Slip and Fall Attorneys on Hilton Head

Most injury lawsuits

South Carolina gives three years to sue for an injury to a person (SC Code § 15-3-530).

Government property

Under the Tort Claims Act the suit is barred after two years from when the loss was or should have been discovered, or three if a claim was filed first (§ 15-78-110).

Only emergency room

Hilton Head Medical Center, 25 Hospital Center Blvd, (843) 681-6122. It is the only 24-hour ER on the island.

No town police

Beaufort County Sheriff’s deputies patrol the island. The Sheriff’s Hilton Head office is at 70 Shelter Cove Ln, (843) 255-3300, open to the public 8 to 4:30 on weekdays.

Free first calls

McDougall Law Firm and Carr Legal Group each offer a free consultation.

Five firms on the island

Bauer & Metro, McDougall Law Firm, Carr Legal Group, Naert Law Firm and Finger, Melnick, Brooks & LaBruce list slip and fall or falls among the injuries they handle.

South Carolina gives three years to file most injury suits (SC Code § 15-3-530). A claim against a government body, such as the county or the Town of Hilton Head Island, falls under the Tort Claims Act, which bars the suit after two years from when the loss was or should have been discovered, or after three years if a claim was filed first (§ 15-78-110). The clock is the first thing to ask any firm on this page about.

A fall at a store, restaurant, hotel or vacation rental is a question about who owned or controlled the property. The firms on this page can say which of those cases they take. Bauer & Metro lists hotel injury cases, and McDougall Law Firm lists premises liability.

Much of the island is open to the public for recreation. South Carolina’s recreational use law, which encourages owners to open land and water for recreation, says an owner who permits people to use land for recreational purposes without charge owes them no duty to keep the premises safe or to warn of a dangerous condition, with exceptions the chapter lists (SC Code §§ 27-3-10, 27-3-30, 27-3-40, 27-3-60). Whether it applies to a given fall depends on who owns the land and whether a fee was charged, which is a question for the firm.

See the personal injury lawyers page for car, bicycle and golf cart cases, and the workers’ comp lawyers page for falls at work.

Hilton Head Medical Center at 25 Hospital Center Blvd, (843) 681-6122, is the only 24-hour emergency room on the island, and Finger, Melnick, Brooks & LaBruce is 0.1 mile away at Hospital Center Commons. Beaufort County Sheriff’s deputies patrol the island, and the Sheriff’s Hilton Head office at 70 Shelter Cove Ln, (843) 255-3300, is open to the public 8 to 4:30 on weekdays.

For urgent care instead of the emergency room, see Hilton Head hospitals and urgent care.

Daufuskie Island is reached by ferry from Hilton Head, and the firms on this page are on Hilton Head, a phone call away. A fall or accident on Daufuskie falls under the same South Carolina law as anywhere else in the state, and McDougall Law Firm lists the Beaufort, Colleton and Jasper County courts. See the Daufuskie Island guide and the Daufuskie ferry page.

A death caused by someone’s neglect is a wrongful death claim, brought by the estate’s executor or administrator within three years (§ 15-51-20); the Hilton Head lawyers page covers it. On the mainland, see Bluffton personal injury lawyers.