People injured because of an unsafe property hazard may have a “Premises Liability” negligence case that can provide them with damages for their injuries and property damage. These cases have one common fact, they involve an injury from an unreasonably dangerous condition of property that cause someone a physical injury. For example, I represented a client who slipped on detergent that had spilled into a department store aisleway and caused a slip and fall hazard, an unreasonably dangerous condition, for which he was able to obtain a damage settlement after litigation. In another matter, I represented two girls who were injured while sledding at a golf course when they hit a hidden protruding pipe that was buried in the snow. They were “trespassers” but I was able to secure a settlement recovery for them under the circumstances because I was able to show, sufficiently, that the golf course hill was known for sledding in the area and had become, over time, an “attractive nuisance.”
Premises liability negligence cases can arise from a failure to properly remove snow and ice on sidewalks and parking lots. Further, when businesses hire contractors to plow and shovel their driveways or sidewalks, these liability matters can include the contractor because they have performed a negligent undertaking, that is, they did their service but did not perform that service with reasonable care.
Premises liability cases include injuries caused by unsafe stairs, by poorly maintained or inspected elevators, escalators, or other devices made available for a business’s customers. I have been successful in obtaining settlements for people injured by unsafe, poorly maintained, or inspected escalators and elevators. If you or someone you know has been injured in an elevator mis-leveling or because of a different elevator “malfunction,” or because of an injury on an escalator or different “people moving device,” you should contact us, we can help.
Playgrounds are also an area where equipment and play devices are unsafe. Unreasonably dangerous conditions injure people at amusement parks or during local fairs every year. I have been able to obtain recoveries for clients whose family members, their children, have been injured on playground equipment, at museum attractions, or because of a museum area design, because of an entertainment venue’s property design, or because of an unsafe amusement park ride. If you or a family member has been injured by such negligence, call us, we can help.
Premises liability cases can arise because of an unsafe condition at a mall, its outdoor area, or through its business operations. For example, I was able to secure a settlement for a woman who injured her knee because she stepped in a hole created when the area’s parking lot was re-striped and parking signs were removed; the hole that caused her injury was created because the hole was never backfilled after the signs were removed and was concealed by grass over time. Recently, I obtained a settlement for a man who fell because of grease that had accumulated on a steakhouse’s restaurant floor, in the seating area.
Sometimes these cases involve outside contractors. For example, I was able to obtain a settlement recovery for a woman who worked in a retail electronics store who slipped because the carpets were slippery after being shampooed and not properly dried by a rug cleaning company the night before the store opened.
Often the unsafe condition is created by a contractor’s negligence or because of poor maintenance at the property. For example, I was able to obtain a recovery for a practical nurse who tripped over the edge of a metal road plate that a contractor used as a temporary walkway while it performed construction related to a hospital’s heating and piping system. The metal road plate was an improper and unsafe condition that should never have been used to temporarily cover the excavated walkway. The work was performed negligently and this caused my client’s injuries for which she obtained recovery.
Dogs are property conditions which, if not properly secured, can cause injury. I have been able to obtain recoveries for clients or their family members who have been bitten or knocked over by dogs that were not properly controlled by their owners. Each of these types of cases provide an example of a premises liability case. If you have been injured by someone’s unsafe property condition, call us, we can help.
