Defective Property Conditions

Premises liability lawsuits, sometimes called trip and fall, fall-down, or slip and fall cases, often arise from defective property conditions. Whether the cause is a defective handrail, an icy parking lot, or inadequate lighting, an accident suffered on another party’s property can result in substantial physical harm and sometimes even a wrongful death. At Siegel & Siegel, P.C., our Middlesex County slip and fall lawyers are committed to helping people who have been injured due to defective property conditions pursue fair compensation from those responsible.

A defendant in a premises liability lawsuit arising from a defective property condition may be a private homeowner, a landlord, a business, or even a governmental entity. These types of cases are very fact-specific, such that two plaintiffs with similar injuries might have different outcomes in their cases, depending on where and how the accident happened. One reason for this is that the level of duty owed to people who go onto others’ land can vary substantially, depending upon whether the injured person was a social guest, a business customer, or a trespasser. Generally, the highest duty of care is owed to an invitee who goes onto an entity’s property for a commercial purpose, such as a shopper at a grocery store.

The essential elements of a negligence case are duty, breach of duty, damages, and causation. Since the burden of proof is on the plaintiff to establish each of these elements, it is important to get started as soon as possible on a premises liability case if you or a family member has been hurt on another person or entity’s property. For example, if a child is injured by falling into a swimming pool that has not been properly fenced off on a neighbor’s property, the child’s parents or guardians must prove the nature and extent of the child’s injuries as well as causation leading from the lack of fencing to the accident.

Also, an experienced slip and fall lawyer will investigate a victim’s future prognosis to determine whether they should seek compensation for the costs of future treatment and other long-term damages. For example, a traumatic brain injury suffered in a fall on uneven pavement in the defendant’s parking lot may affect a victim for the rest of their life. In another situation, an encounter with exposed electrical wiring at someone else’s house could cause serious burns and scarring that may affect the victim’s quality of life and their career path. Each victim’s situation contains important nuances that must be explored to make sure that they are asserting their right to all of the damages that they deserve.

If you do not promptly talk to an attorney about your case, valuable evidence may be lost in the days, weeks, or months following an accident. Evidence such as surveillance videos and eyewitness statements should be secured as quickly as possible. Otherwise, tangible evidence of how the accident happened may be deleted, recorded over, or discarded after a certain time period, while witnesses may not remember the incident as clearly.

Even if you were partly responsible for the fall, you should be aware that this does not necessarily mean that you cannot recover compensation. As long as you were not more than 50% at fault for an accident, you can hold the defendant liable for a defective property condition or inadequate maintenance and receive an award proportionate to the defendant’s fault.

Siegel & Siegel, P.C. represents injured people throughout Middlesex, Mercer, Burlington, Union, and Monmouth Counties, including in the areas around Trenton, Princeton, Cranbury, Hamilton, Plainsboro, South Brunswick, North Brunswick, New Brunswick, Edison, Piscataway, and West Windsor. For an appointment to discuss your potential premises liability case with an experienced attorney, call us now at 609-799-6066 or contact us online. There is no charge for the consultation, and most cases are handled through a contingent fee arrangement, in which no upfront fees are due.