If someone else’s failure to keep their property safe has caused you an injury, you may be entitled to compensation. However, it will depend on the circumstances of the accident.
Did it occur on a business premises? Should the property owner have known visitors were at risk? Could they have done more to prevent your accident?
As a plaintiff, the outcome of your case will hinge on these questions. Our Renton personal injury attorneys can help you find the answers. Call us at (206) 880-2454 for a free consultation.
How Does Premises Liability Work?
Property owners generally have a duty of care to their visitors (especially if the property in question is a business that’s open to the public). When a duty of care applies, property owners are legally responsible for any potential hazards on their property. So, they should foot the bill when any illness or injury occurs because of such hazards.
Common Types of Cases Our Premises Liability Lawyers Handle
Clients call us about accidents arising from all kinds of premises liability accidents, including:
- Slip and fall cases: These are the most common premises liability matters we deal with. If you’ve fallen on someone else’s property due to wet or icy flooring, torn carpets, a loose railing, or a poorly lit staircase, you may be entitled to compensation. Slip and fall accidents frequently arise in grocery stores, parking lots, and apartment buildings.
- Negligent security incidents: If a property owner has a duty to protect visitors from criminal activity, they may be liable for damages when such activity occurs on their premises. This might be the case if, for example, an assault or robbery occurs due to broken locks or missing cameras.
- Animal attacks: Property owners may have a duty to keep visitors safe from potential dog bites and other animal attacks. This duty doesn’t apply in every situation, though; it depends on your reason for visiting the property. We look at categories of visitors in more detail in the next section.
- Swimming pool accidents: The owner or operator of a swimming pool might be liable for an accident like this in cases involving improperly maintained pool surfaces, defective fencing, or inadequate signage. Statistics show that young children are at a particularly high risk of injury and death from swimming pool accidents.
Who Owes You A Duty of Care?
While every property owner owes a duty of care to visitors on some level, the extent of this duty depends on your reason for visiting a property. Were you visiting a business, or someone’s home? Did you have explicit permission to be there, or were you trespassing? These factors will all have an impact.
There are three categories of injured visitors under Washington personal injury law:
- Invitee: This is someone invited onto a property for business purposes, like a customer in a store. Property owners owe the strongest duty of care here; they must inspect for hazards and warn invitees of hidden dangers.
- Licensee: These are individuals who enter property with permission, but for their own purposes. Social guests, delivery workers, and salesmen generally fall into this category. Property owners must warn licensees of known hazards, but they don’t have to proactively inspect their property for risks for the sake of licensees. So, if you (as a licensee) fall victim to a hazard the property owner could not reasonably have known about, you may not be entitled to damages.
- Trespasser: The duty of care for trespassers is very limited. Unless the property owner deliberately tried to harm you, you likely won’t be entitled to compensation if you entered the property without permission.
As you might imagine, not every situation falls neatly into one of these categories. In some cases, disputes arise over which category should apply; a defendant might argue that a plaintiff was, say, a trespasser rather than a licensee, as this would lower the defendant’s liability. Our experienced premises liability attorneys will be able to advise you about risks like this, and will know how to address them.
How Our Premises Liability Lawyers Build Your Case
Every personal injury case is built on evidence. After you visit us for a free initial consultation and decide to proceed with a lawsuit, our first step is to gather all the evidence that could be relevant to your dispute.
We do this by:
- Thoroughly inspecting the scene of the accident: We document all potential contributors to your accident using photographs, videos, and other means. Any photos or videos you got at the time of the incident will also be very useful here, as these provide evidence of the exact circumstances of your accident when it occurred. However, we appreciate that you’re probably not reading this directly after a premises liability incident; if you forgot to make recordings at the time, there’s no need to worry. We’ll still be able to collect the evidence we need.
- Collecting photo and video evidence: We obtain all maintenance logs, security footage, inspection records, and witness statements that may be relevant. These become available to us during the discovery process; after we file a lawsuit, the defendant is legally required to provide us with the evidence we request.
- Involving experts: We have a network of consultants who can provide technical insights on premises liability cases. These include engineers and structural experts (who can explain how a hazard might have led to a specific outcome), and medical specialists (who can explain the link between your accident and the resulting injuries).
Fighting the Case
Once our Renton premises liability lawyers have the evidence they require, they can build an argument in your favor.
Most premises liability cases (and most personal injury disputes in general) never make it as far as a judge or jury. Instead, they end in settlements. This is where both sides sit down and agree to a certain outcome by themselves (considering the evidence and the likely result of a trial).
This allows you to get the money you need to cover your costs and get on with your life much more quickly, and without the uncertainty that comes with a trial. This is why it’s preferable for most plaintiffs.
In some cases, though, defendants are unwilling to agree to any reasonable compromise. In such situations, we never hesitate to go before a court to uphold the rights of our clients. We’re prepared to do the same for you.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
- How long do I have to file a premises liability lawsuit? In Washington, the statute of limitations for personal injury generally gives you three years from the date of your injury to file a premises liability lawsuit. However, we recommend starting the process as soon as possible after an accident. The longer you wait, the more difficult it gets to gather relevant evidence and build a strong case.
- Can I still recover damages if I was partially at fault? Yes, Washington follows a pure comparative negligence rule (see WA Rev Code 4.22.005 ). That means you can still recover compensation even if you were partly responsible for your injury. However, your total award will be reduced by your percentage of fault. So, for example, if you're found to have been 30% at fault, your damages will be capped at 70% of their overall value.
- How long will a premises liability case take in Renton? Timelines vary widely in premises liability cases. One big factor is whether a case goes to trial; settlements can be reached in a matter of months, but jury trials can take years. Additionally, cases involving severe injuries, expert testimony, or uncooperative insurers generally take longer.
Contact Our Renton Premises Liability Lawyers Today
You shouldn’t have to suffer the consequences of someone else’s negligence alone. If you’ve suffered an injury while visiting a property because of some preventable hazard, you should seek the advice of a skilled premises liability lawyer. Call us in Renton today at (206) 880-2454 for a free consultation.
