May 26, 2025
You step into an elevator like you’ve done thousands of times before. The doors close, and suddenly the elevator drops three floors in two seconds. Your back slams against the wall. Your knee twists. The pain is instant and severe.
This isn’t a rare movie scene. It happens every single day across America.
The numbers tell a scary story. More than 27,000 people get hurt in elevator and escalator accidents each year. That’s about 74 people every day. Yet most folks think these machines are completely safe.
Here’s what we’ve learned after handling these cases for over 15 years: these accidents are usually preventable. Someone cut corners on maintenance. A safety device was broken for months. Warning signs were ignored.
The victims often blame themselves. “I should have been more careful,” they tell us. But when a 60-year-old woman gets her foot crushed because an escalator step collapsed, that’s not her fault. When elevator doors slam shut on a child’s arm because sensors don’t work, the child didn’t do anything wrong.
Property owners count on this self-blame. They hope you’ll pay your own medical bills and move on. Insurance companies train their adjusters to offer quick, low settlements before you understand how badly you’re hurt.
We’ve seen people accept $5,000 settlements for injuries that required $50,000 in surgery. That’s not fair, and it’s not right.
Most of our clients never thought they’d need a lawyer. They trusted that someone was keeping these machines safe. When that trust gets broken along with their bones, they deserve answers and compensation.
What Can Go Wrong
Elevator accidents come in several flavors, and none of them are pleasant.
Door accidents are the most common. Those heavy metal doors can break fingers, crush hands, or knock someone down. The sensors that detect people are supposed to prevent this. But sensors break, get dirty, or get disabled to “fix” nuisance door openings.
Last month, we settled a case where a hotel disabled their elevator door sensors because guests complained the doors opened too often. A week later, the doors crushed a guest’s hand. The hotel saved money on service calls but paid $200,000 to our client.
Sudden drops and jerky stops cause back injuries, broken bones, and concussions. Elevators aren’t supposed to move like carnival rides. When cables stretch, brakes fail, or computer systems glitch, passengers get thrown around like toys.
Floor misleveling trips up thousands of people yearly. You expect the elevator floor to match the building floor. When it doesn’t, your foot hits an unexpected step. Down you go.
Escalator injuries are often worse because the machine keeps moving while you’re trapped. Shoelaces get caught between steps. Loose clothing gets pulled into the machinery. Children’s fingers slip into gaps they shouldn’t fit through.
We represented a teenage girl whose flip-flop got caught in an escalator. The machine pulled her foot into the mechanism before anyone could hit the emergency stop. She needed three surgeries and still walks with a limp. The escalator had been making grinding noises for two weeks before her accident.
Broken handrails cause people to lose balance and fall down moving stairs. The handrail should move at exactly the same speed as the steps. When the timing is off, people grab for support that isn’t there.
Sudden stops create pile-ups. When an escalator jerks to a halt, everyone on it keeps moving forward. People at the bottom get crushed by people falling from above. These accidents often hurt multiple victims at once.
How We Decide to Take Your Case
When you call our office, we ask specific questions to figure out if you have a strong case.
First, how bad are your injuries? A small cut probably won’t justify the time and expense of a lawsuit. But if you’re facing surgery, months of physical therapy, or permanent disability, we want to help.
We also look at who caused your accident. Property owners must keep their buildings reasonably safe. Maintenance companies must do their jobs properly. Equipment manufacturers must design machines that won’t hurt people when used normally.
Sometimes all three groups share blame. The manufacturer made a defective part. The maintenance company ignored warning signs. The property owner delayed repairs to save money. When that happens, we go after everyone.
Evidence makes or breaks these cases. Security cameras often catch everything. Maintenance records show whether someone skipped important repairs. Witness statements prove what really happened.
But evidence disappears fast. Security footage gets erased after 30 days. Broken parts get thrown away. Maintenance companies suddenly can’t find their records. That’s why we move quickly to preserve everything.
Money matters too. Even if we prove someone was negligent, they need enough insurance or assets to pay your damages. We investigate every potential defendant to find adequate coverage.
Some cases have problems that make them hard to win. If you were drunk during the accident, juries might not sympathize. If you have back problems that existed before the accident, the defense will argue your injury was pre-existing.
Government buildings sometimes have special legal protections. Public housing authorities and city buildings can be harder to sue than private properties.
Time limits are strict. Most states give you two to three years to file a lawsuit after an accident. But the investigation needs to start immediately. Evidence disappears, and witnesses move away or forget details.
We’ve learned to spot the winners early. Certain types of accidents almost always result in good settlements. Others are uphill battles from day one. We’ll give you an honest assessment of your chances.
