Free Case Consultation (866) 236-5474
When you walk into a grocery store to buy your food for the week, you expect that you will be safe. Similarly, when you go visit a neighbor’s home for a cookout, you do not expect any harm to befall you. Unfortunately, customers and guests are not always safe from hidden dangers that lurk on other people’s or businesses’ properties.
If you injured yourself while on somebody else’s property, you might be entitled to file a personal injury suit against the homeowner or business owner responsible for your injuries. An Anaheim premises liability lawyer could help you pursue compensation for the harm that you sustained.
All property owners owe their visitors, invitees, customers, and guests a duty of care to keep their home or business reasonably safe for anyone who enters their property. A premises liability claim is a type of personal injury suit in which an injured claimant sues a homeowner or business owner to recover damages for injuries that they sustained while on that other person’s property.
Not all injuries occurring on somebody else’s property result in successful premises liability claims. To establish that a property owner is legally responsible, a claimant would need to show that the landowner was negligent in their upkeep and maintenance of the property and that their negligence directly caused the claimant’s injury. A claimant could demonstrate the landowner’s negligence by showing that the landowner created or knew about a dangerous condition on their property. Even if the landowner did not actually know about the hazard on their property, a claimant could prevail if they show that a reasonable property owner would have known about the dangerous condition through normal property inspection and maintenance. Property owners have a duty to remove hazards from their property or warn visitors of potentially dangerous conditions.
A seasoned Anaheim premises liability law firm could help by learning more about the disputed property. Our team of skilled attorneys would visit the property, read the police reports, and meet with eyewitnesses who saw the accident, as well as people with knowledge about the property, in an effort to determine how long the dangerous condition was in place.
Premises liability claims can arise out of accidents at private homes or commercial properties. When they occur in commercial settings, they frequently happen in supermarkets, construction sites, retail stores, gyms, hotels, restaurants, nursing homes, hospitals, and office buildings. Our team of lawyers have a proven record of success with accidents occurring in all different types of places.
To win a case, the law requires that the plaintiff proves either actual, or constructive notice. If the property owner had actual notice of the dangerous condition, this means that they had knowledge about it, and neither gave warning about the situation, nor fixed it. Actual is the rarer of the two, and sometimes is not possible to prove. In the second type, constructive notice, it is not necessary to prove that the property owner had knowledge of the dangerous condition, but only to prove that they should have known about the hazardous condition through conduction of a reasonable inspection.
The law states that constructive notice of a fact occurs when it is so obvious, that the person should have known about it. In the context of premises liability, this means that the property owner has the responsibility of maintaining knowledge of the current conditions of their property, a requirement that is especially necessary for businesses open to the public. It is for this reason that employees are often trained to conduct frequent inspections of the premises, and to specifically check for tripping or slipping hazards. Proving constructive notice is often an extremely important component of winning a premises liability case.
A claimant could pursue a premises liability claim against the person responsible for creating the dangerous condition or responsible for failing to remove it in a timely manner. Often, claimants bring claims against property owners, business owners, landlords, tenants, property management companies, contractors, snow removal companies, and landscapers. Premises liability claims commonly arise out of the following types of incidents:
A dedicated local premises liability attorney would use their experience to perform a thorough investigation of the accident to see if anyone bears legal responsibility for the claimant’s injuries.
If you were recently injured, and believe that fault may lie with the property’s owner, some important first steps include ensuring that you document as many aspects of the situation as possible. Should the victim decide to move forward with their claim and contact our team, we will work to gather and analyze any available evidence that may assist their case. The following includes information that may go a long way towards proving a claim, and helping victims receive the compensation they deserve:
To prove constructive notice, much of the above evidence is often of utmost importance. For example, if the victim slipped on a puddle of water, it may not be possible to prove that the property owner knew that the puddle was there. However, by utilizing camera footage, the plaintiff may be able to show that the puddle had been there for a long enough amount of time to warrant attention, thereby giving them constructive notice, and moving them one step further to a successful and just conclusion to their premises liability case. For this reason, it is also extremely important to act quickly, to ensure that no evidence is lost, and to reach out to our team of attorneys at Benji Personal Injury today. We know how traumatic an unexpected injury can be, and are ready to aggressively fight for the compensation victims deserve so that they and their loved ones can focus their attention on healing and recovering.
Premises liability claims are often complex and can involve multiple parties. It is crucial that you work with an experienced Anaheim premises liability lawyer who understands precisely how the law works and can help you work towards the recovery that you need. Contact our office today to get started.
Benji Personal Injury – Accident Attorneys, A.P.C.
AVAILABLE 24/7