Home Depot Accident Lawyer

Texas Lawyer for Home Depot Accidents

The Home Depot (or “Home Depot” as it is known colloquially) is the largest home improvement retailer in the United States. They have hundreds of stores and distribution centers stretching across the county. Any business of that size serving that many people is prone to accidental injuries.  Whether you are injured by a slip and fall accident, mishandling of equipment, falling items, or just plain old human negligence, you may have the right to pursue legal compensation for your injuries. Talk to a lawyer who handles Home Depot accidents and learn your rights by calling 800-298-0111. There is no fee for the consultation, and we work on a contingency fee basis when we take a Home Depot accident case. Home Depot has its own lawyers, adjusters, and investigators. You should have your own too. Call Simmons and Fletcher, P.C., today.

Home Depot Injury Claim Facts

If you are injured while at The Home Depot, there are some things you need to be aware of that make them unique.  First and foremost, the Home Depot uses an independent adjusting firm called Sedgwick Claims to handle many of its premise liability claims. They may ask for a recorded statement. They may deny your claim. You would be wise to discuss the facts of your specific accident with a premise liability attorney who is familiar with their claims process.  At Simmons and Fletcher, P.C., we have handled many Home Depot injury claims. Call us for a free consultation with a Home Depot accident lawyer today at 1-00-298-0111.

What Should I Do After a Home Depot Accident?

slip and fall

Wet floors create premise liability.

After a Home Depot accident, the first thing you should do is report the accident while you are there. Home Depot employees should provide you with assistance such as calling an ambulance if needed and/or helping you to your car. By reporting the accident to them, they will know to create an incident report that documents that the accident happened on their premises and the time. It will also trigger them to investigate and see if there is video footage of the incident.  The incident report and video footage may be key evidence in your case.  Second, you should immediately follow up on the medical treatment if you are experiencing any pain or symptoms. Accidents at Home Depot often result in trauma to the head. Whether is it from falling and hitting their very hard floors or from an object being dropped on your head, there is a concussion risk in a Home Depot accident. Third, call a Home Depot accident lawyer immediately. Shortly after your injury, you may start receiving calls from a company called Sedgwick acting as The Home Depot’s injury claims evaluator. No matter how sympathetic they sound they are not your friend. Their job is to protect the company, not you.

Types of Home Depot Accidents That We Commonly Handle:

Due to the vast size and the amount of items stacked stories high, there are many ways customers can get injured in an accident at Home Depot. Our lawyers handle the following types of accidents at Home Depot:

  • Slip and fall accidents from spills and recent cleaning or mopping,
  • Fork lift accidents due to the operator’s negligence,
  • Loose and improperly stocked items falling from shelves,
  • Tripping over pallets and other items left in the walkway by employees,
  • Truck accidents caused by Home Depot trucks.

Additionally, any other type of injury to a patron caused by the negligence of a Home Depot employee is something that our firm may be able to help with.

Why Hire Simmons and Fletcher, P.C.?

Since 1979, our law firm has been helping accident victims recover when corporations neglect their legal duty to keep their premises safe for guests and patrons. We have the legal experience you need on your side when dealing with these corporate giants. Here are some more reasons you should consider our law firm:

  • We were voted Best of the Best Personal Injury Law Firms by the Houston Chronicle Reader’s Choice Poll in 20203. Houston is our home town where they know us well.
  • Paul H. Cannon is Board Certified in Personal Injury Trial Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization. Less than 10% of all Texas attorneys have achieved Board Certification.
  • We promote local missions, support local charities, and promote education in our community.
  • We only represent people. Not greedy corporations or insurance companies.
  • Consultations are free and we work on a contingency fee basis.
  • Zoom meetings and signature contracts enable virtual meetings from your own home.

How After a Home Depot Accident, Attorneys Can Help

Premises liability cases are often won or lost based on what evidence is preserved in the first 30 days after an accident. A reputable premise liability attorney who knows what he is doing will know to take immediate steps to protect your rights after a Home Depot accident. Placing The Home Depot on notice and requesting the preservation of video footage is the most critical step toward winning a premise liability case against The Home Depot. Obtaining photos of the area and instrumentalities relevant to the injury is equally as important in helping present your claim. Next, ensuring you get the care you need and see the necessary experts to document your claim is important. Lastly, a premises liability attorney can prepare a demand and present your claim in such a way as to highlight the true effects of your injuries.

Preserving the video

The biggest mistake a Home Deport accident lawyer can prevent you from making is to preserve ALL of the needed video. What many injured victims do not realize is that to win your premise liability case, you have to prove that the dangerous condition that directly injured you was either known to the employees or was there sufficiently long that the store employees should have discovered it. To do this, you need the video showing when the condition was created, NOT just the video of your fall. Many times we see store safety officers or insurance adjusters give the victim the video of just the fall as a stalling tactic to keep the victim from calling a lawyer. Meanwhile, stores have a video footage recycling policy. It may be as short as 7-30 days. While you are chatting with the nice claims adjuster for Sedgwick and waiting on the documents he told you to submit so he can “take care” of you, the critical evidence showing how and when the dangerous condition came about in the first place is being “recycled.” Once it is recycled, it is gone.

