Who can we turn to if we slip and fall at a local restaurant, the DMV or other property? There are a few options, but a premises liability lawyer is generally the go-to professional. This is primarily true if an owner or individual responsible for the accident doesn’t act accordingly.

Almost 12% of the population visits the emergency room for unintentional injuries like slipping, tripping, or falling every year. This puts quite a burden on a patient’s wallet. That’s where legal professionals jump in to ensure that premises liability settlements end correctly and that the proper party pays for any resulting damages.

However, the process isn’t simple and requires us to look into several details:

• There are differences when involving public or private property
• The gravity of an injury plays a vital role in a case
• Circumstances surrounding an accident are also essential
• Permission to visit or stay at the location in question is crucial
• There’s a general consensus among jurisdictions, but some laws change between them

To further answer the question, “what is premises liability?” in conjunction with its related issues, let’s continue reading.

Types of Visitors

In some instances, the outcome of legal action concerning a slip and fall case can depend almost entirely on the victim’s reason for their presence at the specific location. There are three types of visitors:

• Invitee
• Licensee
• Trespasser

Invitee

An invitee is someone explicitly invited by the owner or manager of the property. Invitations regarding work or business-related matters fit under this category. Often, dangerous conditions require repairs before an invitee visits the property. Owners need to let visitors in this category know about otherwise unrepairable dangers. At the least, the land must be considered safe.

Not sure if you have a valid slip and fall claim? Read our slip and fall guide now.

Learn more about valid slip and fall claims

Licensee

A licensee is someone who has explicit permission to visit the property. It usually implies that the visitor has some sort of social relationship with the owner or manager and often discards intent on their behalf to cause injury to the licensee.

This category usually refers to locations that aren’t open to the general public. It’s a situation where the owner clearly allows the person to enter. We should keep these two details in mind:

• The owner has the duty to warn licensees
• There’s no protection from dangers that the owner was not aware of beforehand

Trespasser

A trespasser is any person or party that enters a plot of land or property without permission. This label is applied regardless of the perpetrator’s intentions. The owner usually has little to worry about in this situation. They should, however, make appropriate adjustments to the property to prevent liability for injuries suffered by child trespassers.

Negligence

How might a property owner get into trouble for a visitor’s accident? It is, after all, the victim’s fault, right? Well, not entirely. It might seem strange, but the weight of a premises liability claim depends heavily on the entrant’s classification.

Negligence occurs and is justified when the injured party can prove that the owner was supposed to provide a certain level of duty of care and failed to do so, resulting in damages.

Duty of care involves some of the following:

• Proper property maintenance
• Searching for, identifying, and eliminating potential dangers
  • If a present danger is irremovable, the owner must notify most visitors

Further Liabilities

Precautions and warnings aren’t always enough. Owners and managers can be held liable if they create dangerous situations on their properties, regardless of how cautious they approached the situation. Here are some examples of dangerous situations:

• Experimenting with chemicals
• Owning a common with animals that bite

TALK TO A PREMISES LIABILITY LAWYER

Know what premises liability is by consulting directly with a personal injury lawyer from Diamond & Diamond Law today.

Attractive Nuisances

Surprisingly enough, an owner or manager is responsible for how alluring their property or land is to any passerby in the case of an injury.

A swimming pool, for example, might catch the eye of potential child trespassers. However, if the owner throws a net over the water and places a fence around it, they’ve removed the pool as an attractive nuisance. Floating toys, fun music, and other extras might draw third parties in, potentially putting them in danger’s way.

Common items that are considered an attractive nuisance:

• Swing sets
• Pool toys
• Items of high value that are typically stored safely
• Extravagant vehicles or machinery
• Imagery that depicts an invitation onto the land

Activities on the Land

Certain events or actions on an owner’s property can make them liable. This usually relates to discernable noise, be it from a party, musician, or movie at high volume. A better example, though, is that of a farmer and their neighbors. If the farmer becomes liable for nuisance for whatever reason, they can face a fine or an order to cease their operations immediately.

Interestingly enough, the same applies to trespassing during an activity or event. This is any physical invasion of another person’s property, contrary to the wishes of the victim, during any event scheduled by the offender. This doesn’t always involve a person stepping onto another property. Here are several examples of activities considered nuisances and others that don’t apply: