Premises Liability Attorney David Woolf

California premises liability attorney David Woolf is a personal injury lawyer who represents victims who have been hurt by a property owner’s negligence or poor conduct. These cases are often referred to as “slip-and-fall” cases. When victims are hurt because of someone else’s negligence, they are entitled to compensation. A premises liability lawyer can maximize the settlement or file a lawsuit.

What is a premises liability claim?

A premises liability claim is a type of personal injury lawsuit. In California, property owners have a legal duty of care to maintain their premises in a reasonably safe condition. If they fail to do so and someone gets hurt, they can be subjected to premises liability and made to compensate the victim.

California personal injury law requires owners of private property to manage their premises with ordinary care or skill.¹ Failing to do so opens them up to premises liability to anyone who gets hurt.

In order to recover compensation, victims in California have to show 4 elements:

1. the defendant owned, occupied, leased, or controlled the property,
2. the defendant was negligent in the use or the maintenance of the property,
3. the victim was hurt, and
4. the defendant’s negligence was a substantial factor in causing the victim’s harm.²

The victim has the burden of proving these elements by a preponderance of the evidence.

How can property owners be negligent?

Property owners or occupiers can be negligent under premises liability law in a huge variety of ways. Some common types of premises liability cases involve:

• negligent property maintenance,
• poor property security, and
• negligent control of a dog.

Negligent property maintenance is a frequent source of premises liability. Owners can be found negligent for failing to take reasonable care to fix or warn of any of the following dangerous conditions:

• broken stairs,
• hazardous conditions in the yard, like hidden sinkholes,
• broken escalators,
• potential elevator accidents, like an empty shaft with no warning on it,
• hidden steps that can cause a fall,
• slippery floor conditions, like a spill in a grocery store, or
• icy walkways or parking lots.

Poor property security can also subject the owner to premises liability. A common situation is a business or residential complex that does not take reasonable steps to keep visitors or residents safe from crime. If their negligent security leads to a crime, the owner of the property may be held liable. Another scenario is if a property owner does not properly secure their swimming pool from visitors, like children. These swimming pool accidents are often fatal.

Dog bites are also a type of premises liability claim. However, most states, including California, have their own laws that apply specifically to these animal attacks. In California, property owners are strictly liable for their dogs.³ This means that victims do not need to prove that the owner was behaving negligently to recover compensation.

What if the victim was trespassing?

Property owners can be held liable, even if the injured party was trespassing. While the foreseeability of the victim on the property is a factor that will be considered, California no longer uses the following rigid classifications for visitors:

• invitees,
• licensees, and
• trespassers.⁴

What are some common injuries in a premises liability case?

There is a myth that victims in slip-and-fall cases never suffer serious injuries. This is not true. Victims in slip-and-fall or premises liability claims can, and often do, suffer significant injuries. Senior citizens are especially vulnerable to these unsafe conditions. Some of the most common and severe injuries include:

• broken or fractured wrists or hands, as the victim tried to break his or her fall,
• head injuries, including concussions and traumatic brain injuries (TBI),
• back injuries,
• whiplash,
• spinal cord injuries,
• broken legs,
• fractured feet,
• broken ankles,
• other broken bones,
• cuts and lacerations, some of which can be life-threatening, and
• hip or pelvis injuries.

Some of these injuries can be very expensive to treat, accumulating hundreds of thousands of dollars in medical expenses.

What types of compensation are available?

In California, victims can recover compensation for any loss that stemmed from the accident. These are the victim’s legal damages. Generally, those legal damages will take the form of:

• medical bills, including for anticipated medical care in the future,
• lost wages,
• reduced earning capacity, if the accident caused injuries that will make it more difficult for the victim to work,
• pain and suffering,
• mental anguish,
• emotional distress, and
• loss of consortium for the victim’s family.

In rare cases where the property owner was incredibly negligent in fixing dangerous property conditions or actually intended to hurt the victim, punitive damages may be awarded, as well.

How can a premises liability lawyer help my claim?

A premises liability lawyer from a reputable law firm can help victims in 2 ways. They can:

1. maximize the settlement offer, and
2. file a premises liability lawsuit.

In the aftermath of a premises liability accident, an insurance adjuster for the property owner will investigate the case. He or she may then make an initial settlement offer to the victim. This offer is designed to be enticing, while also protecting the insurance company’s bottom line by drastically undercompensating the victim. Taking the offer requires signing a contract that releases the property owner from liability, effectively ending the case.

Victims who hire a premises injury lawyer can tap into the attorney’s experience and better understand whether the settlement offer is a fair one. The attorney can also inform the victim of what their long-term legal damages will likely be.

Victims who get legal representation often see a change in tactics by the insurance company. Insurance companies are more likely to take victims who have legal representation seriously. They are likely to increase the amount of their settlement offers.

If no settlement offer is adequate, a premises liability lawyer can file a personal injury lawsuit on the victim’s behalf. This is a formal demand for compensation under premises liability. It has to be filed before the statute of limitations has run its course. A trial date will be set.

Settlement negotiations continue right up to, and sometimes even during, the trial. If no settlement is reached, the case will be presented to the jury. Their decision will be reflected in the verdict.

If the slip-and-fall accident was a fatal one, the personal injury attorney would represent the victim’s family members and loved ones in a wrongful death claim.

---