The term “premises liability” refers to a wide range of possible legal claims resulting from dangerous conditions on someone else's property. When the property owner or another responsible party of a premises in Michigan neglects their duty of care and that neglect results in harm to someone else who was legally on the premises, then they can be held liable under Michigan law. Premises liability cases include any type of personal injury that can be sustained on private or public property under hazardous conditions, such as inside a retail store or in a parking lot. If you’ve been injured, you may need the help of a Detroit premises liability lawyer.
Premises liability claims could be filed against business and/or property owners. If you or someone you know was injured on someone else's property in Detroit, you may have a premises liability claim. A premises liability claim involves any party who was responsible for the premises and may involve the premises owner. The property owner’s negligence in such a case would be the failure to maintain safe conditions for visitors. Even if they were not physically present, they could still be considered an at-fault party if the property owner’s negligence directly resulted in a dangerous condition that caused someone else's harm.
A premises liability claim can result in injuries requiring medical treatment, medical expenses, lost wages, and other recoverable damages, depending on the circumstances of your case. If you have sustained serious or permanent injury, if the insurance company is not offering you fair compensation, or if you are not sure whether you have a case, consider speaking with a Detroit premises liability lawyer. We at Christopher Trainor & Associates are quite familiar with premises liability law in Michigan. Our law firm offers a free consultation to discuss how Michigan premises liability law applies to your claim, how our legal team can help you with your case, and how we can seek maximum compensation for all injuries sustained. A free consultation with one of our Detroit premises liability lawyers is just a phone call away.
Michigan premises liability law in statute M Civ JI 19.03 states that invitees are owed the highest degree of duty. It also states that the premises owner must take ordinary measures to protect their invitees from harm known to the owner and is legally required to maintain reasonably safe conditions. According to Michigan law, “premises liability” means that a property owner failed to use reasonable care to make the property safe for a person who is lawfully on the premises. You can file a premises liability case when you are injured on another person’s property. Unless you are a renter, meaning the property you live in is not yours, you cannot sue for an injury that occurs at your home.
Michigan premises liability is based on the legal theory of negligence. When a property owner fails to mitigate or warn about a dangerous condition for people lawfully on the property, negligence applies, and injured victims can hold liable the property owner and other responsible parties. A premises liability attorney is an attorney who focuses on this field with knowledge, training, and experience.
The process after a premises liability incident begins as a claim. If it cannot be resolved, it becomes a premises liability lawsuit. Litigation can be time-consuming and costly, two resources that premises liability victims do not tend to have. Fortunately, our law firm takes cases on a contingency fee basis, so you only pay when we win your case, and the contingency fee is deducted from the settlement. If you were injured on another person’s property in Detroit MI, a Detroit premises liability attorney can review the facts of your case and help you determine the best course of action based on your legal rights and legal options.
Michigan premises liability law covers any circumstances that create hazardous conditions for visitors, whether indoors or outdoors. The common critical factors in establishing premises liability claims against property owners or landlords are:
One common type of premises liability is a slip and fall accident. Injury victims in such cases often encounter ice or snow outdoors or a slippery floor indoors. Other circumstances covered under premises liability in slip and fall accidents include broken handrails, broken stairs or another defective condition, inadequate lighting, animal attacks, and toxic fumes.
Falling objects or other hazardous conditions can also qualify as other types of premises liability. Auto accidents can be included under premises liability incidents that occur in a parking lot or driveway, or if a manhole cover explodes, for example. Detroit MI has extensive property damage that poses hazards to life and health, and as a result, has implemented a sidewalk program and a hazard mitigation plan.
Additionally, the landlord or property owner’s conduct can be a significant factor in a premises liability incident in which it combines with the dangerous condition in the failure to protect invitees or visitors from harm. If you are unsure what type of premises liability injury you’ve suffered or whether you can file a premises liability claim for your injury, a free consultation can give you the answers you’re looking for.
According to the US Department of Justice, premises liability accounted for 28% of all personal injury claims in the nation in 2019. It included any unsafe condition on another person’s property that resulted in injury, with the most common scenarios being as follows.
Following are some facts about premises liability injuries and compensation in the United States:
According to Jury Verdict Research’s review of premises liability lawsuits in the nation:
The success of your premises liability case depends on several factors, the most important one being having a Detroit premises liability lawyer you can rely on. You can expect us to not only pursue compensation that is fair, but to seek maximum compensation according to Michigan law.
Michigan law gives government agencies and employees governmental immunity for injury claims involving the premises of public buildings as well as torts. When the tort, also known as a claim for wrongful conduct, injures a person or their property, the government entity or employee is immune from liability if they were performing a “government function” during the incident. State law in premises liability regarding injuries on public property allows an exception when the government entity, as the property owner, failed to properly maintain or repair a public building with a defective condition or failed to address code violations, and such neglect resulted in damages.
If you sustained a premises injury incident on public property in Detroit, immediate legal assistance is available for you. The Michigan premises liability lawyers on our legal team can answer your questions or concerns, inform you of your legal rights, and based on your unique circumstances, your legal options for recovering compensation.
