Premises Liability: What You Need to Know

Whenever you visit another location – be it a commercial business like a retail store or the private residence of a friend or family member – they have a duty to make sure that you are protected from certain types of accidents and injuries. A failure to do so would fall under the category of premises liability and you may be able to recover damages and other financial compensation as a result of your injury.

What is Premises Liability?

An injury that you’ve sustained elsewhere likely falls under the category of premises liability if all of the following criteria are true:
• Some type of hazardous or otherwise dangerous condition existed on the property long before you got there.
• The property owner was WELL AWARE of the hazardous or dangerous condition and also had an adequate amount of time to take care of the situation before visitors arrived.
• The injured person (in this case, you) suffered injuries or other traumas that were a direct result of the aforementioned dangerous condition or hazard.

Proving that all three of these things are true may be difficult from a legal perspective, but it is certainly not impossible with the right information and the right team of legal professionals at your side.

Types of Accidents That Fall Into the Liability Category

Because liability has such a broad definition from a legal perspective, there are a wide range of potential accidents that could occur as a direct result of someone else’s negligence. These include but are certainly not limited to ones like:
• Slip and fall accidents. An example of this would be a retail establishment that has a duty to keep the sidewalks in front of the entrance clear of snow and ice during the winter, but fails to do so.
• Dog bites or other types of animal attacks, even if you were invited onto the property.
• Daycare negligence situations or others involving young children.
• Swimming pool accidents, which are particularly common during the warm summer months of the year.
• Assaults and other forms of attacks.

Harshbarger Law

In the legal world, liability is not a subject to be taken lightly. The state of being responsible for something or someone is nothing to trifle with, which is why if you have any questions about an injury or other situation it is always important to contact a team of legal professionals as quickly as possible. The staff at Harshbarger Law have decades of combined experience dealing with all types of liability situations and we always promise to put the client front and center at all times.

If you have any additional concerns about liability law, or if you’d like to sit down and speak to someone more directly about your own situation, please don’t delay – contact Harshbarger Law today.