What Is Premises Liability?
Premises liability is the area of law that holds property owners and occupiers responsible for injuries caused by unsafe conditions on their property. Owners, landlords, businesses, and managers have a legal duty to maintain premises that are reasonably safe. When they fail to do so, and someone gets hurt, they may be legally responsible for the resulting injuries and losses.
Premises liability claims can arise in many settings, including stores, apartment buildings, parking garages, hotels, office buildings, and private homes.
What Are the Types of Premises Liability?
Below are some of the most common types of premises liability claims we handle.
Slip and Fall Accidents
Slip and fall accidents occur when hazardous conditions, such as wet floors, uneven walkways, loose carpeting, or debris, cause someone to lose their footing. These incidents can lead to broken bones, head injuries, and long-term mobility issues.
Dog Bite Attacks
California law generally holds dog owners responsible when their animal bites someone who is lawfully on the property. Dog bite injuries can result in infections, scarring, nerve damage, and emotional trauma that lasts long after the physical wounds heal.
Negligent Security
Negligent security happens when a property owner fails to take reasonable steps to protect visitors from foreseeable criminal activity. In Los Angeles, this may involve broken gates, poor lighting, nonfunctioning locks, or a lack of appropriate security measures in areas with known risks.
While owners are not responsible for every crime, they can be held liable when reasonable precautions could have reduced the danger and prevented harm.
Falling Objects
Falling objects can injure people in stores, warehouses, construction sites, and apartment buildings. Items that are improperly stacked, unsecured shelving, or deteriorating building materials can strike visitors without warning. These accidents frequently cause head, neck, and back injuries.
Inadequate Lighting
Inadequate lighting can turn otherwise safe areas into dangerous ones. Poor visibility in stairwells, hallways, parking lots, or entryways increases the risk of trips, falls, and criminal attacks. Property owners are responsible for ensuring lighting is sufficient to allow visitors to navigate safely.
Elevator or Escalator Accidents
Elevator and escalator accidents often stem from poor maintenance, mechanical failures, or ignored inspection requirements. Sudden stops, misleveling, or malfunctioning doors can cause serious injuries. Property owners and maintenance companies may be liable when these systems are not properly serviced.
Swimming Accidents
Swimming accidents frequently occur at apartment complexes, hotels, and private residences with pools. Lack of supervision, broken gates, missing safety signage, or poorly maintained pool areas can lead to drownings and severe injuries.
Failure to Maintain the Premises
Failure to maintain the premises covers a wide range of unsafe conditions, including crumbling stairs, uneven sidewalks, broken railings, exposed wiring, and structural defects. When routine maintenance is neglected, visitors are put at unnecessary risk, and injuries can follow.
How Do I Prove My Premises Liability Claim?
To prove a premises liability claim, you must show that the property owner owed you a duty of care, breached that duty, and caused your injuries as a result. California law also considers your legal status on the property when determining what level of care was required.
Property owners may owe different duties depending on whether the injured person was an invitee, licensee, or trespasser:
- Invitees. These individuals are on the property for business purposes, such as customers in a store or tenants in an apartment complex. Property owners typically owe invitees the highest duty of care and must actively inspect for hazards and fix or warn about them.
- Licensees. These social guests or other individuals are allowed on the property for non-business reasons. Owners must warn licensees of known dangers that may not be obvious.
- Trespassers. People who enter without permission are trespassing. Property owners generally owe a limited duty, but they still cannot intentionally harm trespassers.
Evidence in these cases may include photos of the hazard, surveillance footage, incident reports, maintenance records, witness statements, and medical documentation.
What Types of Compensation Can I Recover?
Compensation in a premises liability case is meant to reflect how an injury affects your health, finances, and daily life. You may be able to seek compensation for the following damages:
- Medical expenses. This includes emergency treatment, hospital care, surgery, medications, physical therapy, and any future medical care related to your injuries. Serious premises liability injuries often require ongoing treatment that must be accounted for in a claim.
- Lost income and reduced earning capacity. If your injuries forced you to miss work or reduced your ability to earn a living, you may pursue compensation for lost wages and diminished future earning capacity. This applies whether the time away from work was temporary or permanent.
- Pain and suffering: Pain and suffering damages address the physical pain caused by the injury, as well as the emotional distress and psychological trauma that often follow a serious accident.
- Loss of enjoyment of life. When an injury limits your ability to participate in activities you once enjoyed (e.g., exercise, hobbies, social events, or family activities) you may be compensated for that loss.
Every premises liability case is different. Your Los Angeles premises liability lawyer will evaluate all the facts to build a claim that reflects the full scope of what you have lost, not just what is immediately visible.
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