Premises Liability Lawsuit
Premises Liability Lawsuit Facts
If you, a friend, or a relative suffered an injury on someone else’s property, you should consider contacting an attorney to review the details of your situation. If you start a claim, Lawsuit Hotline might be able offer pre-settlement financial assistance as your case awaits settlement.
Premises liability is the body of law which addresses the responsibilities of a land owner or the person(s) having intent to control grounds and/or buildings. Often we think of premises liability law in the narrow context of slip and fall, but a possessor’s responsibilities for the safety and security of occupants and users is more complex than simply removing hazards to pedestrians.
The first consideration for a premises liability case is the complainant’s classification. The user of a property may be an invitee, a licensee, or a trespasser. A property owner’s responsibility differs for each of these groups, with the highest level of care due to an invitee.
An invitee is someone coming onto the premises for reasons to commercially benefit the owner, such as a store customer. A licensee is someone allowed to remain on the premises for other than a business or commercial purpose, such as a social guest. A trespasser does not have permission to be on the property; therefore the owner has the lowest responsibility for that classification of user. In the case of trespassers, the possessor’s liability is partially determined by whether the presence of the trespasser was known or unknown.
Experience
On March 3, 2009, Patti Clare, deputy director of the Downtown Development Corp. in Louisville, Kentucky, was touring an historic 1880’s building with executive director, Alan DeLisle, and building owners Paul and Carolan Bariteaus. While traveling along a stairwell, the stairs collapsed down two stories, trapping Clare, DeLisle, and Paul Bariteaus. Injuries suffered by Clare and DeLisle were extensive enough to prevent Clare from returning to work, even part–time, until July 2009. At that time, DeLisle was still recuperating from his injuries.
The two metro workers, Clare and DeLisle, filed a premises liability lawsuit against the Bariteaus couple, claiming that since the couple had owned the building for more than ten years, they should have known that the structure was unsafe. In fact, no safety inspection of the building had been requested for more than five years.
Read about the Stairwell Collapse and premises Liability
Action
Many people that are involved in premises liability lawsuits eventually face financial hardships. Many can’t work and the legal process is long and drawn out. Some cases take many years to resolve. Lawsuit Hotline specializes in the funding of settled and pre–settled premises liability lawsuits. During the funding process, Lawsuit Hotline requests some of the case documentation, underwriting evaluates the lawsuit to determine whether funding can be extended, and if approved, a contract is issued for the injured party and his/her attorney to sign. The injured party’s attorney then repays the lien when the case is resolved. All funding is non recourse, which means that if for any reason, there is no recovery on the case, then no money is owed back.