Q: I fell about a year ago in a McDonalds. I still have pain but never pursued further. Is it too late?

A: Depending on the statute of limitations of what state this accident occurred in you may have time, in theory, to file a claim. In the state of Indiana you would have a two-year period from the date of accident to file a claim. I will answer this question based on the state of Indiana statute of limitations:

Theoretically, you would still have a cause of action because the accident happened less than two years ago, according to the example. All sorts of problems arise with regard to this type of case. First of all it is a slip and fall case. These are viewed very negatively by people. The reason why is we have all been conditioned since childhood by our parents. Our parents would tell us to be careful and stop running because we will fall and hurt ourselves and then when we fall and hurt ourselves our parents first reaction is to say remember what I told you. People have the presumption that when someone falls it is because they were not careful.

Also I will presume from the question asked that in fact no medical treatment was sought. If someone doesn’t treat for an accident immediately it is highly suspect that they were injured. The longer it takes to go get treatment the more likely it is that a jury will decide that they weren’t injured at all. In this case it seems like no treatment was received for one year. That is why I answered in theory you can still pursue this case. In reality this really is not a good case and I would imagine that 99 out of 100 attorneys would reject this case based on the length of time it took to treat and because it is a slip and fall case. However, if you’ve been injured you should talk to an attorney and run the facts past an attorney and see what they have to say. Every case is like an onion, you start stripping away layers, and you learn more and more. There may be something that the attorney notices that makes it a good case. And then when you’re done with that attorney you might want to run it by another attorney for a second opinion to see what yet another second set of eyes has to say.

Good luck.

A: If you are contemplating a claim, you should consult with an Indiana attorney to evaluate the accident in detail. But as Mr Wachowski points out, the time gap could present challenges. Good luck

Tim Akpinar