To prevent the “recycling” of your critical evidence, a skilled Home Depot accident attorney at Simmons and Fletcher, P.C., will send The Home Depot a certified non-spoliation of evidence letter. This letter demands that The Home Depot preserve all video evidence of the area where the injury occurred for at least the 24 hours preceding the injurious event. By sending this certified letter, the Home Depot is now on notice of a potential claim and on written notice to take steps to preserve the evidence. If they fail to do so after such notice, the courts will punish them by instructing the jury to presume the destroyed evidence would have been unfavorable toward The Home Depot. This inference is a very powerful tool in premises liability trials.

Obtaining photographs of the area and instrumentalities

The accident scene and the injury-producing condition are often key to understanding how and why an accident occurred at The Home Depot. If items are left in the aisle, substances are left on the floor, or equipment is misoperated, photographs of these things may be key to helping a jury understand why The Home Depot was negligent. If you can take scene photos you may catch evidence that even your attorney cannot get later. However, it is often helpful for a personal injury lawyer to get to the scene quickly after an accident to look for other things important to the case that the injured person might not know to look for or things to look for while they are sitting there in pain.

Obtaining medical care and expert evaluations

As nice as the adjuster may act, they typically will not pay for your medical care as you go. If you miss appointments or quit going to the doctor, this hurts your case and helps them. It is to their benefit to leave you to seek medical care on your own. They also know that your health insurance company will often deny the claim when they find out that a third party (The Home Depot) may be legally liable. Your health insurance becomes secondary to liability injury claims. Our attorneys can send out letters of protection to help you get the care you need without having to come out of pocket for the care. Additionally, you may need to see expert economists and/or future medical planners to evaluate your future damages from the injury. Our attorneys have these resources.

Preparing the demand and presenting the claim

A well-written demand detailing all of your past and future damages caused by an injury at The Home Depot helps to get you the maximum compensation in a case. Hiring a Home Depot accident lawyer who knows premises liability law and can package up the liability arguments and the full damage model into a demand can help get you the compensation you deserve to provide for your needs. Don’t leave money on the table, call Simmons and Fletcher, P.C., for a free case evaluation today.

Home Depot Injury Claim Frequently Asked Questions

When Is Home Depot Liable for Injuries on Their Property?

A business like The Home Depot is liable for an injury caused by a dangerous condition upon their property when the injured party can prove that:

  • There was an unreasonably dangerous condition on the property,
  • The business (via its employees) was aware of the condition prior to the injury,
  • The business failed to either remedy the problem or warn the patrons of an unseen/unrecognized danger, and;
  • The patron was injured by the dangerous condition.

This is what is known as premise liability law.

Is Home Depot Liable if Their Employees Injure a Customer?

A store like The Home Depot may be liable if their employees intentionally or negligently cause injury to a customer so long as the employee was acting within the course and scope of his duties at The Home Depot when he caused the injury.  Actions of employees are covered by the doctrine of Respondeat Superior—which means ‘let the employer answer for his servant.’  If you are injured by an employee or other person who causes an injury, you must show that the person involved had a duty of care to act reasonably and failed to meet their duty of care.

How Does Sedgwick Injury Claims Relate to Home Depot?

Sedgwick is an insurance loss claims adjusting company. They handle personal injury liability and worker’s compensation claims on behalf of many companies, including The Home Depot. Their role is to try to minimize the exposure that companies have when injury claims are brought against their clients. If you are injured at The Home Depot, there is a good chance you will be dealing with an adjuster from Sedgwick regarding your claim. Some things you need to be aware of:

  • You do not have to (and should not) give a recorded statement.
  • You have the right to speak to your own attorney.
  • They do not have to provide you with a copy of the accident report unless you hire a lawyer and file a lawsuit.
  • The reviews from people dealing with them online are worth reading before you go it alone.
  • They may very well deny your claim.

What Injuries Can I Pursue After a Home Depot Accident?

When you are injured by a Home Depot accident, you have the right to make a claim for all of the various personal injury damages that you suffer due to the negligence of the store employees. This includes the following damages:

In some cases, you may even have a claim for punitive damages.

Talk to a Lawyer for Home Depot Accidents

Following a Home Depot accident, a lawyer can help you understand your specific facts better. Call Simmons and Fletcher, P.C. today if you would like to learn more about your rights following an accident at The Home Depot: (800) 298-0111.  At Simmons and Fletcher, P.C., we understand that the injured victim is often out of work and struggling financially. That is why all of our consultations are 100% free. If we take on your case, we take it on a contingency fee basis. This means that we charge you no fees nor any of our expenses of litigation unless we make a recovery for you.

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