Tripping and falling is one of the most common forms of injuries, and also one of the most avoidable. These accidents are often caused by hazards that were ignored or otherwise neglected by property owners, and that is why the law contains a principal called premises liability. This principle states that property owners have a duty to maintain generally safe conditions for the visitors or guests of their property. If a property owner does not make a reasonable effort to eliminate a hazard, and this hazard is the cause of injury to a person, that person may have a premises liability case against the property owner.
When preparing a premises liability case, it is important to enlist the skill of an experienced personal injury attorney Atlanta GA relies on who will look at the factors of the case to build the best argument available. They will be able to handle the legal issues while you focus on healing and recovering. One of the most crucial factors that the attorney will analyze is the hazard that caused your injuries in the first place. The goal of the attorney in a premises liability case is to prove that the property owner acted without care towards the safety of those on the property by neglecting to remove an obvious or known hazard. If the hazard was an object purposefully placed by the property owner or their employees, then this can significantly help to build the case. An example of such hazards might be a wire carelessly run across the floor of a departments store. On the other hand, if the hazard was placed by another visitor to the store, the case may not meet the tests of premises liability.
Another important factor is how long the hazard had been in place before the accident. In the example of the wire, the store is much more likely to be found responsible for the injury if the hazard had been in place all day than they would be if the accident occurred before the store had been made aware of it. On the other side of this, if the object that caused the injury had been in place for a significant amount of time and had never proven to be a hazard before, the property owner may use this as evidence that it was the injured person who had been acting carelessly themselves.
The best way to know how solid of a case is will always be to consult with an attorney. The law is complicated, and each case is different from the last. If you have been the victim of a trip and fall accident, contact a premises liability attorney right away.
Thanks to our friends and contributors from Andrew R. Lynch, P.C. for their insight into premises liability and personal injury practice.
