Some of the most commonly filed Wisconsin personal injury lawsuits are lawsuits that involve premises liability accidents. These accidents often revolve around a landlord or building owner’s failure to properly address accidents and maintain the safety of the premises for tenants and visitors alike.
Commonly, premises liability cases include slip and fall or trip and fall accidents, falls from heights, and unsafe or unstable objects. If you or a loved one was wrongly injured due to hazardous premises, you may be entitled to bring a claim against the property owner to receive compensation. At Cannon & Dunphy S.C., our team of professional and experienced Milwaukee premises liability lawyers can help ensure that your rights are actively protected during a premises liability case.
If you have been injured on someone else’s property, you may have a personal injury claim against the property owner or other responsible party. Contact the attorneys at Cannon & Dunphy S.C. for a free consultation. We represent injured clients in all types of personal injury matters, including premises liability cases.
In general, property owners, landlords, managers, and others who are responsible for property maintenance and care have a duty to keep their property free from dangerous conditions. In most cases, they also have a duty to inspect their property so that they can discover and remediate hazards that could potentially harm guests and visitors.
To prove a premises liability case, an injured person typically provides evidence showing that a dangerous property condition existed and that the property owner knew or should have known about the dangerous condition. Property owners often claim that they did not know about the dangerous condition, but that is typically not a valid defense if the hazard would have been discoverable upon a reasonable inspection of the property.
In addition to proving the existence of a dangerous property condition that the defendant knew or should have known about, injured plaintiffs must also show that they sustained injuries as a result of the property owner’s negligence. This is commonly referred to as but for causation: The individual would not have been injured but for the owner’s negligent property care and maintenance.
The defendant’s duty and standard of care in Wisconsin premises liability cases depends on particular case facts and circumstances. For example, employers and owners of public buildings generally owe a heightened duty of care to employees and visitors compared to the duty of care a homeowner owes to a trespasser. If you or a loved one has been injured on someone else’s property, a Wisconsin premises liability attorney can help you determine liability and recovery options.
Defendants in premises liability cases frequently defend plaintiffs’ allegations by claiming that the plaintiff’s negligence was the cause of his or her injuries. They often argue that the dangerous condition was so open and obvious that a reasonable person would have recognized and avoided the danger or that the plaintiff ignored signs that were posted to warn guests of dangerous conditions.
In Wisconsin, demonstrating that a plaintiff was partially responsible for an accident is not an automatic bar to recovering compensation in a premises liability claim. Plaintiffs who are less than 51 percent at fault for an accident may pursue compensation against other responsible parties for their injuries and damages. Once fault is allocated between the parties, the plaintiff’s compensation is reduced by his or her percentage of fault.
Other common defenses include the defendant did not owe a duty of care to a trespassing plaintiff or that it was not reasonably foreseeable that a guest would be on the property near the dangerous condition. Property owners may also argue that they did not have a reasonable amount of time to cure the dangerous condition or that remediation was not feasible due to the difficulty and expense of repair.
Our attorneys have spent decades handling claims for injured clients, and we know that every personal injury accident involves unique circumstances and injuries. We have represented clients in all types of premises liability cases, including the following:
Insurance companies are responsible for paying the majority of premises liability injury claims. Whether you are injured on someone’s private property, public property, or a place of business, the company that insures the property will likely be handling the defense and settlement negotiations. Insurance companies work to minimize their claim payouts, and adjusters can make the recovery process challenging.
However, experienced personal injury attorneys know how insurance companies operate, and they know how to negotiate and communicate effectively with insurance representatives. Your attorney will present your case to the insurance company and negotiate a settlement that covers all your past, ongoing, and future damages related to your injuries. If the insurance company does not agree to reasonable settlement terms, your attorney will pursue your case at trial if it is in your best interests to do so.
The value of your premises liability claim depends on the severity of your injuries and the damages that you sustained. In Wisconsin, you may recover compensation for economic and noneconomic losses. Economic losses are those that have a specific monetary value, such as medical expenses and lost earnings. Noneconomic damages are losses, such as pain, suffering, and mental anguish, that do not have a specified monetary value.
Determining the value of your claim involves past, ongoing, and future losses related to your injuries. In general, your claim will be higher in value if your injuries are long-term or permanent because your compensation may include future medical expenses and pain and suffering. If your injuries impact your ability to work, you may also recover compensation for loss of earning capacity.
If you or a loved one was wrongly injured due to hazardous premises, you may be entitled to bring a claim against the property owner to receive compensation. At Cannon & Dunphy S.C., our team of professional and experienced Milwaukee premises liability lawyers can help ensure that your rights are actively protected during a premises liability case. Contact us anytime for a free consultation.
