One of the most common types of personal injury cases here in Mississippi is a “premises liability” case, or a case against a landowner for negligently maintaining his or her property. This can represent a tremendous diversity of incidents, from a grocery store slip-and-fall to a deck collapsing on an apartment building. The magnitude of the negligence really does not matter; property owners have an obligation to protect their visitors and tenants from injury by removing or mitigating unsafe situations. If the property owner or landlord fails to act reasonably in the construction or maintenance of their property and a tenant or visitor is injured as a result of that failure, they may be held responsible for the injuries, pain and suffering and other damages suffered by an injured party. Those other damages can include medical bills and lost wages as well as the damages suffered by the spouse and other family members of the injured party who are negatively impacted by the incident.
If you have sustained an injury in as a result of an unsafe property, you need experienced counsel to help you attain your fair share of compensation for your loss of income and injury. Barrett Law has the experience to help you if you have been injured. Contact us now at (800) 707-9577.
Types of Premises Cases
There are a wide variety of accidents that may result in liability for a landowner. A common type of accident involves injuries related to the use of inadequate or faulty building materials, such as in the case of the collapsing deck I mentioned earlier. A similar type of accident can arise from adequate building materials that deteriorated over time due to a lack of maintenance. Another type of liability arises clutter or garbage causes a visitor to the land or a renter to trip and fall. Another common type of accident is a slip and fall involving moisture in the form of a wet spot on the floor or ice on a walkway.
How a Premises Liability Case Works
Most people can easily imagine getting injured due to slipping and falling on ice, so it is a useful example to work through. Imagine you were injured due to slipping and falling on ice on a third party’s property. You may have a claim against the owner of the property if they failed to reasonably remove the ice or warn visitors of its existence.
There are limits to what can be construed as negligence, obviously. If you slip on ice in the middle of a rapidly developing ice storm in Miami, you will likely have a hard time proving that the owner acted unreasonably if a reasonable shop owner in Miami would have not been prepared to deal with it. Similarly, if you slip on an icy sidewalk in Alaska in the winter, you may have a hard time proving that that you were not reasonably on notice that you should expect treacherous conditions. Basically, the standard is one of “reasonableness” meaning that that landowner does not have to take superhuman steps to eradicate all risk, but must take reasonable steps to eliminate or reduce dangers that he or she knows or should know about.
If you have injuries as a result of a dangerous premises, you must prove that the unsafe condition actually caused your injury. For example, if you have had a hip injury for ten years, you are unlikely to be compensated for that hip if you fell on it yesterday. While you may be able to claim that your preexisting injury was worsened by the premises in question, you will have a much more challenging case than if you have an injury that was clearly caused by the dangerous condition. In addition, you must also demonstrate that you were not more responsible for their injuries than the property owner or party in control of a property. This often comes into play when alcohol, drugs, or cell phones are involved. If you fall and are injured on a patch of ice, the landowner may claim that a reasonable person would not have fallen and that your fall was due to your intoxication or due to looking down at your phone.
What Should You Do If You or a Loved One Has Been Injured on Another’s Premises?
If you were injured by a dangerous premises, you may have a personal injury claim for any time you have been out of work, the costs of your treatment and rehabilitation, your pain and suffering, and other damages.
Call Barrett Law now, an experienced Mississippi personal injury law firm, to represent you if you have suffered an injury due to a dangerous premises. Contact us now at (800) 707-9577.