You may not have heard the legal term, premises liability before, but you have either experienced it yourself or you know someone who has. Quite simply, premises liability is a type of personal injury case where a dangerous or shoddy condition on someone’s property was the cause of the injury. A personal injury case is one where the injury was caused by the negligence of someone else and that is definitely the case with premises liability.
There is a wide variety of situations that fall under the umbrella of premises liability, and if you have experienced any of them in Oxnard, then you need to contact the King Law Firm as soon as possible. That is because you will need compensation to take care of medical bills, lost wages, and any other injury-related expenses. We will hold the property owner accountable and fight for you every step of the way. So, contact the King Law Firm to get in touch with a premises liability lawyer in Oxnard if you want the best chance of getting the compensation that you need.
What Is Premises Liability?
Premises liability occurs when someone suffers an injury on someone else’s property due to the negligence of the property owner. As stated previously, there are many different scenarios that can be called a premises liability case and they include any personal injury caused by the following:
- Slip and Fall
- Poorly Maintained Premises
- Defective Condition of The Premises
- Exposure to Toxic Fumes or Chemical Leaks
- Swimming Pool Accidents
- Snow and Ice Accidents
- Elevator and Escalator Accidents
- Fires
- Dog Attacks
- Poor Building Security
- Flooding
These conditions are all grounds for a premises liability case. Dog attacks are included because, even though a dog attack is its own separate subcategory of personal injury, it also counts as a premises liability if the attack happened on the dog owner’s property.
Duty Of Care For Property Owners In Oxnard
In most states, the owner of a property is expected to take reasonable care of that property in order to ensure the safety of anyone who legally sets foot on that property. In other states, that duty of care only extends to certain visitors based on their status. Those states divide visitors into three categories: invitees, licensees, and trespassers.
Invitees – They are people who legally visit the property and from whom the owner expects to benefit. Examples include diners at a restaurant or shoppers at a grocery store.
Licensees – They are visitors from whom the owner does not expect any benefit. Examples include party guests, visiting family members, groundskeepers, or delivery persons.
Trespassers – These are people who do not have permission to enter the property and are not owed any duty of care, with the exception of child trespassers. In those cases, the owner is expected to reduce the risk of any foreseeable non-natural hazards such as open swimming pools.
In 1968, the California Supreme Court ruled that the state must no longer use these designations. Now, the premises liability law in Oxnard states that trespassers are owed the same duty of care as everyone else. That means property owners must exercise reasonable care to make sure that their property does not have any known hazards or obstacles that could cause harm or injury.
Reasonable Care of Property In Oxnard
The term reasonable care encompasses a totality of the following factors:
- The location of the property
- The possibility that someone might enter the property
- The likelihood that someone entering the property might get injured and the severity of that injury
- Whether the owner knew of the dangerous condition that could cause harm
- Whether the owner had any control and could protect against, that dangerous condition
There are other factors based on the specificity of the case, but those are the general factors that apply to most premises liability cases. That does not mean the property owner is always liable for the injury of trespassers, it depends on the situation. For example, someone is doing construction work in their backyard and a neighbor enters the backyard without permission to take one of the construction tools. If the neighbor gets injured while attempting to remove the tool, then the property owner may not be liable because they had no reasonable expectation that someone would enter their backyard to take one of their tools.
However, a different example is if a property is located next to a park where people play. The objects that they play with, such as frisbees or balls, occasionally land in the property and people enter the property to retrieve them. If the owner has an aggressive dog that bites one of those people, then the owner could be liable because they know that their dog is a biter and that people sometimes enter the property. It could be concluded that a reasonable person would tie up their dog during the times that the park is active. If the same situation happens late at night, then the owner may not be liable because they would not expect anyone to be playing at that late hour.
Who Is Responsible For a Premises Liability Injury?
If you suffer a personal injury on someone else’s property, then the responsible party is the person or company that owns, leases, occupies, or controls the property. Basically, it depends on the type of property on which you were injured. That means the recipient of a lawsuit could be any one of the following:
- A homeowner
- A tenant
- A business owner
- A company
- A restaurant
- A store
- A property management company
- A parent company
- An employee of any of the above
Once you and your Oxnard premises liability lawyer identify who was responsible for the personal injury, you are free to take action against that entity.
On What Type Of Property Can a Premises Liability Case Occur?
A premises liability case can occur on practically any type of property that people can visit. This includes private homes, rental properties, places of business, amusement parks, outdoor parks, office buildings, government property, and parking lots. Note that some types of personal injuries caused by a premises liability may also fall under different categories of personal injury. Dog bites were mentioned earlier, but an accident involving an elevator could fall under both premises liability and defective products. Consult with your premises liability lawyer in Oxnard to find out if your case falls under more than one category.
What Kind Of Compensation Is Available For Damages In a Premises Liability Case?
As with every kind of personal injury, the victim can get compensated for both financial and non-economic damages. Financial damages include:
- Medical bills
- Loss of income
- Lost earning capacity
- Property damage
Non-economic damages include compensation for losses that do not have a set value, which includes:
- Scarring and disfigurement
- Maiming
- Pain and suffering
If the personal injury resulted in a death, then the surviving family members can also be compensated for a wrongful death claim as well. This can include burial and funeral expenses, loss of financial support, and loss of companionship.
Contact The King Law Firm If You Have Been Injured On Someone Else’s Property
An injury caused by a premises liability can occur almost anywhere, and, as with any type of personal injury, the consequences can be devastating. That is why you need the King Law Firm to help you. We can provide you with a highly experienced premises liability attorney to fight for you so that you can get the compensation that you need.
A premises liability claim can be an intensely contested affair, especially if the property on which you were injured is owned by a big company. No matter how big the property owner may be, the King Law Firm will stand up to them with you. We will be by your side as we do our best to get you the compensation that you need.