If you have ever seen a brightly colored sign for a wet floor propped up in a supermarket’s produce section, you already have some idea of what commercial landowners need to do to prevent injuries. However, the duty of care that those landowners owe to their customers as lawful visitors goes far beyond just putting out a warning sign or two.
As our experienced premises liability attorneys could tell you, a lot of people who get hurt due to hazardous conditions on commercial property have much stronger grounds for civil litigation than they might expect. That said, most people may also have very little chance of getting the best possible result for their case if they try to file suit alone. If you want to hold a negligent store owner or manager liable for your recent injury, contact a New Port Richey commercial property premises liability lawyer from LMD Injury Lawyers for help with your case.
Every property owner who allows other people onto their land accepts a degree of legal liability for injuries sustained by those visitors. Proving that a particular injury occurred because of a violation of this duty of care is the main goal of nearly every premises liability lawsuit. All property owners are liable for injuries to lawful visitors caused by hazards that they—the property owner—already knew about. However, this would apply if they failed to warn visitors about the hazard in advance or failed to fix it or cordon it off reasonably quickly after discovering it.
If you get hurt on commercial property in New Port Richey that you are visiting as a customer, you may still be able to file a premises liability lawsuit even if the property owner had no direct knowledge of the hazard that led to your injury. As our attorneys can further explain, this is because landowners in the state owe an expanded duty of care to invitees who are visiting for the landowner’s financial benefit. This expanded duty of care requires them to regularly inspect their property—either personally or through someone they employ—for hazards they have yet to discover.
Of course, no small business owner—let alone someone representing a massive corporation—is going to just accept liability for an accident on their land without a fight. Unfortunately, one of the most common tactics that landowners use to contest these cases is accusing injured people of being at fault for causing their own injuries through their own careless behaviors.
If a court agrees with this argument, the court could assign you a percentage of comparative fault for your damages and then reduce the value of your final damage award by this percentage. This is one of many legal obstacles that a lawyer from our team could help you navigate during a commercial property premises liability claim in New Port Richey.
Commercial property owners often try to convince you that they are not responsible for any injuries that occur on their land. However, there are certain circumstances under which those owners are legally liable for accidents on their property, and sometimes this could apply even if they made you sign a waiver saying otherwise.
A New Port Richey commercial property premises liability lawyer can discuss your options and potential next steps during a confidential consultation. Call LMD Injury Lawyers today to start exploring your right to recovery.
727-849-5353