4 Signs You Should Hire a Premises Liability Attorney

Premises liability arises when someone gets injured because of a defective or hazardous condition on another person's property. Examples of premise liability cases include inadequate building security, slip and fall accidents, and swimming pool accidents. If you get involved in a premises liability case, learn signs that you need to hire an attorney.

1. You Have Sustained Serious Injuries

You must seek legal counsel if your accident has resulted in severe injuries. Many premises liability accidents often involve injury-causing fires because of improper safety measures and dog bites due to insufficient security standards.

Common injuries include:

• Internal bleeding
• Broken bones
• Damages to the spine
• Brain trauma

These types of injuries can cause you to incur high medical costs for treatment. Therefore, your attorney can help you seek reimbursement for medications, physician bills, or medical equipment. Additionally, you can pursue damages for future expenses like physical therapy and psychiatric treatment for mental anguish.

2. You Need to Determine Liability

To succeed in a premise liability lawsuit, you must demonstrate that the property owner owed you a duty of care. Furthermore, you must demonstrate that the landowner violated their duty of care towards you. To establish the property owner's negligence, your attorney will show that the property owner didn't maintain or own their property with reasonable care.

In certain states, property owners have a responsibility to take care of everyone who enters their premises. However, other states exercise the traditional law where a property owner has a limited duty of care depending on the visitor's status. 

In these states, visitors are either be licensees, invitees, or trespassers. If you live in a state that follows this traditional law, an attorney can help show the owner's liability by proving you are either a licensee or an invitee.

An invitee is a person who has the owner's permission to enter the property. They include people like relatives, friends, and neighbors. On the other hand, a licensee is someone who has the owner's permission to be on the property, but these people enter the property for their own reasons. Licensees include salespeople. Property owners owe a duty of care to both invitees and licensees.

Lastly, a trespasser is someone who doesn't have the owner's permission to be on the property. Landowners don't owe trespassers any duty of care unless the trespasser is a child. 

3. You Need to Strengthen Your Case 

You also need to present proof of your injuries or loss. This can be especially difficult if you already had a pre-existing condition or your loss isn't apparent. However, you can solidify your claim through the testimony of an expert witness.

You might find it hard to convince an expert to testify on your behalf. But, for an attorney, this is often no big deal. An expert witness may be a doctor, a reconstruction expert, or an economic expert. Since an attorney's job description involves working with expert witnesses from different fields, attorneys have easy access to expert witnesses. The expert witnesses will use their testimony to prove the severity of your damages.

4. You Need Help Negotiating 



If you can prove the property owner's duty of care, the next big hurdle is to get a fair settlement. Many victims of premise liability accidents make the mistake of accepting the first offer they receive. Many insurance companies may send you an offer before you make any claim, hoping to end your case at the lowest possible cost.

To get a fair settlement, you need an attorney's expertise to determine the value of your damages. The negotiation skills of an attorney might help avoid going to trial. Nevertheless, if the insurance adjuster fails to cooperate, your attorney will present a strong case for you.

You are eligible for compensation if you sustain injuries or losses on another person's property. With the representation of an experienced legal team at Borbi, Clancy & Patrizi, you can expect fair reimbursement. Contact us today to review your case and understand your legal options.