Fort Lauderdale Premises Liability Lawyers
If you got hurt on another’s property, such as a Walmart or Target in Fort Lauderdale, the individual or company who owns the property may be to blame. To win your case and collect the money you need to recovery, you need to hire a Fort Lauderdale premises liability lawyer to fight for you.
If you or a loved one has suffered a premises liability injury, the law may entitle you to compensation. To know for sure, speak with an experienced Fort Lauderdale premises liability lawyer today. Your lawyer can help you chart a path forward for your recovery and help you collect every dollar you deserve.
If you or a loved one have suffered injuries while on someone else’s property, whether it was your friend’s house or a restaurant or store, you deserve compensation for your injuries and your suffering. Your best chance of collecting maximum compensation is by working with an experienced Fort Lauderdale premises liability lawyer at The Levin Firm Personal Injury Lawyers who can help guide you through the complex premises liability claims process. We offer a free consultation, so you can explore your legal options.
We Get Results in Premises Liability Cases in Fort Lauderdale
At The Levin Firm Personal Injury Lawyers, our goal is to help our clients recover from their accidents. We know premises liability law and we know what these types of accidents and injuries can do to your life. They can keep you away from your loved ones, keep you out of work, and prevent you from enjoying your life. When you work with us, you can lean on our decades of experience helping clients just like you recover for their injuries.
Your main goal is to get better. That’s it. You just want to get back to your regular life. Part of that process, however, involves collecting money from the person or company that caused your injuries. We know that no amount of money will undo the pain you have endured. But the money we can collect for you will help keep you out of financial hardship. Our goal is to help you collect the compensation you need so that you do not pay a dime out of your own pocket for the injuries you have suffered.
Most of all, we treat you like a person, not just a number. We get to know you and your family. We get to know your injuries and your case. We do all of that with the intense goal of helping you get back to your regular life. We have helped countless premises liability victims just like you. You can read for yourself what our past clients have to say about us.
Our award-winning injury law firm stands by ready to help you get back on your feet by making sure you do not suffer any financial hardship due to your premises liability accident. Don’t delay another day—get a trusted legal advisor fighting for you today.
Types of Premises Liability Cases We Handle
When a Fort Lauderdale property or homeowner fails to keep their property safe or to warn of any known dangers, that can create a situation where guests get hurt through no fault of their own. This situation can arise from many types of circumstances.
Slip and Fall
Many premises liability injuries result from slipping and falling. In fact, nearly one million people suffer fall injuries each year from a slip and fall accident. This usually happens when you slip on a wet floor that you were not alerted to before entering the property. That’s why you see stores place those yellow wet floor signs near the entrance on a rainy day. If your injury occurred because of a wet floor, you can hold negligent owners accountable.
Dog Bites
Dogs are usually friendly animals. But some owners raise their pets as guards. Property owners must place guard dog signs around their property to warn people of the potential danger. When someone suffers a dog bite injury, they can suffer from nerve damage and scarring, in addition to other injuries, including mental.
Assault
Assault, battery, rape, mugging, all of these result from negligent security. When a property owner is aware that criminal activity has occurred on their property or nearby, they must take action to prevent visitors from suffering similar injuries. This could include installing security cameras or hiring more guards. Florida law allows you to file a premises liability lawsuit against the owner of a property for negligent security.
Swimming Pool
When a property owner has a swimming pool, they must take certain steps to prevent visitors, especially small children, from accidentally getting into the pool and drowning. This generally means that they puts up a fence or barrier around the swimming pool to keep people out and warn them of potential danger.
One Florida law to know is Florida’s attractive nuisance doctrine. Florida law recognizes that kids are naturally curious. That’s homeowners and property owners must take extra steps to keep kids from hazardous, yet attractive nuisance features. This includes pools, trampolines, abandoned refrigerators, and fountains.
