Premises Liability
Accident & Injury of Private Property
Accident & Injury of Private Property
If you or a loved one suffered injuries on another party’s premises due to that party’s negligence, you may be entitled to compensation for the losses that you incurred.
Contact a premises liability lawyer from TorHoerman Law for a free, no-obligation case consultation now.
You may be eligible for a premises liability lawsuit to cover the costs of injury, property damage, or other financial losses suffered.
While the distinction between premises liability and general liability may seem minimal, it is important to be aware for legal context.
General liability refers to any harm done to or on someone’s property.
Whereas premises liability applies solely in instances where an owner or manger’s failure to maintain their property directly led to an injury.
Property owners are held liable for accidents and injuries on their property to ensure that they meet the duty of care and provide an adequately safe property for their visitors.
However, depending on the types of visitors and invitations, property owners are not always liable for injuries on their property.
In some cases, both the property owner and the visitor may be found to hold partial responsibility for a visitor’s injury.
A premises liability lawyer is a legal expert that represents victims who have suffered an injury that was caused by some type of unsafe or defective condition on someone else’s property.
Premises liability is define by the owner’s “duty of care” or their obligation that a property owner must meet in order to ensure the safety of his/her visitors.
A premises liability lawyer will help you navigate the complicated legal process.
The legal obligations that a property owner owes to other persons within the boundaries of the owner's property are protected under premises liability.
These obligations must meet the duty of care - the exceptions of care requiring adherence to a standard of reasonable care while performing any acts that could foreseeably harm others - in this case, providing reasonably safe premises for individuals on their property.
You should familiarize yourself with what "property" may fall under your premises.
You could be held liable for accidents that occur on these premises.
The more obvious places include your:
Many people do not realize that these do not define the full spectrum of your "properties."
Other examples of premises include:
If you own the property where an injury occurred, then you can be held liable for that injury, regardless if you were on the scene when the accident occurred, and even if you have never stepped foot on the property prior.
This is why it is important to familiarize yourself with the whole scope of your premises.
Premises liability is defined by the owner's "Duty of Care":
Property owners are held liable for accidents and injuries on their property to ensure that they meet the duty of care and provide an adequately safe property for their visitors.
Property owners are not always liable for injuries on their property.
In order to better understand when and why property owners are liable for accidents on their premises, you must first understand the different types of visitors and invitations.
Invitations to the property are granted to visitors from property owners, family, managers, or staff.
There are three (3) common types of visitors:
Any individual invited onto a property in order to conduct business with the property owner, manager, and/or staff.
Common examples include:
Any individual invited onto a property for social purposes.
Common examples include:
Any individual who enters the domain of private property without a prior invitation from the property owner, manager, and/or staff.
However, there are special circumstances that may hold the property owner liable for the injury:
Visitors must be given consent to enter the property, otherwise, they are considered trespassers.
Visitors can be invited onto a property through one or more of the following three (3) types of invitations:
Any documented form of invitation consenting to a visitor's presence on the property.
Common examples include:
Word-of-mouth consent granted in a conversation between the property owner, manager, or staff and the visitor.
Common examples include:
Consent that is implied due to a longstanding relationship, past invitations, or certain circumstances.
This type of invitation is more subjective and harder to prove than others.
Common examples include:
Once an invitation has been accepted, both the property owner and the visitor must meet expectations to ensure the visitor's safety, otherwise a premises liability lawyer may be necessary to file a claim.
Property owners (including managers and staff) must meet two (2) expectations to ensure the visitor's safety:
We say "likely" and not "all" danger because some incidents are anomalies.
Again, not all incidents are predictable.
But the property owner is expected to consider any-and-all plausible future incidents and do everything in their power to avoid these incidents from occurring.
An example would be:
Staying up to code with requirements set by law.
Expectations for property owners must be fair and attainable.
Property owners cannot be held liable for unfair expectations.
If a property owner does not make reasonable efforts to protect visitors from likely danger or there is evidence that the property owner did not consider how to avoid injury to visitors, the property owner can be held liable for a visitor’s injury.
In some cases, both the property owner and the visitor may be found to hold partial responsibility for a visitor's injury.
Liability is then shared between both the owner and the visitor.
Both parties must work to arbitrate liability to determine how damages will be shared:
Shared liability is complex and oftentimes confusing.
Consult with a premises liability lawyer who can offer their expertise in helping allocate liability to each party involved.
A premises liability lawsuit is handled like any other personal injury lawsuit, so you should familiarize yourself with the steps in a civil lawsuit before filing your premises liability case.
You should consider hiring a personal injury attorney who is experienced in premises liability litigation.
Do not wait to begin this process - your state's statute of limitations laws limit the amount of time you have to file a premises liability lawsuit after the incident has occurred.
After you have hired a premises liability lawyer, your attorney will need to determine which party or parties are liable for your injuries.
You will demand payment from the liable party or parties for all the damages that you inflicted as a result of the incident, both compensatory damages and punitive damages.
Your premises liability lawyer will help you assess the total damages that you incurred.
The total of your damages is your compensation.
Receiving compensation will occur when you and the defendant settle out of court, or when the court orders the defendant to pay damages.
You will need to begin gathering evidence as soon as possible to support your claim for damages.
Common premises liability lawsuit evidence includes:
If you have suffered an injury as the result of a property owner's negligent actions, you may be entitled to compensation for the damages that you incurred.
Contact a premises liability attorney from TorHoerman Law to find out whether you qualify to participate in a premises liability lawsuit.
TorHoerman Law offers free no-obligation case consultations for all potential clients.
At TorHoerman Law, we work on a contingency fee basis, so we don't charge our clients a penny until they have received payment for their injuries.
So, we are dedicated to working hard for our clients and making sure they get the most for their premises liability injuries.
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TorHoerman Law is an extraordinary law firm – a firm that truly makes the client’s best interests the primary concern. Their team of personal injury lawyers are experienced, personable, and well versed in a range of litigation areas. They are supported by a dedicated team of staff that are as equally friendly and helpful. I would recommend TorHoerman Law for any personal injury litigation needs.
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