Soft Tissue Injury Lawyer | Bakersfield Slip and Fall
A soft tissue injury from a slip and fall is compensable under California premises liability law. If a property owner’s negligence caused your sprain, strain, or torn ligament, you may have a claim for medical costs, lost income, and pain and suffering. Chain | Cohn | Clark represents injured people across Bakersfield and Kern County in slip and fall premises liability claims. The deadline to file is generally two years from the date of the fall.
Property Owner Liability for Soft Tissue Injuries in California
California property owners owe a duty of reasonable care to anyone lawfully on their premises. That duty includes inspecting for hazards, repairing them within a reasonable time, and providing adequate warning for dangers that cannot be immediately fixed.
If the property owner knew of the hazard (actual notice) or if the hazard existed long enough that a reasonable inspection would have found it (constructive notice), liability can potentially be established. A spill left on a store floor through a shift change, for example, a stair tread loose for months, or a burned-out stairwell light reported by tenants could each support a premises liability claim if someone was injured as a result. The type of injury – a broken bone, a concussion, a soft tissue injury, etc. – does not change this.
Sprains, Strains, and Torn Ligaments: Injuries These Claims Cover
These terms are not interchangeable. A sprain refers to damage to a ligament, which is the tissue that connects bone to bone. A strain is damage to a muscle or to a tendon, which connects muscle to bone. Both are graded by severity, with a Grade III injury indicating a complete tear.
Falls reliably produce certain types of injuries. Ankle and wrist sprains occur when a person braces against the ground. Rotator cuff and labral tears in the shoulder occur when an arm is thrown out to catch a rail or a counter. Knee ligament and meniscus damage follows a twisting fall. Lumbar strain follows a hard landing on the hip or tailbone.
Severity ranges widely within each category. A moderate ankle sprain may resolve in weeks, while a complete shoulder or knee ligament tear can mean surgical repair, extended time away from work, and lasting limits on lifting, standing, or reaching overhead.
Why Insurers Dispute Soft Tissue Injury Claims
X-rays can take clear images of bones, but because ligaments, tendons, muscles, and cartilage do not block X-ray beams, they are largely invisible. Therefore, a person who leaves an emergency room following a normal X-ray scan does not typically leave with concrete proof of a sprain or strain. MRIs can show the damage, but this is usually not part of the immediate workup after a fall.
This is how insurers build their defense. A claim without objective imaging is characterized as subjective, meaning the injury is treated as a report of pain rather than a documented injury, and the offer is set accordingly.
Timing complicates things further. Swelling, stiffness, and restricted range of motion resulting from strains or sprains often peak 24 to 72 hours after a fall. By that point, an injured person may have already foregone a hospital visit, signed a store incident report, or spoken to an insurance adjuster. All of this can later be used as evidence that the injury was minor.
Two other arguments are commonly put forth. The first is that a gap in treatment, meaning any stretch of weeks without a medical visit, is proof that an injury has resolved itself. The second is that if an injured person is older, any damage is attributed to pre-existing degeneration rather than to the fall.
None of these arguments are dispositive, but each has the potential to reduce an offer substantially.
How Chain | Cohn | Clark Documents Soft Tissue Damage
Imaging
Because MRI and diagnostic ultrasound can show ligament, tendon, and cartilage damage directly, they can help establish concrete documentation of an injury. Where symptoms persist beyond the first few weeks, the question of whether advanced imaging is warranted should be raised with the treating physician.
Consistent Treatment Records
Physical therapy notes, referral records, and follow-up visits create a continuous medical record and disprove the gap-in-treatment argument entirely.
Causation Opinion
A treating physician’s written statement connecting the injury to the fall, and distinguishing it from any pre-existing condition, addresses the degeneration defense directly.
Functional Impact
Proof of work restrictions, missed shifts, limits on lifting or standing, and the need for help at home can translate an injury into measurable damages.
Scene Evidence
Surveillance footage, incident reports, maintenance and inspection logs, witness contact information, and photographs of the hazard are all crucial for establishing liability. Retail and commercial systems commonly overwrite footage within days. Chain | Cohn | Clark will handle communication with property owners, management companies, and insurers on your behalf.
Compensation Available in a Soft Tissue Injury Claim
A California premises liability claim can help recover costs from emergency and follow-up medical treatment, physical therapy, surgery, projected future care, lost income, reduced earning capacity, and pain and suffering.
Chronic joint pain and permanent loss of range of motion resulting from a soft tissue slip and fall injury can affect daily function for years. Documenting that effect over time is central to establishing a claim’s value.
Deadlines and Shared Fault in California
The deadline to file a personal injury lawsuit in California is generally two years from the date of injury. Where the property is owned or operated by a government entity, a claim must be presented through the government claims process within six months.
California law follows a pure comparative negligence standard. If an injured person is found to be partly responsible – insurers may argue, for example, that a fall and subsequent injury were caused by an injured person’s inattention – recovery is reduced by a corresponding percentage. Even if a person is assigned a majority share of fault, they may still recover damages.
Working With Chain | Cohn | Clark
Chain | Cohn | Clark has represented injured people in Bakersfield and Kern County since 1934. Our firm handles premises liability claims on a contingency fee basis, meaning no fee is charged unless a recovery is obtained. Contact us today for a free consultation.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes. California law does not limit premises liability recovery to specific types of injuries. If a property owner’s negligence caused your fall, you may have a claim for medical expenses, lost income, and pain and suffering.
Because these types of injuries are harder to show on standard imaging, they are often easier for insurers to dispute. An adjuster may use any prior injuries, the absence of imaging or documentation, or a delay or gap in medical treatment to argue that a soft tissue injury is minor or unrelated to the fall.
Generally two years from the date of the fall. However, if the fall happened on government property (a municipal building, a city sidewalk, a public school campus, etc.), a government claim must be filed within six months. An attorney can confirm which deadline applies to your case.
Delayed onset of symptoms is common with sprains and strains. You may still have a claim, but it does give the insurer a potential argument against you. Talk to a doctor as soon as possible after any injury to protect both your health and your claim.
Yes. Under California’s pure comparative negligence rule, your recovery is reduced by your percentage of fault. For example, a person found 30% responsible for a fall can still recover 70% of their damages.
Talk to a Bakersfield Soft Tissue Injury Lawyer
If you were injured in a fall on someone else’s property in Bakersfield or Kern County, contact Chain | Cohn | Clark today for a free consultation. Review your legal options before evidence disappears and key filing deadlines pass.
Contact Us Today
for your free case evaluation
Fill out the simple form below and we’ll contact you about your case right away.