Our Investigation Process
The clock starts ticking the moment your accident happens. We have maybe 24 to 48 hours before critical evidence starts disappearing.
Our first move is sending legal notices to everyone involved. These notices require them to preserve evidence. If they destroy anything after getting our notice, we can ask a judge to punish them severely.
This includes security videos, maintenance logs, repair records, inspection reports, and the actual broken equipment. Companies love to “fix” things quickly after accidents. But fixing the evidence destroys our ability to prove what went wrong.
We bring in elevator and escalator experts within days of your accident. These engineers understand how the machines work and what causes them to fail. They take pictures, measurements, and samples before anyone touches anything.
Getting maintenance records is like detective work. One company might install the equipment. Another handles routine maintenance. A third does emergency repairs. A fourth conducts safety inspections. We subpoena records from all of them.
Often, we find smoking guns in these records. Required monthly inspections weren’t done for six months. A safety device failed three times, but nobody ordered replacement parts. Warning lights were blinking for weeks before your accident.
Building codes give us another angle. Equipment installed 20 years ago might not meet today’s safety standards. But property owners still have a duty to upgrade dangerous conditions. We research every applicable code and regulation.
Witnesses are gold when we can find them. Other people who saw your accident can confirm what happened. Building employees often know about previous problems with the same equipment. Sometimes we find other victims of similar accidents involving the same machinery.
Your medical treatment becomes part of our evidence too. We work with your doctors to document every aspect of your injuries. Some injuries don’t show their full impact for weeks or months. Others require ongoing treatment for years.
Proving Someone Was Careless
Winning your case means proving that someone was negligent. Negligence is lawyer talk for being careless or not following safety rules.
Property owners have the biggest responsibility. They must regularly inspect their buildings and fix dangerous conditions. They can’t just wait for tenants to complain about problems.
We had a case where an apartment building’s elevator hadn’t been inspected in eight months. The owner claimed he didn’t know it was broken. But state law required monthly inspections. His ignorance was no excuse when the elevator dropped two floors and injured our client.
Maintenance companies must follow professional standards. They have specialized training and equipment. When they cut corners to save time or money, people get hurt.
Equipment manufacturers can be liable under product defect laws. If their machines have design flaws or manufacturing defects, they must pay for resulting injuries. They also must warn users about known dangers.
Some manufacturers know about safety problems but don’t issue recalls or warnings. They calculate that paying injury claims costs less than fixing the problem. When we prove this kind of thinking, juries get angry and award big damages.
Proving your injuries were caused by someone’s negligence can be tricky. Maybe multiple things contributed to your accident. Defense lawyers will argue that you were partly at fault or that your injuries were pre-existing.
Expert witnesses make the difference in these cases. Juries don’t understand elevator and escalator technology. Our experts explain in simple terms how the accident happened and why it was preventable.
We also use building code violations to prove negligence. If equipment doesn’t meet safety standards, someone should have fixed it. Previous accidents involving the same equipment show the danger was predictable.
Fighting for Every Dollar You Deserve
Calculating your damages requires looking at everything your accident cost you and will cost you in the future.
Medical bills are usually the biggest expense. This includes emergency room treatment, surgery, hospital stays, physical therapy, and medications. For serious injuries, we hire life care planners to estimate your future medical needs.
Some clients need wheelchairs, home modifications, or full-time nursing care. These costs can reach millions of dollars over a lifetime. Insurance companies try to lowball these future expenses, but we fight for realistic numbers.
Lost wages depend on how long you can’t work. If you’re permanently disabled, we calculate what you would have earned over your entire career. This requires economic experts who understand employment trends and inflation.
We also consider lost benefits like health insurance, retirement contributions, and vacation time. If your injury forces you to take a lower-paying job, we calculate the difference for your entire working life.
Pain and suffering damages compensate for physical pain and emotional trauma. These damages are often worth more than the economic losses, but they’re harder to calculate.
We use day-in-the-life videos showing how your injuries affect your daily activities. Family members testify about how you’ve changed since the accident. Medical experts explain why your pain will continue for years.
Marriage and family relationships suffer when someone gets seriously injured. Spouses can recover damages for lost companionship and household services. Children sometimes recover for loss of parental guidance.
Punitive damages are available when defendants acted especially badly. These damages punish wrongdoers and deter similar behavior. We pursue punitive damages when property owners repeatedly ignore safety problems or maintenance companies deliberately cut corners.
Settlement negotiations focus on all these damage categories. We prepare detailed presentations showing your total losses. Most cases settle before trial, but insurance companies need to know we’re ready for court.