There are many requirements for a premises liability case. Some of the requirements include the type of visitor to the property, duty of the landowner to the visitor, and the type of property involved with the injury. The type of property in a premises liability case is extremely important because it is indicative of the type of use, such as a shopping center is for people to go on the property and shop. The type and use of the property is extremely important in appreciating the risk.
Due to the various requirements for a premises liability case in Pascagoula, it is wise to seek help from a local attorney. An experienced premises liability attorney could review the facts and help you seek compensation for your injuries.
To have a valid premises liability case in Pascagoula, it is very important that the invitee was a customer of the business. This means the visitor was there for the purpose of conducting business. It is important that the injured person was an actual customer and that they were acting in a reasonable manner.
Another important factor is that the business owner could or should have done something different to correct the defect, meaning the business owner had the opportunity to correct the defect and did not do so. That usually ends up being the most important aspect of a case.
For example, if the property owner knew they had a leaky roof that would cause water to fall from the roof onto the floor of the store, and they knew about it for several months before they corrected it, that business owner could be held liable. There were things they could have done to correct the problem (i.e., fix the leak), and that information ends up coming from witness testimony and then evidence taken at the scene of the accident.
There is a standard that every injured person and for every premises owner must adhere to including: to act as a reasonable person would under the circumstances. The business owner or landowner could be absolved of liability even if they were negligent if the injured person did not act reasonably under the circumstances.
A common example is that there was an obvious pothole in a parking lot, and the person was walking along the driveway surface and did not avoid the pothole. There are obvious hazards in any business, and if a person does not act reasonably to avoid them, they cannot recover for their injuries.
Although the business owner has to know of any defects (as opposed to hidden defects), then they could not be held liable for those types of dangers. If it is something that had not existed for very long, meaning there was a brand new danger that may have been created by somebody else, the business is not going to be held liable. The business must have a reasonable opportunity to correct that danger.
Defense attorneys commonly use three methods to argue a premises-liability claim. For example, the defense may say that the defect was not known to the business, meaning that it was a fresh enough defect that it was not able to be corrected in time. They can prove that in several ways or try to prove it by the lack of witness testimony for the plaintiff, but it is a very common defense.
The second most-common defense is that the person had pre-existing conditions or was not injured as a result of the fall. There are seemingly minor accidents that result in severe injuries, so it is easy for defense attorneys to try to downplay the injuries. It is a common tactic for them to hire their own doctors to refute the plaintiff’s claims or refute the treating physician’s claims.
The third most-commonly used defense would be the injured person could have done something different to avoid the accident. Commonly, that occurs in a slip-and-fall type of accidents in which there was something on the floor that caused the fall or some obstruction on the floor that caused the injury. In that event, the defense attorney may say the person should have seen the obstruction and avoided it.
Following an accident on another’s property, you should get in touch with an experienced attorney. Those types of cases are very specific and very fact-driven, so a person who does not know or has not handled those types of cases on a regular basis may not know the potential pitfalls. The injured person should give the attorney everything when meeting for the first time. This is because you may have incurred similar injuries in the past, or even injuries in the past may have contributed to the accident.
The attorney will have to investigate thoroughly the business in question, get witness statements, and find out other information about the property to determine whether it the owner was negligent. If the property owner acted reasonably and acted in the best interest of their visitors, the recovery may not be possible even with the injury. Discuss your options and the requirements for a premises liability case in Pascagoula.