Stadium and Theater Accidents

Grand Rapids and Traverse City Attorneys Skilled in Premises Liability Cases

Going to the stadium or theater is supposed to be a pleasant way to spend your time when you are not working. The last thing on your mind may be encountering a dangerous condition. However, there sometimes are defective conditions in stadiums and theaters that may cause serious injuries. If you are hurt in a stadium or theater accident, you should retain an experienced Grand Rapids or Traverse City premises liability lawyer. At the Neumann Law Group, our principal, Kelly Neumann, is an award-winning trial attorney who has a strong track record of results. We specialize in personal injury claims, including premises liability, car accidents, medical malpractice, dangerous products, and defective medical devices claims.

Understanding Your Options After a Stadium or Theater Accident

Often, tickets to events include legitimate disclaimers or waivers related to injuries. For example, at a sporting event at a stadium, there may be an expected risk of being hit by a ball. However, if there are defective conditions that would not be anticipated by people invited onto the property, and these result in injuries, it may be possible to recover damages, notwithstanding a waiver or disclaimer. Some conditions that may cause injuries in a stadium or theater include fire hazards, insufficient lighting, alcohol-related fights, elevator or escalator accidents, insufficient security, or slip and falls.

Immediately after suffering injuries, you should obtain medical care and take pictures of the scene. You should also take down any eyewitness contact information. In a premises liability lawsuit, it is critical to establish that the defendant knew or should have known about the dangerous condition that caused your harm.

Stadium or theater owners in Michigan have constructive notice when their employees create a dangerous condition by acting unreasonably and in such a way that they breach their duty to visitors. They also have constructive notice if there is evidence that a dangerous condition existed long enough that they should have discovered it.

A common defense that is raised in premises liability cases is that the dangerous condition was open and obvious. If a danger is known to you or is so obvious that you would be expected to discover it, the owner will have no duty to protect you or warn you of it, unless it should anticipate that you would be injured even if you knew about it.

Additionally, defendants may argue that a plaintiff was comparatively negligent or assumed the risk of harm. If a defendant can show that you were partially to blame, your economic damages award will be reduced in an amount proportional to your fault, even if you were more than 50% responsible. This means that you still may recover some portion of economic damages like medical bills, lost wages, and household services. However, for noneconomic damages, such as pain and suffering, you may be barred from recovery if your degree of fault is found to be greater than 50%. With this in mind, it is important to have an effective legal strategy to demonstrate that you were less than 50% at fault for an accident. We associate with accident reconstruction and other experts who can assist us in proving the issue of fault to a court.

Contact a Premises Liability Lawyer in Grand Rapids or Traverse City

You do not expect to come away from a day at the stadium or an evening at the theater with life-changing injuries. If you have been hurt in a stadium or theater accident, our Traverse City and Grand Rapids premises liability attorneys are ready to assert your rights. The Neumann Law Group also represents people who need an injury lawyer in many Michigan communities served, including: Ann Arbor, Flint, Lansing, Kalamazoo, Detroit, Wyoming, Saginaw, Muskegon, Midland, Holland, Warren, and Petoskey, as well as communities throughout the Upper Peninsula. We also accept clients nationally through out Los Angeles, Boston, and Midtown Manhattan offices. In addition to personal injury claims, we accept clients seeking representation in family law, real estate, medical malpractice, estate planning, and mediation matters, as well as those seeking a criminal defense attorney. Call us at 800-525-NEUMANN or use our online form to schedule a free appointment.