Slip, Trip, and Fall Into the Season

As mentioned in our newsletter, fall is upon us. While the season has a lot to offer in terms of enjoyment, the spoils of autumn also come with a few downfalls; literally. With the weather changing here in Northeastern Pennsylvania wet and slippery conditions are going to be ever present in the upcoming months; not just on the roads, but on sidewalks and tracked inside businesses and restaurants making it all too easy to slip, trip, or fall, and possibly injure yourself. 

Of all the injuries slips, trips, or falls result in, sprains are the most common. A sprained ankle is a very common injury that most people don’t give a lot of attention to. It brings some back to their high school sports coach telling them to “walk it off.” It may have not been so serious then, but a sprained ankle, wrist, knee, spine, or other extremity has the potential to be very serious and cause lifelong suffering. There are three types, of sprains. 

  

•  Grade 1 is the type your high school coach tells you to walk off; it’s a momentary overstretching of the ligament which, if given proper healing time, will fix itself. With a grade 1 sprain there is minimal swelling. 
•  Grade 2 is an actual tear in the ligament, though only a small tear. This will also heal itself but leaves scar tissue on the ligament, also known as adhesions. These adhesions are permanent changes in the tissue which causes the joint of the sprained area to be unstable. With grade 2 sprains there is noticeable swelling as well as some loss in functionality of the sprained area. Holding weight can aggravate the sprain causing more pain or more instability.
•  Grade 3 is the worst type of sprain and is also permanent. This is a complete tear of the ligament and results in immediate severe swelling, loss in functionality of the sprained area, and holding weight is not possible without severe pain. Most often grade 3 sprains require a surgical procedure to correct. 

It’s common after a trip, slip, or fall for someone to get right back up and claim that he or she is alright due to shock and embarrassment over the situation. Once the shock and embarrassment surpasses and the pain has really had time to settle in is when that person realizes they have a more severe problem than they originally thought. 

It’s always a good idea to get witnesses’ contact information after you fall, just in case. Once you have any and all witnesses’ contact information you should report your fall to the owner of whatever establishment you fell at. You should also go to the hospital after a slip, trip, or fall. You don’t know what kind of damage that fall could have done to you internally; you may think you’ll just have a nasty bruise in the morning, or a “walk it off” sprain, but as we explained it can be much more serious. If after a fall you are diagnosed with a sprain, be sure to get all the facts on what grade the sprain is so you know if this is a lifelong issue you will be dealing with.

Calling an attorney experienced in slip, trip, and fall cases immediately after you seek medical treatment for your injuries is imperative. Fall cases are more difficult to recover damages for your injuries than other types of personal injury cases. Visit our website or call one of our experienced slip, trip, and fall attorneys here at The Pisanchyn Law Firm for a free consultation and more information about slip, trip, and fall cases.

Allow Us to Introduce Ourselves...

Welcome to The Pisanchyn Law Firm’s blog!

Being lawyers, we know and understand the stereotypes against us from the general population. Some of you may have actually met the select few lawyers who fit those stereotypes of being dishonest, scheming, and money hungry. For that, we apologize for the bad taste they have left in your mouth. The lawyers here want to change your perceptions and show you that we really do care for you the person, while representing you the client.

Chances are, if you need to consult with an attorney your circumstances are not good; you have been injured, victimized, and/or wronged in some way. We understand that you are already in a vulnerable state and reaching out for help in that condition is difficult; the last thing you need is what the general population perceives a lawyer to be.

Here’s what you do need; a person aggressive, driven, and passionate enough to fight for you or your loved ones rights. That’s where representing you the client comes in. Being in a legal battle is not easy. It’s time consuming, demanding, and can sometimes strip you of your privacy and normal way of life. In the area of personal injury law, insurance adjusters will call you nonstop, hounding you to settle, bullying you into answering questions that, by law, you are not required to answer. It is a lawyer’s job, once you have selected them to represent you, to protect you and take all that pressure and stress away from you so you can get your life back in order after whatever event has placed you in this circumstance.

Of course, we do make a profit, but that’s another part of representing you the client. The Pisanchyn Law Firm works on a contingency fee, meaning that if we win your case, we will get a portion of the settlement, if we do not win your case, we get paid nothing. Technically speaking, our services in the area of personal injury are completely free to you, because you never have to pay out of pocket for our services. As you can see, the interests of you the client and us the attorneys are aligned, so you know that we will stop at nothing to get you what you deserve.

What you also need is a support system; a group of caring individuals that know you’re going through a difficult time and only want to make it easier for you. That’s where caring for you the person comes in. Sometimes it’s hard to turn to family or friends when going through a legal ordeal. Though you shouldn’t, it’s normal to feel ashamed, embarrassed, or even at a loss for words or emotions. A lot of times victims of personal injury cases lose their faith in people to a certain degree because of how horrible they are treated by the negligent doer, the insurance adjusters, and depending on the circumstances of the incident, people who were once friendly to them. We deal with these emotions and feelings with all of our clients, you don’t need to tell us, we understand.

The Pisanchyn Law Firm has made it a priority that all our clients are treated with respect, care, and are welcomed into a friendly environment. Our staff, paralegals, and attorneys all want to help you in any way we can. We’re here 24/7, seven days a week to listen to whatever you have to say, even if you just want to chat. We want to be your lawyer for the rest of your life, not just for this case and we know that to accomplish this task a personal relationship based on trust must be made. This takes time, time that we enjoy devoting to getting to know you and time that we also devote to defending you and getting you what you deserve.

We believe that this attitude is the attitude of a true lawyer, the kind of lawyer you should base your perceptions off of. We urge you to get to know us, ask us questions, look through our website, give us suggestions, call or stop by our office to see what a real law firm is all about; whatever you need to separate us from the ill-fitting stereotype we have been given.

In an effort to help you get to know us, what we do, and what we stand for we have expanded our website, done some minor rebranding, and compiled a quarterly newsletter to help us keep in touch with you. Our quarterly newsletter will you keep updated on any changes to our firm, give you more information about each of our attorneys, highlight practice areas and decipher the legal jargon associated with them, and give you valuable information you need to know about laws, the legal system, and protecting yourself and your loved ones from various circumstances.

Our website has more information on legal issues that matter to you. No case is the same, all are very different and to help answer your questions as best as we can we have taken our experience and covered as many points in each area of practice as we could. If you still have unanswered questions please call us, toll free, 1-866-427-4652; we would love to hear from you.