When someone visits another person’s home or place of business, they have the right to expect safety. However, individuals do get hurt on other people’s property because of negligence. Depending on the case, the injured person could pursue a claim for damages against the property owner. However, to have a successful lawsuit, they must establish that the property owner was negligent.
Contacting a skilled premises liability attorney to help you with this process is critical, as determining negligence in Lafayette premises liability cases can be complicated. Based on the facts of a case, a well-versed lawyer from Tomeny | Best could help show that they were owed a duty of care, which was breached, and that the breach resulted in their injuries. Our legal professionals could review the evidence from your accident to determine if you have a potentially successful claim.
Understanding What Defines a Duty of Care
People in charge of property owe a duty of care to legal visitors to keep the property in a reasonably safe condition and free of hidden hazards that a reasonable person would not know about. A property owner has a duty of care to three different visitor classifications:
Duty to Invitees
Invitees have the owner’s permission to be there because they are on the property for the owner’s benefit. Customers in a supermarket or other store are examples of invitees. Landowners and occupiers owe the highest duty of care toward invitees and must inspect and maintain their property. They need to fix or warn invitees if they discover any dangerous conditions.
Duty to Licensees
Licensees are on another property with the owner’s implied or express permission, but they do not benefit the owner financially. For example, guests for a backyard barbecue would be licensees. A property owner must take necessary actions to protect licensees from known hazards. However, unlike invitees, they do not have to inspect the property for licensees.
Duty to Trespassers
A trespasser has no legal right to be on someone else’s property. Someone who cuts through a neighbor’s backyard to get to their friend’s house would be considered a trespasser. Under state law, property owners owe no duty of care to trespassers. However, if the trespasser is a child, different rules could apply, especially if the property had an attractive nuisance, such as an unfenced trampoline, swing set, or pool. If the child trespassed because they did not know any better and sustained an injury on the property, the homeowner could be liable due to their inadequate safety measures.
The Lafayette attorneys at Tomeny | Best could review the facts of a premises liability accident to determine the injured party’s negligence status and understand whether the property owner owed them a duty of care.
Causation or Breach of Duty in Premises Liability Claims
Most premises liability cases involve a property owner or occupier allowing a dangerous condition to exist. Preventable hazards could be inside a building, such as slippery floors, uneven floors, broken handrails, poor lighting, and defective stairs. Dangerous conditions can also occur outdoors when a landowner has loose dogs, missing handrails, wet entryways, or damaged sidewalks.
To determine negligence in a premises liability case, our Lafayette attorneys could speak with eyewitnesses and people familiar with the property to learn how long a dangerous condition existed and whether the property owner knew about it.
How To Seek Damages in Premises Liability Claims
Premises liability accidents involving negligence in Lafayette can result in severe harm to unsuspecting visitors, including the following:
- Burns
- Bruising
- Head trauma
- Broken bones
- Internal bleeding
- Disfiguring scars
- Lacerations and cuts
- Back and neck injuries
- Emotional anguish and trauma
Our lawyers understand how to carefully assess and evaluate a person’s injuries to calculate a fair value for their damages.
Meet with a Lafayette Attorney For Help With Negligence in a Premises Liability Case
When you are injured on someone else’s property, you should be entitled to collect damages to compensate you for your injuries. However, proving and determining negligence in Lafayette premises liability cases is not simple, and working with a determined legal team could help ensure your claim is successful.
Schedule a meeting with our experienced attorneys at Tomeny | Best. We would be happy to set up an initial consultation so you can understand your legal options.
