Helping Injured Clients Collect Compensation
When you visit someone’s home or business, you deserve to feel safe from hazards that could leave you with serious injuries. If it turns out a property you visited recently wasn’t safe for you, you should contact a personal injury lawyer about your options as an injured victim.
The legal team at Mike Massey Law has assisted Austin, TX residents with all kinds of personal injury cases, including premises liability claims. If you want to find out if you could use premises liability laws to get the compensation you need for your medical bills and other expenses, call our law firm to schedule a free initial consultation with caring lawyers.
What Is a Premises Liability Case?
Premises liability law states that property owners have an obligation to keep their home, business, or land free of hazards that could harm visitors. So, if you were injured due to unsafe conditions at a home or business in or around Austin, TX, you may be able to pursue compensation through a premises liability claim.
Some of the most common types of premises liability accidents include:
- Dog bites
- Fires
- Falling objects
- Slip-and-fall incidents
- Criminal actions
- Negligent security
- Swimming pool accidents
- Elevator and escalator accidents
- Inadequate building or property maintenance
These scenarios can result in injuries that could be permanent, including scarring, limb loss, brain damage, or paralysis. This is why it’s important to consider legal action if the unsafe condition of the property was to blame for your accident.
Hiring a lawyer to bring a personal injury claim against the owner gives you a chance to avoid going into debt due to medical expenses. After all, you might need surgery, physical therapy, or assistive medical devices due to your injuries. Your claim can request damages for these and other expenses, such as lost wages, property damage, and emotional distress. Contact us to discuss your case with premises liability lawyers in Austin, TX.
What Causes Premises Liability Incidents?
This type of incident usually occurs when there is a hazardous condition on someone’s property. This can cause visitors to slip or trip and fall. Some common unsafe conditions involved in premises liability cases include:
- Ripped carpeting
- Uneven floors or pavement
- Wet floors with no warning signs
- Inadequate lighting
- Debris on the floor
- Broken steps
- Missing or loose stair railings
- Lack of security
- Missing or confusing signage
- Unsafe or unfenced pools
- Icy sidewalks
- Potholes
If these or other hazards on someone’s property caused you to suffer severe injuries, you should talk to a premises liability attorney about pursuing a claim. Property owners are expected to notice and fix any hazardous conditions that could harm their visitors, or at least make them aware of them with proper signage. If your lawyer can show that the property owner didn’t take the proper precautions to prevent injuries to guests, they could be held liable for your losses. Call our Austin, TX law firm to learn more.
How Can You Prove Your Claim?
Premises liability law can be complex, so you’ll need an experienced lawyer to guide you through your case if you hope to be fairly compensated. Your lawyer must prove that the property owner was negligent. The first step of this process is determining the duty of care the owner had to ensure their property was safe for you, which will depend on what type of visitor you’re considered.
If you’re an invitee, the property owner invited you to be there, so they owed you the highest duty of care. For example, if you were a customer at a shopping mall, restaurant, or hotel, the business owner encouraged you to be there so they could make money. In doing so, they’re expected to provide a safe place free of dangerous conditions, or at least warn you about them so you can avoid injury.
Another type of visitor is a licensee, which means the owner gave you permission to be on their property, though they don’t profit from your presence like they would if you were an invitee. For example, when you go to a friend’s home for a party or dinner, you’re a licensee who is owed an intermediate duty of care. This means the owner doesn’t have to fix hazardous issues, but they should warn you about them.
Finally, if you were not invited or allowed on someone’s property, you’re a trespasser who is not owed any duty of care. This means you can’t bring a legal claim against the owner when you’re injured on their property. An exception is when the trespasser is a child, in which case the property owner could be liable if they knew they had items that children would want to play with. If these items, such as a pool, were accessible to children, they could be held liable for injuries or deaths.
Your lawyer will tell you which type of visitor you were so you know if you can bring a claim against the property owner. Call us to schedule your free consultation before starting your case.
Why Should You Hire Premises Liability Lawyers in Austin, TX?
Proving negligence requires you to collect evidence that the property featured unsafe conditions that the owner knew about, and that you were hurt. This can be hard to do when you’re still trying to heal from your wounds, so we encourage you to hire our legal team to take on your case.
When you come to Mike Massey Law for legal guidance, our lawyers will use photos, witness statements, medical records, and other evidence to prove that the property owner’s insurance company is liable for your losses. If you’re ready to start your path toward compensation, call us at 512-546-6997 for a free case evaluation with premises liability lawyers in Austin, TX.