Premise Liability Team Serving Washington

If you are injured while on another’s property, you may be forced to file a premises liability claim to hold the negligent person or entity responsible for your injuries. Premises liability claims can be complex, requiring the assistance of a highly experienced attorney. It is understandable that you could be unsure of what you need to do next to ensure your injuries are fully compensated.

Kadish Twersky brings more than 75 years of combined legal experience to your premise liability claim, as well as other personal injury claims in the Puget Sound region. Glenn Kadish and Jeff Twersky will help you seek compensatory damages for injuries involving premises liability. These damages could include your medical expenses (current and future), lost wages (current and future), and pain and suffering.

The Kadish Twersky Law Firm has recently merged with Palace Law; this merger brings you an even wider array of highly experienced, knowledgeable attorneys—a legal team who will work hard on your behalf. Our experience with personal injuries from accidents on business, corporate, commercial, and government properties includes lawsuits against governments, stores, corporations, and powerful insurance companies.

What is Premises Liability?

Property owners in the state of Washington have an obligation to keep their properties safe. Property owners must also address any hazards on the property, or, at the very least, must provide adequate warning of any hazards. Property owners are generally liable for accidents and resulting injuries that take place on their property. When a premises liability claim is filed, the property’s overall condition could be a consideration. The injured individual’s legal status is also considered.

What is the Legal Status of the Visitor?

When you are on another’s property, you are either an invitee, a social guest, a licensee, or a trespasser. Invitees are those who have an invitation to be on the property—although this invitation could be implied. When you go to your local grocery store, you have an implied invitation to come inside and shop. The owner of the property must have taken reasonable steps to ensure the safety of invitees. If you are attending a Halloween party by way of an invitation from the owner, you are considered a social guest—a welcome visitor to the property.

As a licensee, you are entering a property for your own purpose, or as a guest, and you are present at the consent of the owner. While it may sound as though an invitee and a licensee are the same things, while both have the permission of the property owner to be on the property, a licensee is present for his or her own purpose, while an invitee is usually present for the benefit of the property owner. If you are at the grocery store shopping, you would be considered an invitee, while if you simply enter the grocery store to ask directions, you would be considered a licensee. Invitees are given the highest level of protection because they are present for the specific purpose of furthering the property owner’s business.

A trespasser has entered the property with no right to do so. Even though trespassers do not have the right to be on the property, if the owner is aware that trespassers could potentially enter his or her property, the owner has a duty to provide reasonable warning of any known hazards in respect to any artificial conditions created by the owner which could potentially cause serious injury or death. An example of this could be an owner who has a large swimming pool with a diving board. In the event that a trespasser might enter the property, jump off the diving board, and sustain a head injury, there must be signs warning of the potential hazards. Swimming pools are often considered “attractive nuisances” where children are concerned, therefore, pool owners are usually required to install secure fencing surrounding the pool.

Issues in a Premises Liability Claim

The legal status of the visitor will be the first consideration, and the circumstances under which the individual entered the property will be the second consideration. Next, the foreseeability of the accident or injury which occurred will be considered. Finally, whether the owner took reasonable steps to repair a hazardous condition on the property or post a sign warning of the hazardous condition will be taken into consideration.

Different Types of Premises Liability Claims

Slip and fall claims are by far the most common type of premise liability claim. People fall in grocery stores, parking lots, restaurants, bars, shopping malls, on escalators and stairs, in restrooms, on sidewalks, in airport terminals, and in hundreds of additional places.

Although the elderly are more likely to slip and fall, virtually anyone can do so when the floor is slick, the lighting is poor, the carpeting is torn, the stairway is narrow, or for a myriad of other reasons. Injuries associated with slip and falls can range from bruises, cuts, and scrapes to broken bones, internal injuries, neck and back injuries and traumatic brain injuries.

Dog bites are another common type of premises liability claim, as are swimming pool accidents. Negligent security at a public hotel, restaurant, parking lot, or another public place can result in an assault. As noted, property owners have a duty of care to their guests, and when they fail to meet this duty of care, a premises liability claim may be filed.

Helping You Prove Liability

Attorneys at the Kadish Twersky Law Firm, along with the legal team at Palace Law will work hard on your behalf to ensure you receive the compensation you are entitled to receive. Our experienced attorneys will collect the evidence required to show your specific injuries and to further show those injuries were directly related to the property owner’s negligence. We can review police records to determine whether there were similar injuries in the past from the same hazard. Finally, we will photograph the accident scene, making sure we document all hazards.

If there is video surveillance at the scene of your accident, we will review the footage, and if witnesses are present, we will interview them. At Kadish Twersky, we want you to have the time you need to recover from your injuries. Because of this, we will take care of all the legal details on your behalf. Contact Kadish Twersky today for the help you need with your premise liability claim.