Premises Liability

Traverse City, Detroit, and Grand Rapids Attorneys Assisting Slip and Fall Victims

When you go to the mall or walk out of a store, you do not expect to be injured. However, in many cases, property owners fail to properly inspect their premises for dangerous conditions and make sure their customers and guests are safe. Some common examples of hazards on property include wet floors, broken elevators or escalators, broken stairs or balconies, missing handrails, improperly stacked merchandise, and cracked sidewalks. The Traverse City, Detroit, and Grand Rapids premises liability lawyers at the Neumann Law Group can investigate your claim and determine whether it would be appropriate to sue a property owner. Evidence can disappear quickly in a premises liability case, so it is important to consult an injury attorney without delay after an accident in Michigan, Massachusetts, or California.

Holding a Property Owner Accountable for Your Injuries

A person injured on someone else’s property may bring a lawsuit under both a premises liability theory and a general negligence theory. In general, the latter applies when a landowner was actively negligent and its activities cause harm to a visitor on the premises. Landowners have a duty to use reasonable care to protect their invitees (often business customers) from unreasonable risks of harm based on dangerous conditions.

As a plaintiff proceeding on a premises liability theory, you would need to prove that the owner knew or should have known of a dangerous condition on the premises about which you did not know. You would also need to show that the owner failed to fix the dangerous condition or provide appropriate warnings. In some cases, it is appropriate to also plead that the defendant owed you a duty of care, breached that duty of care, and caused your injuries by breaching its duty, as well as that you suffered actual damages.

In many cases, a property owner will defend against a premises liability lawsuit by arguing that a defect was open and obvious. In general, a property owner is not required to protect you from open and obvious dangers. For example, courts have found that ice, snow, and ice hidden by snow are open and obvious conditions for which a property owner cannot be held liable.

Some premises liability cases involve accidents on government-owned property. Special rules apply to those cases. Generally, governmental agencies and their employees are immune from liability for negligent actions if the negligent actions were performed within the scope of a governmental function. Governmental functions are activities that are mandated by the Constitution, a statute, or another law. There are several exceptions to governmental immunity that provide for situations in which you can still hold a government entity liable for premises liability. These include the maintenance of public highways, the negligent operation of a governmental vehicle, public building defects, public sidewalk defects, medical care, the performance of proprietary functions, and events related to the sewage system.

Discuss a Premises Liability Claim With a Traverse City, Detroit, or Grand Rapids Lawyer

If you are injured or a loved one is killed due to a dangerous condition on somebody else’s property, you should retain an experienced Grand Rapids, Detroit, and Traverse City premises liability attorney. Ms. Neumann is an award-winning personal injury and wrongful death lawyer who can represent people across the states of Michigan, Massachusetts, and California. Attorney Kelly Neumann and her attorneys have consistently settled millions of dollars in personal injury cases. Our firm can represent injured individuals and their families in Flint, Detroit, Lansing, Kalamazoo, Wyoming, Saginaw, Midland, Muskegon, Holland, Ann Arbor, Warren, Dearborn, Petoskey, and throughout the Lower & Upper Peninsulas of Michigan, as well as the Boston and metro Boston areas. Neumann Law Group also represents injured individuals in the Los Angeles and Orange County areas in California. Contact us toll-free at 800-525-NEUMANN or via our online form to schedule a free consultation.