Any spotlighting of the personal injury universe in North Carolina and nationally must quickly note just how vast and varied it is.
Legions of drivers and their passengers – as well as bicyclists and pedestrians – are injured and sometimes tragically killed in motor vehicle accidents involving everything from small cars to outsized conveyances like 18-wheel tractor trailers. Work spheres like agriculture, mining and the construction industry feature a recurrently high rate of on-the-job accidents and injuries. Medical error occurs often and can yield catastrophic consequences. Defective products (ranging widely from toys and power tools to over-the-counter consumer products and medical devices) maim or kill huge numbers of Americans.
And there is this too: the premises liability realm, where huge numbers of accidents occur and take a heavy – sometimes life-upending – toll on innocent victims and their families.
What is meant by the legal concept of premises liability?
One online legal article that takes an in-depth look at premises liability notes its very specific niche. It stresses that the concept customarily comes into play “in personal injury cases where the injury was caused by some type of unsafe or defective condition on someone’s property.”
Another source builds on that core principle by noting the invariable presence of third-party negligence in a premises liability injury claim.
That generally means this: a property owner or manager did not adequately safeguard a premise against risks posed to the general public.
Failure to do so can open the door for an injury victim, given that owners have a responsibility to most people to exercise reasonable care in maintaining their property and ensuring its safe use. That legal duty falls upon a wide class of owners and managers. It is relevant in contexts ranging from residential properties, shopping centers/malls and sports venues to theaters, grocery outlets, parking lots and more.
Some common claims in premises liability cases
As stressed above, injured victims file legal claims based on premises liability in widely varying scenarios, including these:
- Slip, trip and fall incidents (with injury catalysts ranging from wet floors and uneven sidewalks to defective stairways, slippery conditions owing to ice/snow and more)
- Inadequate security (e.g., assault in an unsupervised parking ramp)
- Vicious animal attacks
- Hazardous conditions caused by fire, flooding and toxic chemicals
- Amusement park accidents
- Swimming pool injuries
Laws, processes and time limits applicable to premises liability claims might reasonably seem a bit unclear and complex to injury victims and their loved ones. An experienced and empathetic personal injury legal team can provide timely and on-point representation focused on an optimal case outcome.
