They include:
Pain and Suffering: This addresses the physical pain and discomfort you endure from the moment of the fall through your recovery.
Emotional Distress: Many fall victims develop anxiety, fear, or even post-traumatic stress disorder related to falling again, especially in public places.
Loss of Enjoyment of Life: This compensates you for the inability to engage in hobbies, sports, family activities, or other aspects of life that once brought you joy.
How Comparative Negligence in Massachusetts Affects Your Claim
Insurance companies frequently argue that you were partially to blame for your fall. In Massachusetts, this is addressed by the modified comparative negligence rule. Simply put, a court or jury will assign a percentage of fault to each party involved.
Under Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 231, Section 85, as long as your assigned fault is 50% or less, you may still recover compensation. However, your total award will be reduced by your percentage of fault. If you are found to be 51% or more at fault, you are barred from recovering anything. An experienced attorney helps frame the facts of your case and advises you on common mistakes to avoid that could jeopardize your recovery.
Where Slip and Fall Accidents Commonly Occur in Springfield
A slip and fall happens anywhere, but certain locations and conditions in the Springfield area present recurring hazards. As a local firm, we are familiar with the specific dangers that residents face every day.
Weather-Related Hazards
Springfield’s harsh winters are a leading cause of serious falls. Untreated ice and snow on sidewalks, in parking lots, and on outdoor stairs create treacherous conditions. Massachusetts law once distinguished between natural and unnatural accumulations of snow, but the courts have since adopted a more straightforward standard.
Today, all property owners have a duty to act reasonably to make their property safe from snow and ice hazards in a timely manner.
Structural Risks in Historic and Urban Areas
Downtown Springfield, especially in areas like Metro Center and the historic Mattoon Street district, is home to many older buildings and infrastructure. We frequently see injuries caused by:
Uneven, cracked, or upheaved public sidewalks.
Crumbling brick steps and entryways.
Broken curbs and poorly maintained walkways.
High-Traffic Commercial and Residential Zones
Busy properties present numerous opportunities for negligence to cause harm. Common examples include:
Supermarkets and Retail Stores: Spilled liquids in aisles, leaking freezer cases, produce dropped on the floor, and bunched-up floor mats are all frequent causes of slip and falls.
Apartment Complexes: Poorly lit stairwells, broken handrails, and water tracked into lobbies from outside lead to tenant injuries.
Municipal Property: Falls on city-owned sidewalks or in public spaces like Forest Park are also common. Claims against a city or town have much stricter notice deadlines. In cases involving a defective public way, you may have as little as 30 days to provide formal written notice.
Understanding Premises Liability Cases
Premises liability is the legal framework that holds property owners accountable for injuries that happen on their land or in their buildings. The core idea is simple: owners must take reasonable steps to ensure their property is safe for lawful visitors.
Types of Falls We Handle
Though grouped together, falls happen in distinct ways, each with unique evidence to prove them.
Slip and Falls: These are caused by a loss of friction between your footwear and the walking surface, such as on wet floors, ice, or grease spills.
Trip and Falls: These occur when your foot strikes an object or uneven surface, causing you to lose your balance. Examples include tripping over a hidden cord, a broken piece of pavement, or an object left in a walkway.
Step and Falls: This type of fall happens due to an unexpected change in elevation, such as stepping into an unmarked hole or missing a step in a poorly lit stairwell.
Common Injuries Resulting from Falls
A fall causes life-altering injuries, especially when the impact is on a hard surface like concrete or tile.
Traumatic Brain Injuries (TBI): A blow to the head causes a concussion or a more severe TBI, leading to long-term cognitive and physical challenges.
Hip Fractures: Particularly common in older adults, a hip fracture almost always requires surgery and leads to a permanent loss of independence.
Herniated Discs: The force of a fall causes a spinal disc to rupture or slip out of place, leading to debilitating back pain, numbness, and weakness.
Torn Ligaments and Soft Tissue Damage: Awkward landings result in painful tears to ligaments like the ACL or MCL in the knee, requiring extensive physical therapy.
Key Legal Concepts You Should Know
To win a slip and fall case, we must prove several key elements:
Duty of Care: The property owner had a legal responsibility to keep the premises reasonably safe.
Breach of Duty: The owner failed in that duty through a negligent act or omission.
Causation: This failure directly caused your fall and subsequent injuries.
Damages: You suffered actual harm (medical bills, lost income, pain, etc.).
A central issue in most cases is notice. We must show the property owner either knew about the dangerous condition (actual notice) or should have known about it through reasonable diligence (constructive notice).
