Elevator accidents involve multiple parties, including the building owner, elevator manufacturer, and maintenance company. It's crucial to recognize your status as a passenger, which grants you specific rights. Documenting the scene, such as taking photographs of any discrepancies in elevator height, can be vital for your case.
After an elevator accident, ensure your safety and seek medical attention if needed. Document the scene by taking photos and gather witness information to support your case.
You can sue the building owner, the elevator manufacturer, and the maintenance company. It's important to include all three parties to ensure a comprehensive case.
Common injuries from elevator accidents include fractures, sprains, and head injuries. These can occur from falls, sudden drops, or misleveling when entering or exiting the elevator.
Elevator cases present different problems. Three parties are going to be involved four if you count the plaintiff, the person who is injured. First of all, you need to realize that if you're taking an elevator, you're not an occupier of a premises like an invitee. All of a sudden you've changed your status to that of a passenger and your lawyer better plead you as a passenger because passengers have additional rights and duties and obligations that flow to them by virtue of them putting their trust in a conveyance that takes them somewhere else. Second, you always have to sue the owner of the building, the manufacturer of the elevator, and whatever company has been hired to maintain that elevator. There will be records, but if you don't sue all three, one of those three parties will play hide the ball. And it's very difficult if you don't just initially go ahead and find out who does the maintenance, who manufactures the elevator, and who owns the elevator. Who's the actual building owner? You want to sue those three. Elevator cases are more common than we think. Often elevators will drop causing injuries. More frequently they miss level and people will trip coming in or trip on exit. Take a photograph if you can. If you can get somebody to take a photograph to show the difference in height between the floor and the elevator floor, get a photograph. We've had very serious injuries on elevators, very tragic injuries on elevators, and those are cases that we know how to handle, but they're a little bit different than your average trip and fall or slip and fall case.