Theme Parks
Many theme park tickets contain waivers on them. Most people never even know these waivers are there, let alone take the time to read them. Even if you do read the waiver, it’s important to understand that you have not waived all of your rights if you have been injured while visiting a theme park or amusement park. In fact, those waivers are meant to scare you off from bringing claim more than engaging in any legal effect. Theme park accidents can range from minor injuries to severe, life-threatening, injuries.
Elevator and Escalator
Owners must regularly examine elevators and escalators. These rules are in place to ensure you do not suffer unnecessary injuries. If a property owner lets their certificate expire or they fail to have the elevator or escalator on their property maintained or fixed, they could be held liable for any injuries you suffer while visiting their property.
Common Fort Lauderdale Premises Liablity Injuries
The injuries you suffer when you visit someone else’s property can range a great deal. Much of it depends on the situation which caused your injuries.
The most common injuries include:
- Traumatic brain injuries (TBI)
- Spinal cord injuries
- Broken bones
- Burns
- Scars
- Neck injuries
- Back injuries
- Illness from toxic chemical exposure
- Death
Your health should not suffer because you are worried about how to pay those medical bills. Let a Fort Lauderdale premises liability attorney help you collect the compensation you need so you do not have to pay a dime out of your own pocket for your medical expenses.
What is Premises Liability?
When you suffer a premises liability injury, you could have a premises liability claim against them. Property owners, with few exceptions, must warn visitors of potential dangers and take actions to remedy any dangers. They must keep their property free from hazards and fix those that arise. When they fail to take such action and you get hurt, you could be entitled to compensation.
Every time you step on someone else’s property, they owe you a duty of care. When the property owner breaches that duty of care and you got hurt, the property owner is liable. For example, if you slip and fall on a wet surface in a store, you could hold them liable for your injuries because they knew or should have known of the wet surface and did not take proper precaution to either warn you of the danger or clean up the spill.
But the property owner may owe you a different duty of care based on your status on their property. The law recognizes three types of visitors to someone else’s property.
Invitee
An invitee is someone who enters a property with the explicit permission of the owner or for the owner’s direct benefit. Examples of invitee status include department stores, restaurants, bars, grocery stores, and any other place you might go to make a purchase. Even if you do not purchase anything, the property owner must maintain the property in a reasonably safe condition at all times and actively warn you of any dangers. This is why you often see the yellow signs at a store’s entrance warning you of a wet floor.
Licensee
A licensee enters someone else’s property for their own benefit. When you visit a friend’s house for a party, for example, you are a licensee. Door to door salespeople and maintenance workers are other examples of licensees. In this instance, the property owner must warn you of a dangerous condition on the property. For example, if you are visiting a friend’s house for a backyard cookout and they have recently done some work in the yard that required them to dig holes, your friend must warn you that there are holes in the backyard, pointing them out, so you can avoid the dangerous situation.
Trespasser
Yes, a trespasser who enters another person or company’s property without permission or consent has legal rights. A property owner does not have to warn a trespasser of a dangerous condition on the property. However, the property owner cannot explicitly make the property more dangerous. An example of this would include placing traps on the property to injure a trespasser. Under the law, this action is explicitly forbidden and could result in the property owner’s liability for the trespasser’s injuries.
Collecting Compensation in a Premises Liability Claim
Many people are unsure of bringing a Fort Lauderdale premises liability lawsuit against another person for injuries suffered on their property, especially when that person may be a friend. But do not let this deter you. It’s important to remember that you are not suing your friend—you are attempting to collect compensation for your injuries from your friend’s insurance company.
When you file a premises liability claim for damages, you attempt to collect both economic and non-economic damages. Your economic damages may cover your actual and known costs while non-economic damages attempt to recover for your suffering.
Your lawyer may try to get you compensation for
- Pain and suffering
- Emotional distress
- Loss of companionship
- Loss of life enjoyment
- Lost wages
- Lost earning potential
- Present and future medical bills
- Rehabilitation costs
Dealing With Insurance Companies
When you bring a premises liability claim, you allege the owner failed to properly maintain their property such that you would not suffer injuries. If your claim is successful, your compensation will not come from the property owner but rather from their insurance company. This is why many insurance companies get involved in the premises liability claims process very early on.
