Knoxville Slip & Fall Attorney
Property owners have a duty to keep their premises in a reasonably safe condition for the safety of their customers and guests. A slip and fall might not sound serious, but it can cause painful and debilitating injuries, including muscle tears and sprains, fractures, facial and other lacerations, concussions, or paralysis from a neck or back injury. Elderly persons are especially susceptible to serious or permanent injury, but slip and fall injuries happen to people of all ages. Falls are a leading cause of death in many categories and age groups.
If you get hurt in a Knoxville slip and fall, trip and fall, hit by a falling object, or were otherwise injured because of an unsafe condition on another’s property, Atkins Brezina, PLLC, can help you prove your case and get the care and compensation you need and deserve after getting harmed because of a property owner’s negligence.
What Is Premises Liability?
Property owners in Tennessee owe a duty of reasonable care to keep people on the property safe from an unreasonable risk of harm. This duty of care includes the duty to fix any hazard or warn the public of danger that the property owner knew about or should have known about. The owner of the premises is liable for injuries in a slip and fall or other accident which occur because the owner didn’t fix or warn of the dangerous condition in a reasonable amount of time.
Slip and fall cases can be hard to prove and require the assistance of a skilled and experienced premises liability lawyer. Property owners and their insurance carriers find many ways around having to be held responsible for an injury. In most slip and fall or trip and fall cases, the hazardous condition is a temporary one (a spilled liquid or piece of merchandise on the floor), and it is the injury victim’s responsibility to show the hazard was present for an unreasonable length of time before the accident happened. There are many different ways to do this, but gathering strong evidence can be challenging depending on the circumstances.
Insurers might also claim that a danger was “open and obvious” and so it should have been avoided by the accident victim. A similar claim is that the victim “was not looking where they were going” when the accident happened. This argument may or may not hold water, but even if it does, it might not relieve the property owner from the duty to have fixed or warned about the hazard beforehand. When both parties are partly to blame, the injury victim can still recover partial compensation from the property owner, so long as the victim is not 50% or more at fault.
What About Accidents on Public Property?
It is not uncommon for slip and fall accidents to occur on city property or in state or federal government buildings. In these cases, it is sometimes possible to sue the government for negligence, although the rules are slightly different. One important difference is the requirement to put the government on official notice about the claim before it is filed. Failing to comply with this extra layer can doom your claim, so be sure to call an experienced premises liability attorney as soon as possible after an accident to preserve your rights.
What is “Negligent Security”?
Negligent security refers to the duty of property owners to provide adequate security to keep people on their premises safe from robbery or assault. This duty applies to premises such as shopping malls, office buildings and apartment complexes. Areas such as parking garages, stairwells, hallways and common areas should be adequately lit and have working locks. Depending on the premises, other security measures might be appropriate, including gated access, video cameras and/or security guards. Property owners can be held liable for sexual assaults or other injuries that happen on their premises because their security was inadequate.
Bars and nightclubs might hire security guards or bouncers to handle unruly patrons on their premises, including the parking lot. When they do, they should ensure the people they hire are properly trained and supervised so they don’t fail in their duty to protect patrons or go too far in their job and harm people unnecessarily.
Help With Slip and Fall and Premises Liability cases in Knoxville
If you have been injured in a slip and fall, trip and fall, or other accident on another’s dangerous property in Knoxville or East Tennessee, call Atkins Brezina, PLLC, at 865-500-3121 for a free consultation with an experienced and successful Knoxville premises liability attorney.
