If you are injured on someone else’s property, you may be able to bring a legal claim to compensate you for your injuries. This claim is commonly referred to as a premises liability claim.
Premises liability is based on the fact that a property owner has a duty to keep their property safe and correct any unsafe conditions that could harm someone else. A premises liability lawyer can help you in cases that may involve:
- Slip and fall accidents
- Swimming pool accidents
- Construction site injuries
- Damages related to fire
- Animal attacks
- Inadequate security
- Falling equipment
Proving a Premises Liability Case
In a premises liability case, you have to show several facts to receive compensation. These may vary slightly depending on the type of case, but in most premises liability situations, each of these factors will apply.
- The person that caused the injury owned, leased, or otherwise occupied the property where the injury occurred.
- The defendant negligently used or kept the property.
- You were harmed.
- The defendant’s negligence ultimately caused the harm or was a substantial factor in triggering the harm.
These four requirements apply no matter how you got on the defendant’s property. That is, you do not have to be invited on a property in order to assert a premises liability claim.
However, how you came upon the land or property will affect what you will need to prove to show that the defendant was at fault. For example, if you are trespassing, the owner of the property has very little obligation to you. In fact, he or she will not be liable for your injury if your trespassing, unless the property owner sets up some sort of trap or fails to warn about a significant danger, such as a large covered hole on the property.
If you have been invited or you are on the property as a customer, then you have much more protections based on premises liability law.
A property owner has a duty to maintain their property. If there is a danger that the property owner knew about, but failed to correct, then the owner may be liable for your injuries.
Defenses to Premises Liability Claims
The most common defense to a premises liability claim is that you are at least partially at fault for your injuries. The property owner may argue that you were not watching where you were going when you tripped or that they warned you about the wet floor with a nearby sign. This argument is often phrased as your inability to exercise care on someone else’s property. If a danger is “open and obvious,” there is an expectation that you will avoid it.
A premises liability lawyer will help you fight back against this and any other available defense as well. Contact Jim Glaser Law today at 781-689-2277 or fill out our online form to request a free case evaluation.
