St. Louis Premises Liability Lawyers

What Is Premises Liability?

A fall or other accident can cause serious injuries with long-lasting consequences. In some cases, such accidents can’t be prevented, but if you, as a visitor to a property, are hurt due to a hazard the owner should have taken care of, you should know your rights. If you are injured while on another person's property, the legal principle of premises liability dictates that the manager or owner of that property is responsible for your injuries if the accident was caused by negligence.

While some accidents are unavoidable, many can be directly attributed to carelessness on the part of a property owner: Failure to remove hazards on the property or to warn against known dangers can have real consequences for visitors and should be punished.

Nearly any property owner can be sued for premises liability, from a private homeowner to a restaurant, hotel, retail store, or even a landlord who fails to provide reasonable security measures.

Common Causes of Premises Liability Claims

There are many situations which can lead one to be injured while on another person's property; the most common circumstances include:

• Poor lighting conditions
• Poor layout or design of the property
• Poor maintenance or repair of the property
• Broken handrails/stairwells
• Slippery or wet floors

These are all hazards a property owner or manager has a responsibility to take care of in a timely fashion, because failing to do so puts visitors in danger. If you’ve been hurt in an accident because of one of the above factors, reach out to our team to see if you might be eligible to sue.

Our St. Louis team is here to help you recover compensation after an accident. Call Meyerkord & Kurth at (800) 391-4318 to schedule your free consultation. 

Proving a Premises Liability Claim

Receiving compensation after an accident caused by a property hazard is not as easy as bringing your medical bills to a judge. To prove a premises liability case, you must be able to demonstrate:

1. there was a hazard on the property that
2. the owner or manager could reasonably expect to be aware of, and
3. you were injured because of that hazard.

This may be harder than it sounds. No one wants to lose in a lawsuit and property owners are likely to deny your claims with everything they have. The more evidence you can bring, the stronger a case we can help you build for your premises liability claim.

Proving the Existence of a Hazard

An un-marked bump in a sidewalk, an invisible patch of ice, or an overhanging shelf ready to spill its goods on passers-by are all examples of dangerous elements that could be the basis of a property liability case. However, if you’re injured by such a hazard, a property owner may do all they can to fix it right away. If you got pictures of the dangerous situation at the time of your accident, they can be a great help in showing there was a problem. If you did not, our attorneys can investigate, looking for witnesses who may be able to attest to the hazard.

Making the Case for Reasonable Awareness

A property owner can’t be expected to know of a hazard on their property the reason it pops up, but they cannot maintain ignorance of a longstanding issue, either. They must have a reasonable means of checking their property for dangers. Finding a way to prove a hazard existed and should have been known can be difficult. Our attorneys are here to help construct reasonable arguments on your behalf.

Showing How the Hazard Caused Injury

An injury and your word unfortunately aren’t enough to prove your case to a judge and jury. You will need specific evidence of the incident and a way to show your injuries are directly linked. We could be able to help you retrieve evidence including video camera footage. If you gathered contact information from any witnesses, this could also help us make your case.

Filing a Premises Liability Lawsuit

If an unsafe condition has resulted in you being injured while on another's property, speak to one of our attorneys to see if you may have a case. We want to help injury victims through the hardship that can be caused by missed work and long-term injury or disability. We represent clients in a wide variety of premises liability claims, from slip & fall, food poisoning and assaults/attacks, to dog bites, casino accidents, fireworks accidents, and elevator/escalator accidents.

At Meyerkord & Kurth, we understand how difficult it can be to see a clear path forward after a serious injury. Our goal in every case is to secure the compensation our clients need to make full recoveries, and we employ all means at our disposal to increase the likelihood of fair compensation.

Call our offices today at (800) 391-4318 if you have been injured on another's property and want to learn whether you have grounds to sue for premises liability.