The insurance company representing the property owner does not have your best interests at heart. The insurance company may contact you before you even have time to hire a lawyer. They will try to convince you that settling the case quickly is in your best interest. Do not believe them.
The insurance company is only looking out for their own profits. If they settle your case for the amount of money you actually need to recover, they would lose money. They will not do that and that’s why they pressure you to settle quickly. If you sign the settlement offer, you will waive your right to bring any future claim against the insurance company for this accident.
Your Fort Lauderdale premise liability attorney, however, will have your best interests at heart and do everything in their power to maximize your settlement. The vast majority of premise liability claims settle out of court. Our goal is to make sure your claim settles for the amount you deserve.
Winning Fort Lauderdale Premises Liability Lawsuits
Premises liability law is a complex area of the law. Not every lawyer is equipped to handle such a complex case like yours. You need an attorney with experience in premises liability claims but also a lawyer with proven results. What you need most is a premises liability lawyer from The Levin Firm Personal Injury Lawyers to help you get better.
Winning a premises liability case in Fort Lauderdale requires proving negligence.
Using facts and evidence to prove your claim, you will need to show:
- A known or dangerous condition existed on the property at the time of your visit
- The property owner knew of the dangerous condition and did not fix it or warn about it, or the property owner had enough time to discover the dangerous condition and fix it or warn about it
- Because the property owner failed to fix or warn you about the dangerous condition, you suffered injuries and damages
This might seem simple to you, but it is far from easy. This is why you need to partner with a skilled premises liability lawyer in Fort Lauderdale as soon as possible after your accident. Property managers and owners fight back, witnesses will forget what they saw and evidence has a habit of disappearing. The sooner you speak with a lawyer, the more likely it is your claim has a positive resolution.
Fort Lauderdale Premises Liability FAQs
As top-rated premises liability lawyers in Fort Lauderdale, we can help guide you through the complex legal process and answer all of your questions. Our goal is to help you recover from your injuries by getting you every dollar you deserve. Read on to understand how we can help you and to get a better picture of what comes next in your premises liability claim.
What dangerous conditions cause premises liability accidents in Fort Lauderdale ?
Premises liability injuries come from many different types of sources.
These often include:
- Wet floors
- Unmarked obstacles
- Poor lighting
- Loose stairs and handrails
- Uneven floors
- Inadequate security
These conditions can quickly lead to injuries from people who encounter them, like you. If you have visited a store that had a leaky ceiling but the store did not alert you to the danger of a wet floor, when you slip and fall on a puddle of water that has dripped to the floor, you could hold the property owner liable for your injuries. This is just one of many examples of what can happen when a property owner neglects proper care of their property.
To hold the property owner accountable, file a premises liability case with the help of a skilled Fort Lauderdale lawyer today.
How much is my premises liability injury claim worth in Fort Lauderdale?
This is the most frequent question we get asked by new clients. We cannot give you an exact answer because no one knows. If a personal injury lawyer promises you a result or an exact amount of money, find another lawyer because they are lying to you. Even with our decades of experience in premises liability cases, we cannot determine with exact certainty how much money you can recover because every case is different and comes with its own set of facts.
What we can tell you is the injuries resulting from premises liability issues can be costly. The average cost of a slip and fall, for example, is about $30,000, and that amount only goes up as victims age.
Think about that, if you slip on the puddle of water in the store, you could end up with tens of thousands of dollars in medical expenses. Even if you have insurance, you still have to pay your deductible first. So you are out at least that amount of money, not to mention the frustration that you can’t go about your daily life.
Your best chance of collecting the compensation you need for all of your medical bills and financial losses is to work with a seasoned premises liability attorney in Fort Lauderdale. Your ability to recover compensation for your injuries can depend on the legal representation you choose.
