Premises Liability

Many of the worst injury cases of all types that we see arise from injuries on the premises of businesses that fail to keep the property and approaches safe. In a business invitee situation, the duty to keep the premises safe in non-delegable so the business cannot just pass the buck to someone else. We see premises injury cases in several contexts. Of course there is the familiar slip or trip and fall, falling merchandise, defective doors, steps, gates, and fixtures and so forth. Intense analysis of the facts is necessary in these cases that generally center on whether the person who is hurt knew as much or more about the risk than the property owner. Second, there are attractive nuisance cases involving injuries to young children. An inadequately fenced swimming pool that is accessible to small children is a classic example. And then there are inadequate security cases in which a business knows about the heightened risk of crime and criminal assault on the property but does not exercise reasonable care to guard against it. These cases often arise from rapes or shootings from hotels or apartment complexes or other businesses where management knew about the risk of crime and just didn’t do anything about it. I’ve handled premises liability cases on both sides, plaintiff and defense, for thirty years now. If you or a family member are seriously injured due to dangerous premises, give us a call for a free consultation*. I hope we can help.

On May 22, 2018, former State Bar of Georgia president Ken Shigley will be a candidate for election to the Georgia Court of Appeals. The only other candidate is Ken Hodges, a former Dougherty County District Attorney. Ken Hodges was the Democratic Party nominee for Attorney General in 2010.