What is premises liability?
In personal injury law, injuries that are a result of an unsafe condition on a piece of property fall into the area of premise liability. In a premises liability lawsuit you are holding the property owner, be it a homeowner or commercial corporation, responsible for the conditions of their property. The law recognizes that a property owner has an obligation to maintain safe conditions within the boundaries of their property.
While the majority of the cases involve slippery floors or damaged property that someone can trip on, these cases can sometimes be titled slip and fall lawsuits. However, the area of premises liability covers a broader area than just a slip and fall. For example, a property owner can be held accountable for having unsafe materials, such as asbestos, if they knew of the unsafe condition and did nothing to correct it. Some of the accidents that are in the premise liability area of law include: mercury exposure or poisoning; broken steps; fires on someone’s property; broken walkways.
As with other personal injury lawsuits, a premises liability case is also subject to whether or not there was negligence. In figuring out whether the property owner was negligent, you have to prove that they knew about the danger on the property, that they breached that duty by not correcting the unsafe condition and that a reasonable person would have acted in correcting this condition. Furthermore, you need to prove that the property owner’s failure to correct the condition in question was directly related to the victim’s injuries or adverse health conditions.
If you or your loved one has been injured in a slip and fall or another type of premises liability matter, you should contact experienced premise liability or personal injury attorneys to be advised of your rights. An attorney will help you negotiate the complicated nuances of your case, whether it be a premises liability lawsuit, auto accident lawsuit, trucking accident lawsuit, motorcycle accident lawsuit, traumatic brain injury lawsuit, or wrongful death lawsuit.