The Importance of Determining Legal Status in a Premise Liability Claim

Under the law on premise liability, a landowner or a property supervisor has the legal accountability over the injuries that other people may incur on their premises due to their neglect in maintaining safety and adequate security. Premise liability claims may be filed for various reasons such as:

• Slips and falls due to left over particles on the floor


• Improperly maintained pathways and sidewalks


• Injuries caused by falling debris


• Electrocution due to faulty electrical wirings


• Car park damages due to the absence of security personnel


• Drowning on water parks and beaches due to the lack of warnings and lifeguards


• Injuries from animal attacks


• Other accidents that involve accountability of the property owner or supervisor

One vital task that an injured victim must consider in filing a premise liability is determining his/her legal status. It is very important to prove that he/she has a legal purpose in visiting the premise. The visitor may be categorized as an invitee, a licensee or a trespasser.

• Invitee – An invitee is an individual who has been invited by the property owner to come into or stay in the premises for any commercial or transactional cause. These people have their legal purpose with the possessor of the place.
  

  Thus, the premise owner or supervisor has the highest obligation to ensure their safe stay on the area. He also has to implement regular maintenance check over his/her property to avoid dangers or any other risky situations that may initiate accident-causing injuries.

• Licensee – A licensee is an individual who has been invited by the property owner for other reasons aside from business and commercial purposes. Permission to enter and stay on the property may be either implied or expressed. One great example of these people are social guests.
  

  These people are also entitled to file their claims in case they sustained injuries in the premise if they were able to prove the following elements of their case:

  • The property owner is familiar with or should have been familiar with the unsafe condition of his premises, which definitely endangers the safety of his/her visitor.
  
  
  • The owner has failed to implement reasonable actions to correct or fix the risky condition on his/her property and to warn the visitors of such dangers.
  
  
  • The licensee is not aware of such dangers involved in his/her visit.
  
  
• Trespasser – A trespasser is an individual who has no legal purpose in visiting the premise. Therefore, the property owner has no liability over the illegal entry of a trespasser and has no obligation to pay damages in case the trespasser incurs injuries in his/her stay.
  

  Yet, liability on the part of the owner may exist if he/she has been aware of the entry and failed to give warnings of the unsafe conditions.

The law on premise liability is quite complicated. It involves other provisions that may only give further suffering and problem for an injured victim. Hence, it is very advisable for them to hire legal experts who can guide their way in achieving reasonable recoveries for their premise liability claims.

Mesriani Law Group is a full service law firm which specializes in all facets of Personal Injury Law Litigation, including Wrongful Death Claims, Car Accidents, Slip and Fall and Premises Liability Claims, Employment / Labor Law, Disability Law and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) claims, and Business Law. Each of the attorneys at the Mesriani Law Group has been acknowledged as one of the very best in their field. Whether your case deals with Personal Injury Law, Employment Law, Social Security representation or Corporate/Business law, you can be assured that your case will be handled by an expert who specializes in that form of litigation. It is this diversity that makes us unique. We are not a firm with one specialty, but several. But it is not the accomplishments of its attorneys or its stellar business plan that makes Mesriani Law Group the best law firm in Los Angeles. It is the people working at Mesriani Law Group that truly drive our success. Every employee at Mesriani Law Group is dedicated to delivering the best service possible. Not only that, but Mesriani Law Group prides itself on giving the same level of attention to each and every client, be it a small personal injury matter or a multi-million dollar litigation. Mesriani Law Group is dedicated to giving its clients the very best representation and remains committed to having only the very best attorneys handling their cases.

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