Fort Lauderdale Premises Liability Lawyers

Premises liability refers to the class of legal claims for personal injuries that are caused by some unsafe or defective condition on another person’s or entity’s property. The owner or occupier of property that has an allegedly unsafe or defective condition that causes injury to someone can be held liable for those injuries if the owner or occupier failed to use reasonable care in his/her/its maintenance of the property. Thus, there is no premises liability simply because someone is injured on another’s property; instead, a successful premises liability claim must also show that the property owner or occupier knew or should have known that the property was in an unsafe or defective condition and/or failed to take steps to ensure that the property was properly maintained.

Some common examples of premises liability cases that our attorneys frequently handle include slip and fall cases, snow and ice accidents, inadequate maintenance issues, defective conditions, inadequate security that leads to assault or other criminal incident, elevator and escalator accidents, dog bites, swimming pool accidents, amusement and recreational park accidents, fires and burns, flooding, and exposure to toxic substances or diseases.

Our lawyers will first work to establish your reason for being on the property in order to establish the property owner’s duty of care. Then, we will identify evidence to prove that a dangerous condition existed on the property and that the property owner reasonably could have taken steps to remedy the danger to make the property safe. This requires showing that the owner knew about the dangerous, or reasonably should have known about the danger. In some cases, failure to adequately warn of the danger can be enough to establish liability.

Negligent security is a subset of premises liability and comes into play when the owner should have taken steps to ensure adequate security was present on the property in order to prevent harm to guests. Adequate security will vary depending upon the circumstances and can include installing surveillance cameras, proper lighting, fences, locks or even security guards. The premise behind these cases is that if a property owner should have realized that the property was located in a dangerous area, maintaining the property in reasonably safe condition might mean taking steps to install security for visitors.

The person or entity that may be responsible for a premises liability accident will depend on the specific circumstances of the incident. Although a property owner is usually responsible for premises liability incidents that occur on the owner’s property, in some cases maintenance of the unsafe or defective condition that caused the accident or incident may be legally or contractually delegated to another person or entity, such as a tenant of the property or a third-party contracted to maintain the property.

There are a number of parties who can be sued in a premises liability lawsuit. A property owner is usually responsible for injuries and damages that arise from a premises liability accident or incident. However, a person or entity who leases the property from the owner may be liable, depending on the terms of the lease between the owner and tenant. If a property owner or occupier hires a company to maintain an aspect of the property and the failure to maintain leads to the unsafe or dangerous condition that causes the accident or incident, that third-party might also be sued for premises liability, depending on the contractual relationship between the third-party and the property owner or occupier that hired them.

Following a premises liability accident or incident, there are many types of evidence that you can use to successfully pursue a claim for compensation for injuries and damages that result from the accident or incident. This evidence can include accident scene photos, an accident or incident report prepared by the property’s owner or occupier or their insurance company, eyewitness statements, any leases or service or maintenance contracts for the property, medical records from your treatment of your injuries, bills and invoices incurred as a result of the injuries or other damages you suffered from the accident injury, paystubs or income statements to support a claim for lost wages or earning capacity

Depending on the type of property where your injury occurred, you may not immediately file an accident report. If you are injured on a business’s property, particularly where the business is owned by a large corporate entity, the business may have a policy to prepare an accident report or incident report whenever a premises liability accident or incident is reported to staff or employees. If you suffer an injury in a premises liability accident or incident on private property, once you contact the insurance company of the property owner or occupier, that insurer may decide to prepare a report for your claim, based on statements you and the property owner or occupier give to the insurance company along with any investigation that the insurance company undertakes.

Although you are not required to hire an attorney to pursue a claim for compensation following a premises liability accident or incident, or to file a lawsuit in court to pursue your claim, it is highly advisable to have a skilled premises liability lawyer to help you through the claim process. Premises liability claims are often factually and legally complex; an experienced premises liability lawyer can ensure that you have a strong, persuasive case that demonstrates the liability of the owner or occupier of property or another property. A premises liability lawyer can evaluate complex webs of business entities, leases, and service contracts to determine who was responsible for maintaining or correcting the unsafe or dangerous condition that caused your injury. A premises liability lawyer can also uncover the many layers of insurance that may be available to provide you compensation for your injuries and losses. 

In many cases, it may be possible for a person injured in a premises liability accident to obtain a premises liability lawyer at no upfront cost to the injured party. A premises liability lawyer may be willing to take your case on a “contingency” basis. This means that an injured person does not have to pay anything to his or her lawyer unless and until the lawyer obtains a financial recovery for the injured person. The lawyer is then paid an agreed-upon percentage of the total financial recovery that the attorney obtains for the injured person.