St. Martinville Premises Liability Lawyer

Premises Liability Attorney in St. Martinville, LA

Premises liability refers to a property owner’s obligation to maintain a safe environment for visitors. If you’ve been injured on another person’s property or at a commercial establishment like Rouses Market, you can work with a St. Martinville premises liability lawyer to recover compensation that you can use to pay medical bills, make up for lost wages, and move on with your life.

Trust Chris Villemarette, Trial Lawyer

Chris Villemarette has been practicing personal injury law for decades. In that time, he has developed a clear understanding of what it takes to bring a successful premises liability claim against a negligent person or company. He can help you file your claim, too. No matter how you’ve been injured, if the accident occurred due to another party’s negligence, you can trust Chris Villemarette, Trial Lawyer, to help.

Reasons to Hire a Premises Liability Lawyer

Louisiana ranks 29th in the United States for falls among older adults. Overall, falls are the leading cause of injury in people aged 65 and up. When falls occur due to a property owner’s negligence, accident victims are often eligible to recover compensation. You can hire a premises liability lawyer to help you file a claim against the responsible party.

Your St. Martinville premises liability attorney can help you with every step of the process, from filing your initial claim through gathering evidence, all the way to taking your case to court should negotiations be unsuccessful. Hiring a premises liability lawyer is the most effective way to improve your chances of success in filing your claim. Trusting your lawyer with the details of your case will also take some of the stress off you during a difficult time.

Examples of Premises Liability

Premises liability law covers a broad range of situations where people are injured due to unsafe conditions on others’ properties. Common incidents that lead to premises liability claims include:

• Slips and falls
• Dog bites
• Injuries on amusement park rides
• Swimming pool injuries
• Injuries from faulty escalators

The stereotypical personal injury claim arising from premises liability is the slip-and-fall. These accidents often occur in grocery stores and restaurants where wet floors are unmarked and not cleaned up in a timely manner. However, even if your injury isn’t described above, you could still be eligible to receive compensation if it was caused by another person’s negligence.

Proving Negligence in Premises Liability Claims

Premises liability hinges on the property owner’s, or sometimes the tenant’s, failure to uphold a duty of care in maintaining a safe environment for invited visitors. The owner’s invitation to a visitor, whether made explicitly in the case of someone inviting friends over to use the pool at their house or implicitly, as is the case with commercial establishments, implies that they have taken reasonable steps to ensure the premises’ safety.

To prove that the property owner or tenant was negligent in that duty, you’ll also need to show that they either knew about the hazard that caused your injury or should reasonably have been expected to know about it. Whether a property owner has breached their duty of care to invited guests depends on:

• The circumstances under which visitors enter the property
• The use of the property
• Whether the accident or injury was foreseeable
• Whether the owner or tenant made an effort to repair or warn visitors of the dangerous condition

In most cases, property owners do not owe the same duty of care to trespassers. As uninvited guests, they assume liability for their own injuries in most circumstances. The exception is booby traps. You can’t place booby traps on your property that are likely to cause serious injury or death, even if they are targeting trespassers rather than legally invited guests.

Finally, you must show that the property owner or tenant’s negligence directly led to the accident that caused you compensable damages, typically including a physical injury.

FAQs

What Is a Premises Liability Policy?

A premises liability policy is a type of insurance policy that covers financial losses due to visitors being injured by unsafe conditions. Premises liability policies generally cover legal defense costs, medical payments to injured parties, and settlements or judgments if you are found liable for negligence. They often come into play in slip-and-fall injuries, dog bite cases, and attacks.

How Much Can You Get for a Premises Liability Claim?

How much you can get for a premises liability claim depends on the specifics of the claim. You’ll generally be awarded more compensation for a claim that involves severe injuries that caused permanent disability than for one that involves only minor injuries such as broken bones that healed with minimal medical intervention. Your lawyer’s skill at negotiating with insurance companies will also come into play when determining your final settlement amount.

What Is an Example of Premises Liability?

An example of premises liability is a slip-and-fall injury caused by an avoidable hazard. Avoidable hazards typically include things like unmarked wet floors in grocery stores or uneven sidewalks in the walkways leading up to commercial establishments. Other examples of premises liability include dog bites, swimming pool accidents, ceiling collapses, and inadequate security leading to attacks.

What Evidence Is Needed to Prove Premises Liability?

The evidence needed to prove premises liability will depend on the type of case you have. If you experienced a slip and fall, for example, you’ll probably need to provide some combination of medical records, photographs of the scene, and expert witness testimony to show how negligence caused your injuries. Witness statements from anyone who saw the accident can also be helpful.

Your St. Martinville Premises Liability Lawyer

If you need a St. Martinville premises liability lawyer to assist you with a slip-and-fall case, dog bite claim, or another type of premises liability claim, look no further than Chris Villemarette. This dependable trial attorney has been in practice since 1994. In that time, he has established a reputation for providing diligent, detail-oriented service and successful results. Contact the firm to schedule an initial consultation regarding your case today.