In California, property owners, managers, and occupiers have a responsibility to reasonably ensure the safety of anyone who may enter onto their property. If they fail in this responsibility and you consequently suffer an accident and are injured, they can be held financially accountable. This legal responsibility is known as premises liability. In California, premises liability hinges on proving that the responsible party was in some way negligent with regard to the cause of your injury.
If you’ve been hurt on someone else’s property and they were responsible for the accident, you should definitely consider seeking compensation for the costs of treating your injuries. But you shouldn’t try to do it all on your own, especially if you’re still recuperating.
Even if you seem to have a clear-cut case, there’s an extremely large amount of work and preparation ahead. In order to have a strong position from which to negotiate a favorable settlement, you’ll need to show you’re prepared to win the case if it should go to court.
You’ll need to establish exactly who the responsible party is, show that they had a duty to keep the property safe for visitors and prove that they were negligent in breaching that duty. You’ll also have to determine the cash value of your injuries and accident-related expenses. And all along the way, there will be information to gather, serious discussions with the other side’s insurance carrier and attorney, paperwork to file, and countless other tasks that make up a premises accident injury claim. An experienced personal injury attorney will take on all of those responsibilities for you.
There’s no need for you to take on the burden of conducting a personal injury claim by yourself. Contact OnderLaw ’s Fremont Personal Injury Lawyers today for a free initial consultation. We’ll talk with you about your claim’s potential, and if we do take your case, we will not bill you unless we achieve our mutual goal of compensation for your injuries.
Depending on the situation, the person or organization that is responsible for a particular premises can vary. Responsible parties usually fall under one of the following categories:
Please note that in some cases, the cause of the accident or specifics of a contract will determine who the responsible party is. On this webpage, to simplify things, we’ll call the responsible party the “owner/manager.”
In California, the owner/manager has a responsibility to reasonably maintain the property so that it is safe for visitors. Such responsibility would include conducting regular safety inspections of the premises and making timely repairs or corrections to remove any hazard they are aware of. If they discover or are told about a hazardous condition existing on the property, but are unable to correct it immediately, then they must post a warning so that visitors will be aware of the possibility of injury.
Accidents that give rise to premises liability claims can occur in any number of settings. These are among the most common locations where premises liability accidents occur:
Sometimes, upon entering a property, and often with gyms and amusement parks, you must sign a liability waiver intended to protect the business from personal injury lawsuits. Such waivers don’t always apply, though, especially if the business was, in fact, negligent–for instance, by failing to properly maintain a roller coaster, resulting in a mechanical failure and injury. A good premises liability lawyer can advise you whether any injury you suffered after signing a waiver is grounds for a claim.
At OnderLaw , we offer a free initial consultation to anyone who believes they may have a valid accidental injury claim. Contact us today, and we’ll discuss your situation with you and advise you on your prospects for obtaining compensation in your case.
Many kinds of accidents may be considered premises liability accidents. These are among the most common:
Obviously, a vast number of injuries and types of accidents can become premises liability cases. If you’ve been hurt on someone else’s property, and your injury was due to negligence, you’ll want advice from a lawyer who knows California premises liability law, such as those at OnderLaw.
Compensation can be generally divided into two types: economic damages and noneconomic damages. “Damages” is another term for losses.
Economic damages have a clear cash value and include medical expenses, ambulance services, medical equipment, prescription drugs, loss of work income (past and future), necessary personal or household services, and more.
Noneconomic damages do not have a clear cash value, but your attorney can help you calculate them fairly. They include physical pain and suffering, emotional distress or trauma, loss of companionship, and diminished enjoyment of life, among others.
If you’ve been injured on private property, such as a neighbor’s home or yard, the most immediate source of compensation to consider is the owner’s insurance company. Most homeowners have homeowners insurance, which usually covers some amount of personal liability, as well as medical payments to others. The payout maximums can vary widely, though, depending on how much coverage the homeowner has purchased. If the homeowner has either insufficient liability insurance or none at all, seeking damages from their personal assets through a lawsuit may be your only option.
Similarly, claims for compensation from businesses will start with any liability insurance they carry. If there appear to be multiple responsible parties, or if they start to blame each other for the accident, you can file suit against multiple defendants.
If you’ve been injured on property or lands owned by the government or a public entity, you may pursue compensation only under certain conditions as limited by California law. If the danger posed by the condition that caused your injury was foreseeable, and if the condition was either 1) created by a working government employee or 2) the government knew about it but didn’t address it, then you may have a case.
Also, in some situations, the statute of limitations for filing suit against a public entity can be as little as six months, while most other personal injury claims have a two-year limit. If you believe you are eligible to pursue a claim against any public entity, including federal, state, county, or city governments, a knowledgeable personal injury lawyer understands the process and knows how to pursue compensation. In any case involving premises liability, hiring a capable attorney, like ours at OnderLaw, is the best thing you can do.
Premises liability cases are extremely challenging, and the potential complexity and unexpected hurdles can turn an apparent walk in the park into a marathon. You have plenty to do in simply recovering from your injuries. A dedicated personal injury lawyer will take all the tasks associated with a premises liability case off your hands, so that you can focus on getting better.
At OnderLaw, everything starts with our relationship with you. We care about every one of our clients as though they’re family. We’ll take the time to get to know you, and you’ll get to know us. Our attorneys and staff are committed to earning your trust and achieving the best possible outcome for you.
Since 2002, OnderLaw has been building a reputation for excellence, obtaining more than $3 billion in compensation for our clients. If you’ve been injured in Fremont on someone else’s property through their negligence, contact our Fremont premises liability lawyers now for a free consultation. We’re ready to lend a compassionate ear and get you started in your pursuit of just compensation for your injuries and losses.
