Liberty Center Slip and Fall Lawyer

If you suffered harm on property owned by someone else, you might be able to recover money to pay for your injuries. A Liberty Center slip and fall lawyer could review your case to determine the damages to which you may be entitled.

A slip and fall accident can happen just about anywhere, such as walking on a spill in a grocery store, tripping over an unmarked crack in the pavement, or even standing still when something falls on you. Any commercial or private property can be the site of a slip and fall accident, and injuries can range from fractured bones to concussions and spinal cord damage.

Long-term injuries resulting from such an accident may not be obvious in the immediate aftermath, so it is best to seek medical attention as soon as possible, and then to call a Liberty Center slip and fall attorney.

An established personal injury attorney knows that there are different factors can play into who bears liability for your incident or whether anyone does at all. Practiced legal assistance may be key to recovering damages in your case.

Proving a Slip and Fall Case

A slip and fall case generally stems from an instance of negligence in which a property owner or tenant fails to ensure that the property is reasonably safe from dangerous conditions, as well as from criminal activity. The owner’s specific duties to the victim of a slip and fall depend on why the plaintiff was on the owner’s property.

In Liberty Center, Ohio, property owners owe different duties of care depending on whether the plaintiff in a slip and fall case is an invitee, a licensee, or a trespasser.   If the plaintiff can prove the owner’s breach of duty directly caused their injuries, they could be held liable for damages.

What is the Impact of Non-Invitee Injuries?

An invitee is someone who is invited to come onto another’s property for a purpose that benefits the owner, such as a visitor to a store. Property owners and managers must use ordinary care to keep their premises in a reasonably safe condition for invitees. This entails regularly inspecting the property and providing warnings about any existing dangers that invitees would not reasonably expect to discover on their own.

As a Liberty Center slip and fall lawyer knows, courts recognize the “Attractive Nuisance” doctrine, which provides greater protection to trespassers who are minors and who were attracted to something dangerous on someone else’s property, such as a swimming pool, to which the property owner failed to properly restrict access.

Licensees vs. Trespassers

A licensee enters the property of another with permission for their own benefit, but not for the owner’s benefit. For example, the owner of a parking lot might provide free access to the lot on weekends. For licensees, a property owner has the duty to not willfully, wantonly, or recklessly cause injury, as well as to warn licensees about hidden dangers on the property that the owner knows about.

The state of Ohio grants immunity from liability in slip and fall cases involving recreational users under Ohio Revised Code §1533.181. A recreational user of a nonresidential property has permission to be on the premises—without the payment of a fee—for purposes including camping, hiking, swimming, fishing, and other recreational activities.

A trespasser is someone who enters another’s property without permission. Although property owners generally are not responsible for personal injuries sustained by trespassers, they might still owe a duty of care to that person depending on the circumstances.

Contact a Liberty Center Slip and Fall Attorney

No one should have to risk injury going about their daily life, whether they are shopping, walking in a park, attending an event, or engaging in any other common activity. If you were hurt on someone else’s property by a hazard about which you were not warned in advance, do not hesitate to reach out to a Liberty Center slip and fall lawyer.

The statute of limitations for a personal injury lawsuit in Liberty Center is two years, so it is usually best not to wait to assess your accident and act to recover your resulting losses. Call now to get in touch with a skilled local attorney who could investigate your claim, negotiate with insurance companies, and pursue damages on your behalf.