Premises Liability Attorneys in Mobile, AL

If you or someone you love has been injured on another party’s property, you may be entitled to compensation. Slip, trip, and fall cases are the most common type of premises liability action, but they are all more complex than they appear on the surface.

The law requires that property owners maintain a safe and secure premises. However, proving liability in these cases can be difficult. At Burns, Cunningham & Mackey, P.C., we are a full-service civil litigation firm that puts its vast experience to work for the benefit of every client.

Our partners have over 100 years of combined experience in fighting for the rights of injury victims. Our main focus is helping clients receive the full and fair compensation they deserve after a serious and life-changing accident. If you have been injured, contact us today to schedule a free consultation.

The Responsibility of the Property Owner

According to Alabama law, property owners have a responsibility to take care of the property so that visitors are kept reasonably safe from harm. When a property owner, and sometimes a property manager, fails to do this and a person becomes injured, they could be liable for damages.

However, just because you were hurt on someone else’s property, that doesn’t automatically qualify you for compensation. There are several elements you will need to prove before an insurance company will approve a claim or a court will issue an award.

Unfortunately, insurance companies are in business to make money, and they will not be quick to pay fair settlements. In fact, if the accident occurred in Alabama, there is a good chance they will try to capitalize on the state’s defendant-friendly “contributory negligence” legal standard. Under contributory negligence, if an injured party is found to be even 1% at-fault for the underlying accident, they can be barred from recovering compensation.

Premises liability is a subtle area of the law. A number of factors will determine whether a property owner is responsible for your damages. This includes the type of visitor that you were since the same level of care isn’t owed to everyone that enters a property.

Alabama’s Premises Liability Laws

When you file a personal injury claim in Alabama, you must be able to prove negligence. This involves three tests. First, the owner or caretaker of the property owed you a duty of care. Second, they breached that duty. And, third, the breach was the proximate cause of your injuries.

It’s important to note that the duty of care owed by property owners differs depending on the status of the visitor. Visitor status can be broken down into three general categories:

• These might include customers, tenants, employees, and contractors. This group is owed the highest duty of care by the property owner.
• These might include social guests, mail carriers, and salespeople. This group is owed the second-highest duty of care.
• This is a group that comes onto the property uninvited, with no legal right to be there. The property owner owes very little duty of care to this group, only to refrain from willful and wanton misconduct or entrapment designed to injure them. The exception is trespassing children, where there is a duty of care to keep this group safe from harm.

Slip and Fall Cases

The most common type of premises liability case is a slip and fall accident, sometimes also referred to as a slip, trip, and fall. These claims often occur due to uneven floors, piled up debris, poor lighting, and accumulated ice, snow, or other liquids on the ground.

If you slip and fall at a business where you were an invitee, the law requires you to prove that the property owner knew about, or should have known about, the problem causing your fall. This would show that the property owner did not maintain their duty of care in keeping the property safe.

Slip and fall injuries can also occur when you are a guest on some else’s property. For example, you attend a dinner party or holiday picnic a co-worker’s home, making you a licensee. While the law might be more on the property owner’s side, this is difficult to determine without a thorough investigation by an experienced slip and fall attorney.

Other Typical Premises Liability Claims

While slip and fall cases are common and likely the ones you will hear about the most, there are plenty of other types of serious and even deadly accidents that can happen on another party’s property. These include:

• Playground and school accidents
• Amusement park accidents
• Swimming pool accidents
• Dog bites / animal attacks
• Assaults and injuries due to inadequate security
• Toxic fumes and chemicals on a property
• Balcony / porch collapse
• Elevator and escalator accidents
• Dangerous stairways

Compensation for Your Injuries

A premises liability injury can be severe, and you might sustain damages that impact you physically, emotionally, and financially. If another party was to blame and there is sufficient evidence to support your case, you may be entitled to compensation for your losses. These damages include:

• Property loss or damage
• Medical expenses
• Lost income
• Physical pain
• Mental anguish
• Physical impairment
• Disfigurement
• Loss of quality of life

In the most severe cases, a person can lose their life from the injuries sustained on another person’s property. If you have lost a loved one under these circumstances, you may have a wrongful death case.

Contact an Experience Mobile Premises Liability Attorney

Even though premises liability cases in Alabama are difficult, our firm wholeheartedly believes that you are entitled to compensation for your injuries if another party was responsible. At Burns, Cunningham & Mackey, P.C., our experienced personal injury attorneys understand this system and know what it takes to prevail in one of these cases.

Time is of the essence in these matters, so it’s important to act fast. There is a two-year statute of limitations on personal injury cases, which is why we recommend contacting a personal injury attorney as soon as possible after an accident. This is also a necessity for premises liability, where collecting evidence and locating witnesses early on is essential.

We work closely with every client to provide the best chance of a positive case result. Our number one goal is to secure the compensation you deserve from the responsible parties. Contact our Mobile office now at (800) 574-4332 or reach out to us online to schedule your free consultation.