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Premises Liability

Los Angeles Premises Liability Attorneys

Trusted representation from LA premises liability attorneys for victims injured on another's property

What is premises liability? Imagine you visit a grocery store and slip on a slippery floor that was recently waxed. These types of accidents happen every day due to the negligence of property owners who fail to make their premises reasonably safe for visitors. Owners can be held legally responsible for serious injuries that occur on their property, particularly when the injury is caused by a dangerous property condition. This area of law is called premises liability.

 

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These premises liability cases arise in a variety of contexts. The knowledgeable Los Angeles premises liability attorneys of Taylor & Ring have many years of experience representing customers, visitors and patrons who were severely injured by a property owner’s carelessness. We have recovered millions for injury victims through jury and settlement awards, including:

  • $3 million verdict for a 10-year-old boy injured by a dangerous fire pit in a park
  • $1.65 million settlement for a group of college students when a deck collapsed during a party
  • $1.75 million settlement for a woman struck by a car while walking along a dangerous driveway at a medical center
  • $1.5 million settlement for the family of a young man who died in a fall in his apartment from a second-story walkway
  • $1 million settlement for a woman who slipped and fell while walking down a dangerously step driveway

Premises liability can arise from many scenarios

Most people think that premises liability claims are limited to trip-and-fall or slip-and-fall cases. While these incidents make up the most common type of premises liability case, there are many other contexts in which property owners can be held responsible for injuries from dangerous property conditions, such as:

  • Inadequate security. Owners have a responsibility to maintain their properties in a secure manner, which includes efforts to prevent criminal activity. Nightclubs and apartment complexes are two locations where an owner may be held liable for injurious criminal activity if adequate security measures are not taken.
  • Property construction. Construction to property can often create hidden dangers that visitors may not immediately notice. It is the owner's responsibility to provide visitors with notice and warnings regarding these dangers.
  • Dangerous work activities. Particularly on industrial and construction sites, employees may engage in working activities that create risks for other persons located on or near the property.
  • Hidden electrical lines. When contractors are invited onto a property to perform work, the owner should inform these workers of any risks that are not immediately obvious. This includes electrical lines that may be hidden by trees on the property.
  • Product stacking. If retail location owners allow employees to stack products in an unstable and risky manner, they can be held liable if those products fall and cause injury. Large warehouse stores are particularly vulnerable to these types of premises liability claims.
  • Water injuries. Owners of pool and other water facilities have a duty to protect visitors from injury. If a victim drowns or experiences a severe injury in or around a pool, the owner may be held liable.

Determining duty of care in premises liability cases

In bringing a premises liability claim, our experienced Los Angeles personal injury attorneys first seek to establish a duty of care on the part of the property owner. Without this duty, the defense may effectively argue that the owner had no responsibility to the injured party. A relevant duty of care largely depends on the reason why the injured party was on the owner's property. Under California state law, there are three types of property visitors:

  • Trespassers are individuals who enter a property without the permission of the owner. Property owners have no duty of care to trespassers they do not know are located on their property. If a property owner is aware of a trespasser's presence, he or she owes a standard duty to protect the individual from dangerous risks.
  • Invitees are individuals invited onto the property for a reason that is financially beneficial to the owner, such as customers to a store. These property owners have a reasonable duty to warn invitees of potential dangers and keep them reasonably safe from risky conditions. Property owners may also have a responsibility to routinely inspect the property for potential risks and address them in a timely manner. For example, retail stores have a legal responsibility to check the aisles regularly throughout a day and quickly clean up anything that creates a risk. Failure to do so could result in a severe slip and fall injury.
  • Licensees are invited onto the property by the owner for non-financial reasons. For example, social visitors to a person’s home are considered licensees. Owners have a duty to fix dangerous conditions or at least warn licensees of their presence. Unlike invitees, there is no duty for the owner to routinely inspect the property for possible dangers. The owner is only liable for injuries he knew about or reasonably should have known about.

Premises liability claims can involve various types of property

Our lawyers have handled many types of premises liability cases, and we have routinely been successful at proving property owners' failures to fulfill their legal obligations. Our experience has also shown us that various individuals and entities can be defendants in premises liability cases, including:

  • Public entities, like the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority or the Los Angeles Unified School District
  • Private homeowners
  • Private building owners
  • Nightclubs
  • Owners of vacant land
  • Apartment complexes
  • Restaurants and bars
  • “Big Box” stores, such as Home Depot or Costco
  • Gyms and fitness clubs, like Gold’s Gym and Planet Fitness

Contact our Los Angeles premises liability attorneys today

Our Los Angeles premises liability attorneys will conduct an aggressive investigation and litigate to hold the careless property owner responsible for injuries that could have been prevented. Call Taylor & Ring at 310-776-6390 or complete our contact form. Your first consultation is free.

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