When someone is injured on another person’s property, the victim may have the right to pursue a premises liability case to recover damages, such as medical bills and lost wages.
Premises liability claims cover a variety of accidents and injuries, and having skilled legal representation could make a difference in the compensation you recover. If you or a loved one has been hurt on someone’s property or at their place of business, discuss your legal rights with Athens premises liability attorney Michael Ruppersburg at Ruppersburg Injury & Accident Attorneys.
What Does Premises Liability Mean?
Premises liability refers to an area of law that obligates property owners to keep their properties reasonably safe. Property owners must keep their land, homes, and businesses free of unreasonable hazards for people who are legally permitted to be there. If they fail to do so and someone is injured or dies as a result, the victim or their family can take legal action to win damages. Renters of property may also be held liable.
Who Is Responsible if You’re Hurt on Someone’s Property?
Either the property owner or the one renting the property could be at fault. In some cases, blame is shared with a third party. This often comes up in premises liability cases alleging negligent security. For instance, if a violent crime happens at a bar that has a history of such attacks, both the assailant and the bar might be held liable. Your Athens premises liability attorney will investigate the circumstances surrounding your injury to determine who may be responsible.
Proving Property Owner Negligence
The victim must demonstrate several elements to prevail in a premises liability claim:
- Duty of care: The property owner must have owed the victim a duty of care; that is, a duty to keep the premises reasonably safe. This duty is not generally owed to trespassers.
- Hazardous condition: There must have been a dangerous condition on the property that the owner knew about or should have reasonably known about.
- Failure to correct: If the owner did not take reasonable steps to address, repair, or adequately warn about the hazard, he or she may be held liable.
- Injuries: The victim needs to show that he or she suffered injury and incurred damages as a result of the items above.
Working with an Athens premises liability lawyer can help you acquire the evidence to prove the above elements.
Examples of Dangerous Property Conditions
Any number of conditions can cause injury or death on someone’s property, including the following:
- Standing water
- Ice or snow
- Lack of proper signage (e.g. emergency exit signs)
- Unsafe or broken stairs
- Lack of proper railings
- Spilled liquids and foods
- Items that obstruct walkways
- Uneven floors
- Torn carpeting
- Poor lighting
- Dogs or other dangerous animals
- Unsupervised swimming pools
- Lack of fencing
- Negligent security
What Type of Accidents Can Qualify?
A victim may suffer premises liability accidents, such as:
- Slips, trips, and falls
- Fire-related injuries
- Building collapses
- Falling items (e.g. from scaffolding)
- Drownings and other swimming pool accidents
- Becoming a crime victim due to poor security
If you have suffered any injury on another person’s property, reach out to an Athens premises liability lawyer. Quick action is necessary to obtain evidence and preserve the value of your legal case.
How To Seek Compensation for Your Accident
A victim must first understand what the owner’s duty of care was. Duty of care varies based on the category into which the victim falls.
Property owners owe the highest duty of care to a class of people known as invitees or individuals who enter the property with express or implied permission. A slightly lower duty is owed to licensees, people who can legally enter the property but are there for their gain (e.g. a salesman visiting a commercial property). A premises liability lawyer in Athens can explain these in more detail.
The lowest duty of care is owed to trespassers, individuals who have no right to be on the property. The owner’s only duty is to not willfully injure these individuals.
When Is Negligence Present?
Negligence exists when the property owner violates the duty of care by either allowing a known danger to persist or failing to take reasonable safeguards to address a hazard. An example of the latter situation would be a business with a serious water leak. Once the leak is stopped, the owner should inspect the premises to check for any standing water that could cause a slip and fall. Because the owner knew about the leak, he or she cannot simply turn a blind eye to the risk of injury that is present.
Another example of negligence is when a property owner fails to provide a safe environment for guests. A hotel that doesn’t lock its outside doors or repair broken windows in guest rooms can be liable if someone breaks in, commits a crime, and injures a guest in the process.
Talk to an Experienced Premises Liability Lawyer in Athens
Premises liability cases are highly fact-specific. Building a winning claim requires examining the circumstances surrounding the accident to determine if the property owner was legally negligent. After suffering an injury on someone’s property and seeking any needed medical attention, consult seasoned legal counsel right away. Call Ruppersburg Injury & Accident Attorneys to learn more.
