Everything You Should Know About Premises Liability in California

If you have been injured on someone else’s property, it’s important to understand the concept of premises liability. Here’s what you need to know about premises liability in California:

Types of Premises Liability Cases

Premises liability comes into play any time someone is injured by an unsafe condition on someone else’s property. Some of the most common examples of premises liability cases involve:

• Slip and fall accidents
• Dog bites
• Swimming pool accidents
• Exposure to toxic chemicals
• Icy walkways
• Lack of security around the property

Proving Negligence

An injury that occurs on someone else’s property is not always the property owner’s fault. In order to recover compensation, you must be able to prove that the property owner’s negligence directly caused your injuries. How? First, you must show that the property owner owed you a “duty of care.” For example, retail store owners have a responsibility to keep their customers safe by ensuring the floors are not slippery.

Next, you will need to show that the property owner breached this duty of care, meaning he failed to act reasonably and put you in harm’s way as a result. Using the previous example, if a retail store owner sees a puddle of water on the floor, but fails to clean it up, he has breached his duty of care.

Finally, you will need to show that you were injured because the property owner breached his duty of care. If you slipped and fell because the floor was slippery from the puddle of water, you would need to prove that the injuries occurred as a result of the property owner’s failure to clean up the spill.

Comparative Negligence

California is a comparative negligence state, which means both the property owner and the injured person may be held liable in a premises liability case. How can this affect your premises liability case? As a visitor on someone else’s property, you are required to act with reasonable care to protect yourself. If it is determined that your failure to act with reasonable care led to your injury, the amount of compensation you are awarded may be reduced.

For example, let’s say it is determined that you are 40% at fault for your injuries and the property owner is 60% at fault. If you were awarded $10,000, it would be reduced by 40%, so you would only receive $60,000.

As you can see, premises liability cases can be quite complex, so you will need an experienced personal injury attorney by your side. If you have been injured on someone else’s property and think the property owner is to blame, contact James Rush at Rush Injury Law right away. Schedule a free consultation with us today by calling 415-897-4801 or filling out the online form on our website www.rushinjurylaw.com .