You Should Worry While You Walk

Premises liability isn’t easy to understand. Generally speaking, owners are responsible to keep their premises safe.

Premises liability is an area of the law that holds property owners and people who legally occupy property responsible for injuries that happen on their land. As an example, let’s say you were in a grocery store and you slipped and fell on a wet patch in the produce section, or you tripped over an uneven cement block near a construction site. In both of these examples the injured party may be able to claim damages from the owner or occupier of the land by filing a personal injury lawsuit with the assistance of an Austin personal injury lawyer.

The general idea behind the law of premises liability is the property owners and occupiers must keep their property safe for anyone that uses it. They must locate dangerous conditions and repair or adequately post them as being dangerous. In other words, the warnings need to be highly visible and clear. If the particular condition is “left” unfixed and does not have a proper warning, liability may be assigned to the property owner or occupier for anyone that is hurt on their premises.

You might wonder about trespassers on another person’s property and whether or not they may sue for damages if they hurt themselves while trespassing. The answer to that is maybe. In general, the owner is only responsible for watching out for all visitors, “except” trespassers. However, if the owner also “knows” trespassers are likely to come on the land, they must still post a visible warning to prevent trespassers being injured. If this is confusing, you should talk to an Austin personal injury lawyer and find out how that is possible.

The long and short of this is that if you have been injured on someone else’s property and your injury was a direct result of hazardous conditions or negligence, you might have a good case to recover your medical expenses. Speak to a qualified Austin personal injury lawyer for the right information, to find out your rights and to know what your options are in your circumstances.

Brooks Schuelke is an Austin personal injury attorney with Perlmutter & Schuelke PLLC. Contact an Austin injury lawyer at Civtrial.com or (512) 476-4944.