How soon do I have to file a claim in Fort Lauderdale?
You need to file your premises liability claim soon. In Florida, you only have four years from the date of your accident to file a claim against the negligent property owner. You might think four years is a long time and you can wait until you heal completely before you bring your claim.
However, it’s important to remember that your Fort Lauderdale premises liability lawyer can fight to protect your rights while you are working hard on your physical recovery. You do not have to wait until you are better to file your claim.
Besides that, evidence has a habit of disappearing over time. Witnesses to your accident may no longer remember what they saw. The property owner may have remedied evidence of a slippery floor or leaky roof. This is why you need to contact a knowledgeable Fort Lauderdale premises liability attorney as soon as possible after your accident.
Your chosen legal team will get to work quickly, speaking with witnesses right away to record their statements before they forget. Your lawyer will also investigate your accident, making sure that evidence is preserved to help prove that the property owner caused your injuries and should be held liable for your medical expenses and other financial losses.
How long will my case take to settle in Fort Lauderdale?
Between 70 and 95 percent of all tort cases in the United States settle before trial. Premises liability cases fall within this tort settlement range. This range is large but it shows the difference between the types of tort cases that settle.
Some car accident cases, for example, settle much closer to the high end, whereas medical malpractice cases tend to settle less frequently, partly because of their extreme complexity.
What damages can I collect in a premises liability case in Fort Lauderdale?
The damages you can collect depend on the severity of your injuries.
You may collect damages for:
- Pain and suffering
- Emotional distress
- Loss of companionship
- Loss of life enjoyment
- Lost wages
- Lost earning potential
- Present and future medical bills
- Rehabilitation costs
If your injuries are extremely severe, you may never return to work, at least not in the same capacity as before your accident. This means that your earning potential, and therefore your ability to pay your regular bills, could become limited. Your family may feel extra pressure to take on additional jobs or work overtime to help cover the loss of your income. This should not be their burden, or yours, to bear. This should be the sole responsibility of the negligent property owner.
To collect the compensation you need to get better and to live your life, work with a skilled premises liability attorney. Your lawyer can help you file your claim, prove fault, and win your premises liability case .
Steps to Take Right After A Slip and Fall or Premises Liability Accident
When you suffer injuries at a store, restaurant, or someone else’s property, you may initially suffer from embarrassment. We have all been there—you slip and fall and you want nothing more than to hide. But you must remember that you did not put yourself in this position.
No matter what type of injury you have suffered, using the services of a skilled Fort Lauderdale premises liability lawyer can help you feel better and prevent financial hardship as a result. Contacting a lawyer right away can make the difference in your premises liability case.
What you do immediately after your injury can make a difference in your ability to recover maximum compensation. Following these steps can help to preserve evidence and give your legal team the information they need to make the best case for your recovery.
- Call 911
- File an incident report on-site
- Take pictures and gather evidence
- Get eyewitness contact information
- See your regular doctor and follow treatment plan
- Keep a treatment or pain journal.
- Contact The Levin Firm Personal Injury Lawyers
At the Levin Firm, our ultimate goal is to help you get back to your regular life. When a property owner fails to keep their site safe and free from hazards and you suffer, we can help.
Hold the Negligent Party Accountable
With the evidence that you have helped to preserve and the evidence we locate and review, we then file a premises liability claim against the negligent party. The intention is to hold them legally accountable for your injuries and your medical bills and financial losses. We can help you recover compensation and get the justice you deserve.
Injuries suffered on someone else’s property can also cause death. It even happens at work. When you have lost a loved one because of a property owner’s negligence, the pain can seem unbearable. But you do not have to go through this alone. An experienced premises liability attorney can help you recover for your loss and hold the negligent property owner liable.
To hold the property owner liable, we must show the property owner knew of a dangerous situation on their property and failed to rectify that situation. This might sound simple but premises liability claims are often some of the most complex legal claims.
