To win a premises liability claim, you need to prove the property owner’s negligence caused your accident to occur. To do so, we must:
- Establish the owner’s responsibilities to welcomed guests
- Establish that the property owner failed to fulfill their responsibilities
- Identify the injuries and damages you suffered
- Draw a connection between the property owner’s negligence and your injuries to establish liability
If you or a loved one recently suffered an injury on another party’s property, give S. Burke Law a call. We can help you determine whether you might have a case and fight to recover the compensation to which you are entitled. The initial consultation is free: 404-842-7838.
Establishing the Owner’s Responsibilities to Guests
Knowing what the owner’s responsibilities are to guests is the basis of premises liability laws in Georgia. Broadly, property owners must keep their property safe to anyone welcome on their property.
This expectation is known as duty of care. A duty of care is a crucial component of premises liability laws and establishes the property owner must provide a minimum level of care to anyone using their property.
This means, for example, that a property owner must remove or repair anything deemed a potential hazard on their property. A duty of care also requires property owners to notify their guests of potential dangers. In some instances, having adequate security is also a proprietor’s responsibility.
Identifying How the Property Owner Failed to Fulfill Responsibilities
Knowing what a property owner’s responsibilities are allows you to determine where they may have been lacking. Failing to fulfill these responsibilities is a breach of duty, and factors heavily into your case.
For example, let us say there is a leak in the refrigerator at a supermarket. The supermarket’s management has known about the issue for a few weeks but failed to repair it. If you walk across the floor and suffer a slip and fall injury, this could be a breach of duty, particularly if there was not a visible “wet floor” sign or anything else indicating a dangerous situation.
Another example is negligent security. Certain places, such as hotels, must have adequate security onsite. If a robber breaks into your hotel room while you are sleeping and attacks you because there was not a security guard on patrol, this is also a breach of duty.
Visitor Status
To determine whether the property owner failed in their obligation, we must identify whether you are an invitee, licensee, or trespasser. These three categories establish the level of care a property owner owes you.
Identifying Your Injuries and Damages
To win a premises liability claim, you must also establish what damages you suffered. Using the examples from above, just slipping and falling on a grocery store’s wet floor does not automatically give you a legitimate claim or entitle you to damages, nor does a person getting past lax security at your hotel.
To win your case, you must establish that you suffered losses. For example, tearing a ligament or suffering a herniated disc in your slip and fall or suffering physical injuries or emotional anguish in your hotel attack would satisfy this requirement.
Establishing a Connection Between Negligence and Your Damages
Identifying a property owner’s failure to fulfill a duty of care and proving you suffered injuries just creates some of the evidence needed to win a premises liability case. To win your claim and collect damages, you must prove causation. Causation establishes that a proprietor’s breach of duty caused your injuries.
The property owner’s legal team will fight tooth and nail to prove that your injuries resulted from something other than the proprietor’s negligence. This is where S. Burke Law can be a huge help. Our team will thoroughly investigate the circumstances of your case as well as your health history while proving causation. We will also gather any evidence necessary for your situation.
Call an Atlanta Premises Liability Attorney
Premises liability laws are complex. Different factors and circumstances contribute to every case. But knowledge of those nuances and the ability to draw connections between breaches of duty and the injuries you suffered is invaluable to your case.
The personal injury team at S. Burke Law wants to help you get all the compensation to which you are entitled. We know that it can be stressful to be facing expensive medical bills and time off work, so we offer free consultations and our services on a contingency basis.
This means we recover no fees unless we win your case. Let us see how we can help you. Call us at 404-842-7838 today.