Let Our Bronx Accident Attorneys Explain Some Important Things You Need to Know About Premises Liability
Our premises liability attorney wants you to know that property owners are required to keep their property reasonably safe. As a result, owners must regularly inspect, maintain and repair the property to avoid conditions that can cause a person to slip and fall, trip and fall or otherwise sustain an injury. If you were injured because of an owner’s failure to keep property reasonably safe, our Bronx accident attorneys explain some important things you need to know about filing a premises liability case.
What is Premises Liability?
Premises liability is the area of the law that covers an owner’s obligation to keep property reasonably safe. This obligation requires an owner to inspect, maintain and repair conditions on the property that can be potentially dangerous. In addition, there are many very specific legal requirements that an owner must follow to satisfy the law. For example, owners must inspect elevators and escalators at certain intervals; clear snow within a certain period of time; position and test smoke detectors in a clearly defined way; as well as many other very specific obligations.
If you are injured because an owner has failed in any of these obligations, you may be entitled to file a claim. Some common premises liability cases include the:
- Trip and fall accident;
- Slip and fall accident;
- Snow and ice accident;
- Elevator accident;
- Escalator accident;
- Smoke and fire incident;
- Inadequate security incident;
- Dog Bite.
How do I Prove (and Win) a Premises Liability Case?
To win a premises liability case, you must show that you were injured because the premises was not reasonably safe. In addition, you must demonstrate that the owner was, or should have been, aware of the dangerous condition before the accident and did have a “reasonable” opportunity to fix the problem before you were hurt. This requirement, known as the notice requirement, gives rise to much of the litigation in this area of the law. This is true because your case will be dismissed if you cannot prove notice.
To prove notice in a premises liability case, you must show that:
- the owner actually knew about the problem before the incident, and failed to correct it; or
- the owner should have known about the problem, because it was present for such a long period of time before the accident, and did not fix it; or
- the owner caused or created the problem.
In some cases, there must be written notice of the defect to the defendant before the incident occurred. For example, in cases against the City of New York you are required to show that the City was notified of the dangerous condition, in writing, before your accident occurred. Needless to say, this can be a major obstacle to bringing a claim. This written notice requirement, like the Notice of Claim requirement and shortened statute of limitations are designed to limit the number of claims against municipal defendants. Fortunately, this written notice requirement applies only to municipal defendants.
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If you have any questions about premises liability, contact our experienced a premises liability attorney by email or calling (800) 762-9300 for a free consultation. You can also simply fill out one of our case intake forms and we will have one of our attorneys get right back to you.
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