It depends on the types of damages the employee is seeking to recover. The main difference between work-related injuries and premises liability is that work-related injuries are usually filed as worker’s compensation claims to seek compensation for lost wages and medical bills, which are purely economic damages. When the victim is also pursuing compensation for noneconomic damages such as pain and suffering and punitive damages, it becomes a third-party premises liability case. The “third party” refers to the business property owner, who is a separate party from the employer.
Premises liability follows the same negligence factors in filing a claim and seeking compensation as any other type of personal injury. To establish negligence in a premises liability case, the plaintiff must successfully demonstrate that:
While premises liability often involves slips and falls, animal attacks, or inadequate security, general negligence is different. Also known as general liability, it refers to any harm done to or on someone’s property. Like in premises liability, general negligence can involve a tort claim against someone’s conduct that resulted in injury. A general negligence or general liability claim does not arise from a condition on the real property but to negligent activity on the property, such as from an employee at a commercial business involved in an injury to a guest resulting from the employee’s misconduct.
If a visitor slips and falls on commercial property, the property owner or landlord resorts to general liability insurance, which covers physical risks. If there are alleged professional mistakes that cause financial losses to a third party, they resort to professional liability insurance, which covers errors, omissions, or other abstract risks in the service provided by the business.
Premises liability claims are about unsafe conditions on someone's property neglected by the property owner or landlord that contribute to the victim’s injuries. Personal liability is also about resulting harm to someone, but it is about an individual's own actions causing injury to another.
A cause of action tells the court and the other side that you contend that some condition of the other side's premises caused you harm. It is part of establishing negligence by the property owner or landlord in maintaining safe conditions for visitors or guests.
Michigan law regarding premises liability generally rules that a defendant’s duty of care ends with the boundaries of the premises. The exceptions to this Michigan premises liability rule exist when someone is injured outside of the defendant’s premises as a result of:
When considering the results of all premises liability cases that go to trial in the United States, the plaintiffs were successful in around 50%. The chance of winning a premises liability lawsuit is, at best, less than 40% when calculated based on the available data.
Our Detroit premises liability lawyers have a long history of successful verdicts and winning maximum compensation. Don’t take your chances with just any premises liability attorney who may not win your case, much less seek compensation that is fair. Choose a law firm that has decades of experience and numerous testimonials from clients we have helped.
When an injury victim wants to pursue compensation in a premises liability claim, they can expect a general timeline of 24 months on average. Michigan law has a statute of limitations of three years from the date of the premises liability incident, which applies to most claims. If you do not file a lawsuit against the property owners or landlords before the deadline, you will lose your legal right to pursue compensation.
The reality is, there is no accurate way to predict for sure how long your Detroit premises liability claim could take to resolve. Every case is unique based on the individual circumstances of your case. Factors including the severity of the injuries, the length of time needed for recovery, the insurance available, and whether negligence is clearly established all play into how long it could take to resolve your claim or settle outside of court.
No, premises liability is not the same as negligence. Negligence is usually the legal theory behind pursuing any type of personal injury claim, including premises liability.
In recent years, injury victims attempting to pursue a Michigan premises liability claim may encounter an “open and obvious” defense by the defendants. It states that defendants should not be held liable when the hazardous condition of the property is open and obvious to anyone and can, therefore, be easily avoided.
Only experienced premises liability lawyers such as those in our law firm can give you the knowledge, familiarity, and trial experience you need to seek compensation for serious injuries and all economic and noneconomic damages. Our decades of work in a variety of premises liability cases make us sufficiently qualified to handle your unique circumstances most efficiently.
Michigan premises liability claims rely on proving that knowledge existed in some way. Whereas actual knowledge means a property owner knew of the problem, constructive knowledge means they should have known of the problem as a prudent actor. According to Smith v City of Detroit, No. 337513, constructive knowledge must be presumed when there is no evidence of the defendant’s actual knowledge.
A hazardous condition that is so obvious that the average person would notice it and recognize the danger is also known as an unavoidable condition. However, Detroit property owners, landlords, or occupiers must still take reasonable precautions for unavoidable conditions or unreasonably dangerous conditions. An unavoidable condition in a parking lot is one example where people cannot avoid the dangerous condition, as the property is designated for their parking needs.
If you have grounds to file a premises liability claim, you can seek compensation for recoverable damages in both economic and noneconomic forms from the property owner or landlord’s insurance coverage. Compensation can include income lost, medical expenses, pain and suffering, and other damages you’ve sustained.
If you’ve suffered any type of injury resulting from a dangerous condition on someone’s property in Detroit MI, whether private or public, you may be able to file a claim and seek compensation with our legal representation. We can review your case immediately and discuss your possible legal options and the best course of action with you in a free initial consultation.
Contact us at Christopher Trainor & Associates at 248-886-8650 to speak with one of our Detroit premises liability lawyers. Remember, we take all cases on a contingency fee basis, meaning you owe us nothing until we successfully obtain a payout for you, whether through a settlement or jury verdict.
