Premises liability applies in situations where an individual suffers an injury due to the negligence of another party. If someone is injured on your property, are you liable? It depends. If another person is injured on your property, as a result of your negligence, they are entitled to compensation. According to the law, negligence involves the defendant failing to reasonably act to avoid the accident.
The Los Angeles Personal Injury Attorneys at El Dabe Ritter Trial Lawyers have over 30 years of experience dealing with personal injury cases, helping their clients receive rightful compensation. Contact their offices today to help understand your legal options and secure representation in court.
Who is responsible?
As a property owner, the law requires you to ensure a safe environment for individuals visiting your premises. This is known as premises liability. If a visitor sustains an injury during an accident, you can be held responsible for their compensation. However, there are special cases that influence the outcome of these cases, including:
- The visitor is a trespasser and their legal status does not qualify for compensation
- The property is in an acceptable condition at the time of the visit
- The visitor is a child
- The visitor is also at fault for the accident
Some states also classify tenants or people occupying the premises as landowners, making you responsible for ensuring any visitors’ safety, regardless of whether you are the property owner.
Children and trespassers
The court will consider the involved visitor’s legal status before holding you responsible for their injury. In this case, the invitee, a licensee, and a social guest are all welcome on your property. You are responsible for keeping them free of injuries that may result from an accident.
A trespasser, however, is a special kind of visitor who enters your premises without any legal right. Therefore, even if they were to slip and fall on your property, you will not be held responsible.
You are legally required to issue warnings of conditions that might cause bodily harm to children. If there is an unfenced pool, for example, it is your responsibility to warn parents of a possible danger. This applies even when a specific child is not authorized or given permission to be on your property, but you are aware of the possibility of children being on the premises. This is a special duty referred to as “attractive nuisance doctrine.”
What happens when the plaintiff is also at fault?
You are fully responsible for the safety of any visitors on your property. However, this liability is limited if the visitor is also at fault for the accident, which is known as a comparative fault. In a case that involved comparative fault, the payable amount for damages is reduced by a certain percentage depending on the extent of liability on their side.
In order to have a successful case, you are required to prove the engaged in negligent acts and that you are not entirely liable, which may include that you have leased the property.
Contact a Personal Injury Attorney
Contact El Dabe Ritter Trial Lawyers to learn more about premises liability or to obtain legal representation. Contact the offices at (844) 445-5341 to schedule a free consultation.