Types of St. Petersburg Premises Liability Cases 

Premises liability is when someone is injured at a location owned by a private party or a corporation or company and that person, the owner or the manager of the property, is liable for the injuries that occurred on their property. In order to have a premises liability case, a person must have an owner or operator which has a duty to maintain the premises in a safe condition. They may breach that duty either by creating a dangerous condition, or not warning about the dangerous condition, or negligently allowing a dangerous condition to be present and that dangerous condition causes an injury to someone on the property.

There are many ways in which someone can sustain an injury and as a result, there are many types of St. Petersburg premises liability cases. If you have sustained an injury as the result of a property owner’s negligence, reach out to a capable premises liability attorney who can advocate for you.

Approaching a Premises Liability Case

The most common locations for premises liability incidents to occur are restaurants and retail stores. Whether it is a grocery store or a shopping mall or similar, those are the most common areas for a slip and fall case or even a negligent security case at a bar or a club. The most frequently occurring types of premises liability cases in St. Petersburg are slip and fall cases or trip and fall cases, and negligent security.

Because there are so many types of St. Petersburg premises liability cases, there are different ways of approaching each case. There are different rules that govern a slip and fall case versus a negligent security case. In a negligent security case, a person must prove that more security was warranted and that the owner knew that a dangerous crime or dangerous act could have been committed there. There is more notice required in a slip and fall. If there is hazardous condition and that hazardous condition created an injury then usually they are just trying to prove damages and they are trying to prove liability.

Factors That Qualify the Severity of a Case

There are two things that can affect the severity of a premises liability case. The first is the damages. If it is a wrongful death or a traumatic brain injury or some severe damage, that makes it a more severe premise liability case. The other factor is, if it is grossly negligent or even intentional misconduct by a company, owner or controller of a property then they can get punitive damages.

Those punish the corporation or individual because they did something that was grossly negligent or so horribly wrong that it is a shock to the senses and the damages need to be penalized them and punish them for this wrongdoing. So, that can make it a severe premises liability case. For instance, if someone sets booby traps at their house and they blow up the mailman, that’s going to be pretty severe premises liability case because the damages and because of the heinous actions done by the homeowner.

Determining Liability

In all types of St. Petersburg premises liability cases, liability is determined by the party that either owns the premises or was in control of the premises where the injury occurred. For instance, if there is a wheelchair ramp liability rests with either be the tenant leasing the property, or the owner of the property because they have control over the common areas and a wheelchair ramp is a common area.

So, it really depends on who controls the area where the hazardous condition exists. If there is a leaky air conditioner inside of a grocery store and it is dripping on the ground and someone slips in that water, the liable party is whoever was in control of the air conditioning in that building, whether it be the owner or the tenant grocery store.

Advantages of a St. Petersburg Lawyer

Premises liability attorneys usually handle slip and fall cases, negligent security cases and dram shop cases. One of the advantages of hiring a lawyer is that they will have experience representing people in different types of St. Petersburg premises liability cases, and can use that experience to fight for you. If you have sustained an injury as the result of a slip and fall, contact a skilled liability attorney who can start building your case.