Premises Liability
Premises Liability Attorney Services in Washington, DC, Maryland and Virginia
The lawyers at Cohen & Cohen are experienced professionals that handle premises liability cases in Washington, D.C., Maryland and Northern Virginia. If you were involved in an accident caused by an unsafe condition on someone else’s property – such as a slip and fall – you may be eligible to receive compensation for any injuries you sustained as a result of that accident.
“Premises” refers to any land and buildings that together constitute a property. “Premises liability”, therefore, refers to the duty of a landowner to take reasonable steps to prevent conditions on his or her property that would cause persons who are legally on his or her property from getting harmed. Such conditions that might cause harm to a person can include any defective construction, improper maintenance, slippery surfaces caused by oil, water, snow or ice, or any other objects or obstructions that might cause a person to slip, trip, or fall, or that might hit and injure a person.
Premises liability cases arise from accidents on private, public, and commercial property caused by negligence on behalf of the property owner. While property owners are usually held liable for any injuries caused by accidents that happen on premises, liability can also extend to renters and other parties with a legal right to occupy the land. On commercial properties this includes the business tenants that lease the property; on construction sites it can include the construction company responsible for taking proper safety measures. Some examples of accidents that result in premises liability cases include swimming pool or drowning accidents, dog bites, elevator or escalator accidents, collapsed or defective infrastructure, slip and falls, fire and smoke injuries, negligent security, inadequate lighting, and exposure to toxic fumes or chemicals. Injuries resulting from these accidents can range from minor scrapes and bruises to wrongful death.
Premises liability cases can often be quite complex. Regardless of who is liable, in order to establish a premises liability claim there must be some evidence of a defect or a dangerous condition on the property that caused the injury, and evidence that the property owner should have known of the dangerous condition. Expert testimony from an engineer or safety expert is usually needed to prove how and why the condition was dangerous, how long the dangerous condition existed, and whether any steps taken by the property owner to make the condition safe were enough.
If you have been injured on someone else’s property through no fault of your own, you should contact the personal injury lawyers Washington DC trusts right away. In a premises liability case, time is of the essence. Once a person has been hurt by a dangerous condition, some owners will act quickly to fix the problem, destroying any evidence of the dangerous condition. Other evidence of the accident, such as surveillance video, can also be destroyed or hidden. The experienced premises liability attorneys at Cohen & Cohen will act immediately to preserve such evidence and make sure you are justly compensated for your injuries. So don’t wait. If you’ve been hurt in a premises liability accident in Washington, D.C., Maryland, or Virginia, call us to speak with one of our attorneys today.
