What You Don’t Know About Premise Liability!

12 Apr What You Don’t Know About Premise Liability!

Just about everyone is familiar with the scenario of someone being injured on a property and suing the property owner. For instance, someone may slip and fall, hurting themselves and then call a personal injury attorney to represent them in court against the property owner. This is a very common type of claim and is one of the ways that injured parties can hold property owners responsible for not maintaining a safe environment. However, there are other ways that property owners can be held liable.

Landlords

Your landlord is most certainly a property owner and they have to be competent and diligent in providing for your safety. A woman in New York recently sued over an aspect of this law that most people don’t think about: security.

This woman had complained that her locks were defective several times to no avail. Unfortunately, she ended up being the victim of an assault when someone came into her apartment. These types of claims are being recognized as valid by courts and property owners are increasingly being held liable for the security at their properties.

Overzealous Security

Just as security can be expected to be provided by a property owner in some situations, that security has to be professional. When security guards under the employ of a property owner become threats in and of themselves, that property owner may also be held liable. It depends upon the situation and the specifics of the case, but it's worth it to talk to a lawyer if a property owner had incompetent security at their premises. For example, if you were injured by security guards at a club, hospital or other venue that were aggressive and violent, you may wish to talk to a personal injury law firm about the matter. You may be able to sue.

Considerations

Remember that you need to speak with an attorney before you'll know whether or not your case is worth pursuing. They may, in fact, determine that you don’t have a case worth pressing. If you're working with a lawyer on contingency, you can be certain that they won't take your case if they don’t think it's likely to win. These lawyers don't get paid if they don't win, so they'll only take cases they know are likely to win a settlement or a jury award for their clients. Speak with an attorney soon; there are sometimes limitations on how long you have to take action.