Do You Have a Legitimate Premises Liability Case?
What is Premises Liability?
What is premises liability, exactly? How can you determine who’s at fault? When should you contact a lawyer? These are just a few questions to consider when looking at premises liability. So let’s get started!
First, premises liability law is the body of law which makes the person who is in possession of land or premises responsible for certain injuries suffered by persons who are present on the premises. Getting injured at a store, slipping on the at the movie theater, tripping over an object on someone’s property, these are all things that can happen to an individual at any time and we are here to help you assess if you have a case or not.
Acts of Negligence: The Crux of Premises Liability Lawsuits
There are quite a few people who call our office without an “act of negligence”. This is the action or lack thereof that will determine if you have the ability to win a lawsuit or not. For example, if you slip and fall at someone’s home due to a stair rail not being up to construction code, you likely have a case. If a grocery store is negligent to dangerous liquids being out in the open and you slip and fall, you likely have a case. Now there are many factors that can make this not go in your direction, here are a couple:
- Timing is everything. If there was not enough time to clean up or fix an issue, there is likely no case to be made and it would be simply ruled an accident.
- Businesses are not responsible for de-icing sidewalks, cleaning up snow, etc. So if you slip and fall on ice on the sidewalk, likely there would be no case.
What If You Think You May Have a Premises Liability Case?
If you are involved in what might be a case for premises liability, time is of the essence. For example, if you slip and fall and there are items or liquids that caused the fall, you need to attempt to take pictures right away. This will ensure you have all the proof you need to make your case before the remnants are cleaned up.
Your next step is to seek legal counsel. Brown and Crouppen offers free consultations year round, and we’re happy to assess your situation and determine if you have a case. Avoid giving any statements until legal counsel has guided you to do so.
Check out our roundtable discussion of this topic –