If you or a loved one was injured on someone else’s property in Florida, you may be entitled to compensation for your losses.
Florida premises liability law is complicated, but fortunately, there is legal help available. The Tampa premises liability attorneys at The Landau Law Group offer a free consultation to examine the facts of your individual situation and determine what approach you may take. Contact us today at (866) 703-4878 for a free and confidential case review.
Premises Liability Involves Negligence
Under FL § 768.0755, property owners or managers have a responsibility to maintain and fix these conditions to prevent injury to others. If they fail in this duty, they may be found negligent and liable for injuries that result, and they may also be held responsible for injuries that result because of dangers they should have known about or failed to warn people about.
Examples of negligence in a premises liability claim can include:
- Defects in sidewalks, roadways, concrete, or uneven flooring
- Poor lighting in stairs, hallways, or parking areas
- Falling debris or hanging hazards
- Carbon monoxide leaks
- Unsafe elevators & escalators
- Loose handrails on stairs
- Not providing security or fixing broken locks or doors
Premises liability may also occur if there was negligence on the property which led to situations such as shootings, intentional harm or death, and criminal actions of a third party.
In a lawsuit, our attorneys will look to prove negligence by showing:
- The responsible party owed you a duty of care
- There was a “breach” of or failure to fulfill that duty
- This breach caused you harm
- The harm resulted in actual damages
There are situations where multiple parties are at fault for premises liability. Other people or entities who we may hold responsible for premises liability injuries include tenants, work crews, landlords, security guards and companies, and people whose intentional or negligent actions caused injuries.
Our Tampa premises liability lawyers will examine your individual situation to determine how each party contributed to your accident. Call The Landau Law Group today at (866) 703-4878.
Categories of Potential Visitors to a Property
How we handle your case will depend on which premises liability laws apply to your situation. The Florida Bar concurs that there are three status types of property visitors:
Invitees
An invitee is someone who has been invited by and who has implied or express permission from a property owner to enter the premises.
Invitees are owed the highest level of duty of care and receive the most protection under Florida law. Property owners are expected to maintain their properties in a manner that both prevents hazards and fixes the issues that could injure these and all visitors.
Licensees
A licensee is someone who has not been specifically invited onto the property but is permitted to be there, such as friends, family members, guests, or neighbors. Licensees have the second-highest standard of care, and must be kept safe and warned of dangers.
Trespassers
Trespassers are people who go onto another’s property without permission. Property owners do not have a duty of care to protect trespassers under FL § 768.075, but owners may be liable if they purposely create a hazard that could cause injury and failed to reasonably warn trespassers of the hazard.
A Tampa premises liability lawyer can help you distinguish what category you fall under if you were harmed while on someone else’s property.
Trespassing Children
Florida has an Attractive Nuisance Doctrine (FL § 823.08) that says owners may be liable if there is something on the property that can be seen as attractive to a child’s natural curiosity, such as a swimming pool that has not been childproofed or an empty refrigerator that has not had its door removed.
In determining whether an injured person is a licensee or invitee, Florida courts will consider reasonableness (how the average person would handle a particular situation in similar circumstances). Factors that are considered include:
- How the visitor is using the property and why the visitor was there
- Whether accidents happened regularly and could have been foreseen by the property owner
- Whether the owner made a reasonable effort to warn about a dangerous condition
Depending on the circumstances of your case, a lawyer may find that one or several of these factors is relevant to proving the liable party’s responsibility for your losses.
Potentially Recoverable Damages
In a successful premises liability lawsuit, you may receive both economic and non-economic compensation for your losses. Economic compensation includes payment for your monetary losses such as medical and rehabilitation expenses, lost, current and future wages, earning capacity, and funeral costs if a death is involved. Non-economic compensation is for intangible damages such as pain and suffering, loss of consortium, and ability to enjoy life’s pleasures will also be considered.
FL § 768.81 considers comparative negligence for cases where the victim was partially to blame for the accident. Even if you contributed to the accident, you should be able to pursue a settlement in proportion to the amount of the at-fault party or parties.
Get Help From Our Premises Liability Lawyers
If you or a loved one was injured due to someone else’s negligence on their property, our service-orientated Tampa premises liability lawyers can help. Florida imposes time limits on filing personal injury claims. We will work with you to make sure all papers are filed correctly and in a timely manner. We will also negotiate with insurance companies, take your case to trial and argue in front of a jury, if necessary.
You pay nothing unless and until we win an award for you, so call The Landau Law Group today at (866) 703-4878 for your free case evaluation.