Generally speaking, premises owners have a duty to maintain their properties in a reasonably safe condition for visitors. When they breach this duty of care and a visitor to the premises suffers an injury, any lawsuit can name the premises owner or operator as liable.
The premises owner does not owe the same duty of care to all visitors of a property. The owner owes the highest duty of care to individuals visiting the premises to further the owner’s business interests. When it comes to business invitees, property owners have a duty to warn about or repair all known hazards on the premises. For example, if the owner is aware of a spill on the floor, they have a duty to warn about the spill or promptly remove it. Business owners should also inspect their properties for unknown dangerous conditions regularly.
Licensees, or social guests, are individuals who visit someone else’s premises for a non-business-related purpose, and the property owner owes a high duty of care to these individuals. Specifically, the premises owner is responsible for warning about known dangerous conditions that the visitor could come across upon a reasonable inspection.
Finally, in most cases, trespassers on the property are not owed a duty of care unless they are a known trespasser. For example, if the premises owner is aware that a child regularly trespasses on the premises, they most likely owe some duty of care to protect the trespasser from a known dangerous condition that exists on the premises.
It is also essential to keep in mind that a visitor’s status on the premises can change over time. For example, if a store customer enters the store premises during business hours, they are likely a business invitee. However, if the visitor remains on the premises after hours, the law considers them a trespasser. In that case, the duty of care owed to the visitor by the premises owner can change.
In cases where the owner of the premises owes the visitor a duty of care, they violate that duty of care by failing to take reasonable action to warn about or correct a known hazard on the premises. If the premises visitor suffers an injury as a result, the visitor can assert a legal cause of action against the property owner for damages. To recover monetary compensation for injuries suffered on the premises of another, the property visitor must demonstrate that the injury or injuries actually resulted from the incident that occurred on the premises.
If you have sustained an injury on someone else’s premises, the experienced Lawrenceville premises liability attorneys at Brauns Law Accident Injury Lawyers, PC can investigate the circumstances surrounding your incident and determine if you have a valid legal claim. If so, we can assist you in pursuing a claim or lawsuit against the premises owner and pursuing compensation for your injuries.
