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Premise Liability
Premise liability is the part of the law that makes the person or persons who own or rent property responsible for accidents and certain injuries that happen to another person present on that property. Examples of when a property owner is responsible are:
- *Slip and fall cases
- *Injuries caused by equipment used on the property
- *Injuries directly resulting from someone else's actions
- *Injuries from falling objects or a damaged walkway.
The main way to determine the legal status of any Plaintiff in premise liability cases, is to establish the reason why that the person was there when the incident occurred. Once a suit has been filed, the landowner becomes the defendant and his duty to the plaintiff depends greatly on how the plaintiff is categorized at the time of the incident. There are three categories that the visitor to the property can fall into:
1. Invitee - This is someone what was invited to come onto the premises and to stay for commercial reasons. A shopper in a supermarket is considered an "invitee" because the public is openly invited to come to that market to make purchases. The owner of such a business is duty bound to use care to protect or warn an invitee from danger on the property.
2. Licensee - A licensee is a person who is invited to enter and to remain on the premises for reasons other than business, and with the permission of the owner. The best example of a licensee is a social guest. In the case of a social guest, the owner of the property is responsible for injury to the guest only the Plaintiff can establish that the owner new about or should have known about the condition that caused the incident and that there was a risk of harm; the owner had made no attempt to correct the condition to make it safe; or the Plaintiff had no knowledge of the condition.
3. Trespasser - This person enters the property without an expressed or even an implied invitation by the owner, for his or her own reasons, and not to perform any service for the owner. Property owners do not generally have a duty to warn trespassers of possible dangers on the property or to make the property safe for them.
When filing a premise liability claim against a property owner, the Plaintiff and his attorney should set things in motion as quickly as possible. Important proof of what happened needs to be protected and there could also be a statute of limitation on the time that a claim can be made. Getting in touch with a premises liability lawyer is a priority when planning to make a claim for injuries.
