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 Milwaukee personal injury 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.
Our Wisconsin Premises Liability Practice
- Attorneys at Cannon and Dunphy S.C. are continuing a four-generation family history of helping injured clients recover compensation from responsible parties. We have the experience and skills necessary to take on all types of Wisconsin premises liability cases.
- Our law firm has secured more than $1 billion in trial awards and settlements for our clients. Our premises liability attorneys in Wisconsin pursue maximum compensation in every case, so our clients are fully compensated for all their losses.
- We are committed to representing all types of clients in all types of personal injury cases. We believe that everyone deserves to be compensated for their losses caused by someone else’s misconduct.
What Is Premises Liability?
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.
Comparative Negligence and Other Defenses
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.
Common Types of Wisconsin Premises Liability Cases
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:
- Negligent security – People are often surprised to learn that property owners and managers are sometimes responsible for crimes committed by third parties on their property. This is especially true when similar crimes occurred on the property in the past, and property owners failed to improve safety and security on the premises.
- Swimming pool accidents – Swimming pool accidents cause a large number of injuries and deaths each year. Pool owners are responsible for maintaining their pools and making sure that they are safe to use. Swimming pool accident injuries frequently involve brain injuries due to oxygen deprivation, drowning, spinal cord injuries, and traumatic brain injuries. Pool owners might even be responsible for trespassers’ pool injuries. For example, an owner might have a duty to install a locked gate or take other safety precautions to keep trespassing children out of his pool.
- Poorly maintained sidewalks and walkways – Whether you are visiting someone’s home, a business, or government property, property owners have a duty to ensure that sidewalks, walkways, and other areas regularly traversed by visitors are well maintained.
- Slippery surfaces – Slip and fall incidents are common premises liability cases. Property owners have a duty to maintain their indoor and outdoor areas to prevent falls caused by spills, snow, rain, ice, cleaning products, and anything else that creates a potential slip and fall hazard.
- Dog bites – Dogs do not get one free bite in Wisconsin like they do in some other states. Under Wisconsin law, dog owners are responsible for all injuries and damages caused by their dogs, whether or not the dog previously exhibited any dangerous propensities. Even when the injuries are not caused by a bite, such as a dog jumping on someone and knocking them down, owners are responsible for those resulting injuries.
- Steps and staircases – Dangerous conditions related to falls on steps and staircases often involve poor lighting, clutter and debris on the stairs, broken and uneven stairs, unexpected steps down, and wet stairs. Falls on stairs can result in serious injuries such as brain injuries, fractured bones, and spinal cord injuries.
- Falling objects – Personal injury cases that involve being struck by falling objects are more common than you might think, especially in retail businesses. Overstocked shelves, improperly stocked shelves, and loose fixtures can result in property visitors being struck by objects falling from above.
- Falls from heights – Accidental falls are a leading cause of death and injury in the United States. Premises liability cases involving falls from heights are often due to poorly maintained or constructed structures. Injuries from defective railings, unstable decks, and other similar dangers can cause severe and sometimes fatal premises liability injuries.
Premises Liability and Insurance Companies
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 Claim
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.
Contact Our Wisconsin Premises Liability Attorney Today
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.