Property owners understand the severe financial hardship they may face with a successful premises liability claim. That is why some property owners may take certain actions to try and cover up their negligence.
For example, if you slip on a wet floor, the property owner may try to clean up the wet floor before you can take pictures of the area you slipped on. This is despicable behavior but we have seen it before. Given the fact that more than two million fall injuries happen each year from wet and uneven floors, this action is more common than we would like to admit.
The right legal team will not rest until it uncovers all of the missing evidence to prove your case. This may include combing through medical records, looking at incident reports, interviewing eyewitnesses, and speaking to store workers.
You deserve a legal team at your side that will work to uncover every piece of truth to prove the property owner’s negligence to hold them accountable for your injuries and your suffering. Come to the Levin Firm for a free consultation and review of your case today. We can help you recover compensation and put your life back together again after a serious injury accident.
Calculating the True Value of Your Claim
As we have said, there is no way to determine with absolute certainty the amount of money you can receive for your premises liability claim. That does not mean, however, we should not attempt to estimate.
When you work with a trusted liability lawyer in Fort Lauderdale, you can work together to create an accurate estimate of your future needs. The medical bills you see sitting on your kitchen table represent only a fraction of the total amount you will need to recover.
Even if you have only suffered minor injuries, you may still face some time off work that you would not otherwise receive compensation for, outside of your premises liability claim.
Since we have been down this road before, we know what it takes to recover from your injuries. We will work with our team of medical experts to review your medical files and determine what additional medical procedures you may need. This helps us determine an accurate estimate of the costs associated with those procedures, your recovery, and any medication you may need.
This also helps us understand how much time you will miss from work. This is an important calculation for us. Your lost wages can become a substantial part of your monetary recovery.
Your Fort Lauderdale premises liability attorney can help guide you through this complex process. By creating an accurate estimate of your future needs, we can help ensure that you do not suffer financially as a result of the someone else’s negligence.
Call Our Fort Lauderdale Premises Liability Attorneys Today
A simple and unavoidable truth is that, without a skilled premises liability lawyer at your side, your ability to recover maximum compensation for your injuries will likely not happen. The success of your claim relies heavily on the legal representative you choose to help you recover for your injuries.
Your lawyer holds an awesome responsibility—proving the property owner’s negligence and collecting maximum compensation for your injures. Do not trust this responsibility to just any lawyer. You need a lawyer with proven experience taking on the big insurance companies for the benefit of their clients.
You also need a premises liability lawyer who is not afraid to go to trial. While we want to avoid trial, and we may settle before trial, you deserve a lawyer with trial experience. A premises liability trial is a complex procedure that requires a great deal of preparation.
That’s why, even with every intention of settling your case, we begin trial preparation as soon as we file your premises liability claim. We do this because trial preparation takes a long time but also because the insurance company representing the property owner will take notice. They will see we have premises liability trial experience and their team of lawyers will not bully us. This can serve to get the insurance company to settle for a fair and reasonable amount to avoid the time and expense of a premises liability trial.
We do all of this for you. Our goal is to help you get back to the life you love. Our job is to hold the negligent property owner liable for your injuries and collect every dollar you deserve so you do not pay a dime out of your own pocket for your medical expenses or your other financial losses. Your job is simple—focus on your health and well being.
If you have suffered injuries while on someone else’s property, you could be entitled to compensation. To find out for sure and to get started on your premises liability claim, contact a trusted and experienced premises liability attorney at The Levin Firm Personal Injury Lawyers at (954) 715-3260.
Premises liability law is complex. Florida law is difficult to navigate. But, we can make it easy. Winning a claim against a property owner depends on the legal representation you have. Call us to see why so many injured accident victims choose The Levin Firm Personal Injury Lawyers to represent them.
We offer a free consultation, so you can explore all your legal options after a property owner fails to keep their property safe. Together, we can get you back on your feet.