Slip and Fall Attorney in East Brunswick
Slip-and-Fall injuries are a leading cause of premises liability claims and frequently result in very serious injuries.
Premises liability is defined as injury to a guest on private or commercial property. Property owners and occupants have a duty to maintain their properties in safe condition, and to warn of dangerous conditions that could result in injury to guests.
These are complex cases. Those who are injured are best served by reaching out to an East Brunswick personal injury lawyer as soon as possible. Thorough investigation of these cases in the immediate aftermath of an injury is often essential to proving your case. Dangerous conditions are often quickly repaired following an injury, and collecting evidence, including photographs or video surveillance, can be critical to proving your case against a business or property owner.
New Jersey Premises Liability Law
The status and purpose of a guest injured on someone’s property impacts victims’ rights under New Jersey law. The law recognizes three types of visitors: business invitees, licensees and trespassers.
Business owners owe visitors and guests the highest duty of care under New Jersey premises liability law. Customers are invited onto business property for the benefit and profit of the business or property owner. A business or property owner owes business invitees a duty to keep the premises safe and free from dangerous defects or hazards. The property owner must promptly repair dangerous conditions and/or warn guests of their presence.
The New Jersey Supreme Court has affirmed the common law duty of care to invitees as “a duty of reasonable care to guard against any dangerous conditions on his or her property that the owner either knows about or should have discovered. That standard of care encompasses the duty to conduct a reasonable inspection to discover latent dangerous conditions.” Hopkins v. Fox & Lazo Realtors, 132 N.J. 426, 434 (1993).
Licensees are defined under the law as permitted guests visiting someone else’s property. A social guest visiting a friend or family member is typically considered to be a licensee under New Jersey law. Owners of such property are not required to carry out routine inspections but are obligated to warn visitors about known dangers and must use reasonable care to correct such conditions.
A trespasser is owed the least duty of care under the law. Under New Jersey law, a property owner is still obligated to refrain from acts of willful injury. Additionally, land owners must still warn trespassers of dangerous artificial conditions on the property, such as high-voltage power lines or other created conditions, typically by posting warning signs.
Young children are owed a special duty of care under the attractive nuisance principles. Even if they are trespassing on the property, owners owe a special duty when such visits are reasonably foreseeable as a result of property conditions likely to draw the interest of children, such as junk cars or swimming pools.
Slip-and-Fall Injuries in New Jersey
Falls can result in very serious or fatal injuries. Older adults are among those at highest risk. As such, businesses that cater to older customers must take into account such risks when maintaining their properties. Common results of fall injuries include broken bones or joints and head injuries. Common hazards that result in fall injuries include:
- Wet or slippery floors
- Loose treads or dangerous stairwells
- Loose or missing handrails
- Trip hazards
- Poor lighting
- Uneven surfaces
- Snow and ice
A fall injury attorney in East Brunswick should document the conditions that resulted in injury as close in time as possible to an injury incident. Weather and visibility can change and dangerous conditions are often quickly corrected after an accident. Additionally, your personal injury law firm must identify all liable parties responsible for your injury, which could include a business owner, manager or tenant, as well as property manager, leasing agents and property owners.
Determining the full extent of your injuries is also critical to making a comprehensive claim for all of the damages to which you are entitled. This includes medical bills, lost wages, and other economic damages associated with your claim, such as rehabilitation and medical equipment and supplies. Non-economic damages, such as pain and suffering, must also be determined, as well as the potential for damages associated with short- or long-term disability and reduced quality of life. These are complex claims that require a law firm with the knowledge, resources, and experience to negotiate your damage claim while building your case for trial against large property insurance corporations and their law firms.
Premises Liability Claims
While fall injuries are among the most serious and most common property injury claims, there are many other types of personal injury and wrongful death claims in New Jersey that result from property injuries:
- Dog bites
- Negligent security
- Hotel and resort injuries
- Construction site accidents
- Injuries from falling merchandise or equipment
- Parking lot injuries
- Swimming pool or hot tub injuries
In general, many of the same factors apply when it comes to determining the duty a property owner owes to a customer or invited guest. However, each of these types of cases come with their own complex requirements when it comes to building a comprehensive damage claim. And each set of facts and circumstances is unique. The statute of limitations for filing a premises liability claim in New Jersey is two years from the date of accident. Reaching out to an experienced premises liability lawyer in East Brunswick as soon as possible will allow for the best chance to gather evidence, identify those responsible, and determine the full extent of damages to which you are entitled under the law.