Premises
Liability
This typically involves a case in which someone suffers an injury on the property of another. It could be a commercial store or someone’s private residence. Cases can range from a slip in fall in a department store to an electrocution at a construction site. Property and business owners have a duty to keep their property safe for their customers and guests. They may also have a duty to warn of a potentially hazardous condition, so their guests can take appropriate precautions.
Jeffrey Downey has experience in both defending premises liability claims for insurance companies and in prosecuting these claims on behalf of injured victims. Our initial investigation will help focus on uncovering those facts that are essential to establishing liability.
There are various conditions that can give rise to liability for property owners or owners of commercial establishments. Dangerous walkways or slipper floors can cause serious injury. Businesses should always clearly mark such areas and warn of recently cleaned floors. If you suffer a fall at a local business and sustained an injury, insist that an incident report or record of the incident is made by the store manager. Get the full name of the store manager and write it down along with any relevant observations you make about the condition of the premises at the time. If there was no wet floor sign at the scene, ask the store manager why no sign was posted, and ask him to make a note of it on the incident project. You may also want to consider saving the shoes or sneakers you were wearing at the time. But don’t use them anymore as it will be important to show that they had good treads, and that your footwear did not contribute to the fall.
To prevail in any premises liability case one must prove negligence. This generally requires proof that a person acted unreasonably under the circumstances. In the context of a slip and fall case this may require proof that the store owner either created the dangerous condition that caused injury, or had notice of it and failed to take timely corrective action. Dangerous conditions giving rise to liability can include uneven flooring, wet flooring, icy or snow covered walkways that are not cleared or salted, unsafe store displays, poor lighting, steps or stairs without railing, or merchandise that is improperly placed on shelving and falls off causing injury.
An additional basis for premises liability can include the failure to provide adequate security to protect innocent third parties from criminal attacks. Generally, these types of cases are more difficult to prove as most states require that a store owner have notice of some ongoing criminal activity in the area. It may be necessary to review local police records to determine if there were prior problems with criminal activity in that particular area.
The typical damages that one may recover upon proving negligence would include recovery for medical expenses, pain and suffering and lost wages. Some states, like Maryland, may limit or cap recovery of non-economic damages in personal injury matters. Currently the District of Columbia and Virginia do not limit the recovery of non-economic in personal injury cases, although Viriginia does have a cap for medical malpractice cases.
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