For instance, if a carton of milk is spilled in a grocery store aisle and left for two hours, the store has constructive notice. If it was spilled just 30 seconds before you fell, the store may have a valid defense that it did not have a reasonable opportunity to discover and clean it up.
Dealing with the Insurance Company
Soon after your fall, you will likely receive a call from the property owner’s insurance adjuster. Remember their role. Insurance companies are for-profit businesses, and their adjusters are trained to protect the company’s bottom line. Their goal is to resolve your claim for the lowest possible amount.
Tactics to Watch Out For
Be aware of:
The Recorded Statement: An adjuster will ask you to provide a recorded statement about the incident. They may ask leading questions designed to get you to inadvertently admit some level of fault. Do not provide one without legal counsel.
The Quick Offer: Some insurers will offer a small check within days of the accident. This may seem helpful, but it is a lowball offer made before the full extent of your injuries is even known. Cashing that check may prevent you from seeking further compensation if you later learn you need surgery.
Delay, Deny, Defend: Another tactic is to drag out the claims process with endless paperwork and slow communication. This makes victims feel desperate as bills pile up, pushing them to accept a lower settlement than their case is worth.
Why You Need a Buffer
When you hire Cava Law Firm, we become the buffer between you and the insurance company.
We handle all communications, preventing you from making statements that could harm your claim. We gather all the evidence, document the true value of your injuries and losses, and present a comprehensive demand package to the insurer. This signals that you are serious and prepared to go to court if a fair settlement is not offered.
What to Do While You Recover at Home
While we handle the legal aspects of your claim, there are several things you should do from home to protect your health and the value of your case.
Follow Your Doctor’s Orders Strictly
Follow through with all recommended medical care. Gaps in treatment are a red flag for insurance companies. If you miss physical therapy appointments or fail to get a prescribed MRI, they will argue that your injuries must not have been as serious as you claim.
Preserve Important Evidence
Your Clothes and Shoes: Do not wash the clothes or shoes you were wearing at the time of the fall. They may contain residue of the substance you slipped on (like oil or a cleaning chemical) or show damage that helps explain the fall.
A Pain Journal: Keep a simple daily log. Note your pain level on a scale of 1-10, list any activities you could not do that day because of your injuries, and describe how the pain is affecting your daily life. This journal becomes powerful documentation of your suffering.
Maintain Digital Silence
Stay off social media as much as possible while your case is pending. Defense attorneys and insurance investigators actively search Facebook, Instagram, and other platforms for any evidence they might use against you. A single photo of you attending a family party, even if you are in pain and sitting the whole time, could be misinterpreted to argue that you are not really injured.
Organize Your Documents
Start a folder—physical or digital—for all documents related to your fall. This includes discharge papers from the hospital, medical bills, Explanation of Benefits (EOB) statements from your health insurer, and receipts for prescriptions, crutches, or other out-of-pocket expenses.
Frequently Asked Questions About Slip and Fall Claims
In almost all cases, the claim is not filed against your friend personally. Instead, it is made against their homeowner’s or renter’s insurance policy. These policies exist specifically to cover these types of incidents, and your friend pays premiums for this protection. The goal is to get compensation from the insurance company, not from your friend’s personal assets.
While witnesses are helpful, a case is still winnable without them. We use other forms of evidence to build your claim, such as surveillance camera footage from the property, incident reports created by staff, your own photos of the hazard, and your medical records, which connect your injuries to the fall.
Yes, it is very different. Claims against government entities in Massachusetts are governed by specific laws that have much shorter and stricter deadlines. For an injury caused by a roadway or sidewalk defect, you must provide written notice to the correct municipal department within 30 days. Failure to do so permanently bars your claim. There are also caps on the amount of compensation you may recover. Contact a Springfield, MA slip and fall lawyer immediately after a fall on public property.
The mere presence of a sign is not a complete defense. The sign must be placed in a way that provides a reasonable warning. If the sign was placed far from the actual hazard, was hidden behind a display, or was otherwise not clearly visible, the property owner may still be held liable.
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Attorney Christopher F. Cava
Attorney Christopher F. Cava is the founding partner of Cava Law Firm and possesses more than 25 years of trial experience. By focusing on personal injury, he provides better services to his clients by staying on top of the trends in the courts and remaining current on recent case law. Attorney Cava originally began his career in business with a background in accounting. His extensive knowledge of financial matters, the law, and the community ensures that clients recover every dollar they’re entitled to so they can be compensated for medical bills, lost wages, and pain and suffering.
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