Premises Liability Lawyer

Miami Florida Premises Liability Lawyer

Having a guest over never really crosses people’s minds as dangerous, but it can be. When an individual gets hurt on another’s property, many people do not realize that the property owner can be held responsible if the accident was preventable. If you have sustained injuries on another party’s property, such as a house, restaurant, store or hotel, you may be eligible to fight back for justice. Contact a Miami Florida premises liability lawyer today.

You may be entitled to compensation if:

• The property owner knew about the danger and should have taken necessary precautions to fix it at an earlier date to prevent any injuries.
• The property owner was responsible for the unsafe conditions,      such as having an object blocking a walkway when it could have been stored in a safer place or knowingly having a broken staircase.
• The property owner knew that there were hazardous objects on his premises and failed to correct the conditions.

Are Landlords Liable for Injuries

When would a landlord be liable for a tenant’s injuries? Just because a tenant was injured in the rental property does not necessarily mean that the landlord can be held responsible. Not only does a landlord have to be proven negligent, but the injury must have been foreseeable.

For instance, if a handrail is faulty, and a tenant falls because of this, then this was a foreseeable injury. The landlord would be considered negligent if he or she knew about the problem and did not take reasonably fast enough measures to repair the handrail. If a landlord negligently exposed their tenants to lead paint, and their tenants developed illnesses as a result, they could be held liable.

If a tenant is vulnerable to criminal acts because of a landlord’s negligence, then this too would make a landlord liable. For example, if a landlord fails to install a deadbolt on the door and to ensure that all windows are able to lock, and a burglar enters through either of these portals, then the landlord could be liable.

In fact, if a common area (a parking lot perhaps) is poorly lit because a landlord failed to install sufficient light, and a tenant is attacked, then a landlord could be held liable.

Contact a Miami Florida Premises Liability Lawyer Today

At the Cordero Law Firm, our legal team has represented hundreds of individuals in the Miami Florida area with their personal injury and premises liability claims, and we are ready to help you as well.

We understand that an injury can have serious financial consequences on an individual and an entire family, which is why we plan to do everything in our power to help you regain momentum and find a speedy recovery! Despite how intimidating your situation may appear, we can fight relentlessly on your behalf!

At the Cordero Law Firm, we represent injured individuals all throughout the state of Florida, and with offices located in Miami Florida and elsewhere we are fully prepared 

Elements of a Miami Florida Premises Liability Claim

The early case information that a  will want to know is exactly how the event happened and when it happened. An attorney will likely also want to see photographs, if possible, and obtain information about what caused the injury, who owns the land, and any applicable home owner’s insurance. There are many elements to a Miami Florida premises liability claim that an experienced attorney can help to explain to their client early on.

Recoverable Damages

A person can recover damages for medical expenses if there are future medical expenses, past pain and suffering, and any permanent pain and suffering or permanent injuries that may last in the future. A person can also recover for lost wages or lost income from time missed out of work because of the injuries. If someone dies in a premises liability case, they can recover wrongful death damages.

Injuries

If it is a private land owner where a person goes to a friend’s house and they are injured there, they are going to be dealing with their individual home owner policy. If a person falls at a big box retailer or chain restaurant, they are going to be dealing with possibly a self-insured company or a larger corporate entity. There may be an incident report that is filled out and more investigated materials that are accessible to them as opposed to if it happened in a normal citizen’s home.

The severity of the injuries or a wrongful death claim where the stakes are higher, a person needs to have an attorney look at the case. If it is just a few bumps and bruises, it is probably not worth the injured person’s time or the attorney’s time. With serious, life-altering injuries or death of a person, it is worth having an attorney involved as soon as possible to conduct an investigation to find out exactly what happened.

Contributory Negligence

Insurance companies are almost always going to argue contributory negligence which means that if a plaintiff is any degree at fault, even as little as one percent, it can be a complete bar to recovery. In premises liability cases, there is generally a duty for individuals to keep a reasonable lookout when they are moving about property or coming down steps. The defense almost always believes that the person injured failed to keep a reasonable lookout and that caused or contributed to the person’s falling or being injured.

Another angle they may argue would be that the landowner did not know or did not have reason to know about the defect. For example, if a couple of blueberries spilled in a grocery store and the store can show they were only on the ground for 30 seconds when the person fell, they did not have time to become aware of the defect and correct it. These are a few instances that defense attorneys would argue against the plaintiff for recovering for injuries from a premises liability case.

Working with an Attorney

Individuals should hire a premises liability lawyer if they have been injured severely or if they have had injuries that require ongoing medical treatment because they are probably going to have medical bills. In Miami Florida premises liability cases are difficult, so it may be that the insurance company is not willing to work with them easily. It may be important to have an attorney involved as soon as possible.

