Tracy Premises Liability Lawyer
Premises Liability Attorney in Tracy, California
Premises liability is a type of personal injury case that comes into play when a person’s injury results from unsafe or poorly maintained dangerous conditions on someone else’s property. When pursuing a premises liability case, you (the person injured) need to prove that the property owner or possessor was negligent of their property and that negligence caused your injury. Proving negligence can be a difficult task. Many factors need to be considered when examining and presenting your claim. It takes a lot of time, resources, and knowledge—this is where an attorney comes in.
After sustaining an injury in a premises liability case, your attention should be on recovering and trying to regain a sense of normalcy. A premises liability attorney can tackle the legal battle of recovering compensation on your behalf and do the heavy lifting, so you can focus on what matters.
Why Is Negligence Important in a Premises Liability Case?
Like nearly all personal injury cases, premises liability cases are built on the theory of negligence. Negligence is a fundamental element in establishing liability. Liability is the legal responsibility to cover damages in a personal injury claim or case. When someone is liable in a premises liability case, they are legally responsible for covering any damages you sustained due to your injury and other related losses. To hold someone liable, first, they must be proven negligent. Proving negligence means proving these four elements: duty of care, breach of duty, causation, and damages.
Duty of Care
Duty of care is the legal standard of acting as a reasonable person would in a similar situation to prevent harming someone. In terms of premises liability, property owners have a legal duty to maintain their property reasonably safe for guests or customers. Suppose there is a hazard on the property. In that case, they should be doing what they can to address the issues and provide reasonable warning to potential visitors or customers who may encounter the hazard of its existence. When evaluating a property owner’s duty of care, the following are considered:
- Were any actions taken to limit the risks and warn property visitors?
- Was the harm or accident foreseeable and preventable?
- Did the injured person have a right to be on the property?
- Could the injured person be partially to blame for the accident?
California is a comparative negligence state, which means that if the injured person is partially to blame, they can still file for damages. However, those damages will likely be reduced to compensate for their percentage of fault.
Breach of Duty
Breach of duty is where negligence begins to take form. Breach of duty encompasses the actions or inactions of the property owner that caused your accidents—this is the negligent behavior that can be used to prove liability. However, a property owner can’t be negligent without owing you a duty of care, which is why a duty of care must be established first. Property owner negligence can look like this:
- Spilled liquids
- Obscured walking paths
- Unsafe or poorly maintained stairs
- Lack of handrails or guardrails
- Inadequate lighting
- Malfunctioning escalator or elevator
- Broken glass
- Cracked pavement
- Water leaks
Poorly maintained property can cause a lot of serious accidents and have severe consequences for victims who are harmed. However, pursuing compensation for a premises liability accident is not simple and can quickly become more complicated depending on who is liable and the injury’s severity. Make sure you have the best chance of obtaining the compensation you deserve by contacting an attorney as soon as possible.
Causation
Causation means proving that the accident occurred because of the natural and continuous sequence of events that followed due to the breach of duty. A key element of causation is proving that the accident was foreseeable, but the property owner did little to nothing to prevent it from occurring.
Damages
Damages are the term for the monetary award that injured individuals can recover after the resolution of their personal injury claim or case. In a premises liability case, the following damages are available:
- Medical expenses related to the injury (present and future)
- Loss of income
- Pain and suffering
- Punitive damages (in rare cases)
Insurance companies will try to limit their payout and liability as much as possible. Contact a skilled attorney to ensure that you know the estimated value of your claim and that someone is fighting to make sure you don’t accept anything less than what you’re owed.
The Benefits of Working With a Premises Liability Lawyer
As mentioned above, pursuing a premises liability claim is a task that requires time, resources, and expertise. Furthermore, if one isn’t careful, these types of claims can go on for ages, leaving victims without access to the financial support they need. There are many benefits of having a qualified premises liability attorney at your side, such as:
- Ensuring you meet deadlines
- Filing the necessary documents
- Speaking with experts
- Organizing evidence
- Looking at your medical records
- Estimated the value of your claim
- Pausing medical bills until the resolution of your claim
- Negotiating with insurance companies
- Preparing your claim for court
Insurance companies aim to protect themselves, regardless of how that affects you. If they refuse to come to a fair and just settlement amount, an attorney can get your claim ready for trial to continue fighting for the best possible results.
Contact a Tracy, California Premises Liability Lawyer Today
The attorneys at Setareh Law understand the complexity of premises liability cases and have the experience to take on any case. We know what it takes to make a strong claim and are ready to go the extra mile to achieve the best results for our clients. Contact us today at (310) 659-1826 or fill out our contact form. We also speak Spanish.
Schedule a Free Consult at Our Tracy Location
Setareh Law, APLC
1005 E Pescadero Ave #167,
Tracy, CA 95304
(310) 659-1826