If the contributory negligence aspects seem a little too strong or if there is no evidence that the landowner did anything wrong, an attorney may turn down a case. For example, accidents happen where someone may slip and fall and the land owner or the property owner did nothing wrong to have caused or concealed it. Because premises liability cases are difficult and always fight allegations of contributory negligence, oftentimes attorneys will not take premises liability cases unless there has been a serious injury requiring medical treatment, surgery, ongoing physical pain and suffering, or in worst case scenarios, the wrongful death of the person. There are usually serious injuries when an attorney is getting involved in a premises liability case.

Establishing Liability in Florida Premises Liability Cases

How the various types of premises liability cases are handled depends on the severity of the injuries, as well as who the defendants are, who the land owners are, and who made the mistake. In some instances, the case may be able to be filed in state court and resolved relatively quickly. Some may be more complex and take longer. Overall, it depends on the facts of the specific case.

Florida premises liability lawyers are going to be looking at the significance of the injury to the person when they begin a case, like whether it was permanent or severe enough to require ongoing medical treatment, hospitalization, and surgeries. If you believe you may qualify for any of the common premises liability cases in Miami Florida and want to know the next step, you should contact a premises liability attorney right away.

Common Liability Cases

Liability cases handled by a lawyer would generally include someone slipping and falling on another person’s property, home, or business, and the person who owns or leases that property knew about the condition but failed to correct it, or should have known about the condition to correct it, or failed to warn about it.

Common premises liability cases in Miami Florida involve a large defect on someone’s property, a defect on someone’s porch at their house, an issue with the interior of a store, a home improvement location, or a pet store or a grocery store that caused someone to injure themselves. An example might be in a grocery store if there was a product that the store sells that had spilled and had been there long enough that the store knew or should have known about its existence and nothing was done to correct it.

Common Locations of Accidents

Some common locations of Miami Florida premises liability accidents might be at a friend’s home where there are outdoor defects that may qualify. Other examples would be at a restaurant, a grocery store, or places where food items are served and may spill on the ground or cause problems that way. Another example could be a home improvement store which may have slick floors or any location where weather caused the parking lot to be snowy or slick. These are just a few examples of common premise liability cases in Florida that may arise.

Determining Liability

Liability is determined in these cases based on whether the landowner knew about the defect. Legal status of a visitor used to make a difference in a premise liability case. In Florida  it would be how the distinction between invitees, licensees, and trespassers is made. Now there is no distinction. If a person is on someone’s property lawfully, they have a duty to warn or a duty to correct any defects they know or should know about.

Further, liability also depends on what caused the injury. If the individual is talking to a friend and not paying attention, falls and gets badly injured, it is probably not going to be a strong case. However, if the individual is on a set of stairs that collapses, it may be a stronger case. It depends on whether it was a freak accident, the person injured was not paying attention, or there was something that a land owner or occupier did that was negligent to cause or contribute to the accident.

Miami Florida Commercial Property Premises Liability Lawyer

Commercial property is defined as property that is zoned and used for a commercial purpose, whether that be a restaurant, a business, an establishment that sells things, or any other non-residential piece of real estate used specifically for the purpose of earning revenue for a company.

Commercial property liability comes into play when someone is injured on a piece of commercial property as opposed to on residential property. If you have been injured on land of this kind and purpose, contact a skilled premises liability lawyer as soon as possible. A Miami Florida commercial property liability attorney will be able to guide and advise you on the best course of action as you choose your next steps moving forward.

Statute of Limitations

A commercial property owner has a duty to inspect and make sure their property is safe, which means making sure it meets safety code standards, safety ordinances, and that there are no major defects with the property, and if so bringing in the compliance.

For a liability. case on commercial property in Miami Florida, the statute of limitations is going to be four years from the date of injury and two years if a death has occured. After that, an individual harmed on commercial property will no longer have the legal ability to file a claim against the owners of said property.

How Liability Is Assigned

It depends on who owns, occupies, or leases the property where the incident occurred. There may be several possible defendants. For instance, an owner and lessee who both were on notice of the defect could both find themselves on the receiving end of a claim. It depends on the facts of the case, but commercial property cases tend to deal with multiple defendants.

Dealing With Large Corporations

When dealing with large corporations, they are likely going to have a headquarters outside of  Florida which means dealing in federal court instead of state court. This is the case even if the injured person files his or her lawsuit in state court.

It is important to take into account that the larger corporations have seemingly unlimited resources, may sometimes be self-insured and have teams of lawyers. They are going to have internal investigations. They may have more internal documents that reveal knowledge about defects on the property than cases dealing with the residential land owner.

How an Attorney Can Help

Premises liability cases involving commercial property may involve more nuance and complexity than a normal accident case, because there are so many more moving parts as to how it could have happened.

It is important to contact the Miami Florida commercial property liability lawyer, especially if someone’s injuries are serious enough. There are going to be attorneys and insurance adjusters for the other side on the case immediately. If it is a serious injury, it is important that a potential plaintiff have the same team on their side.