Louisville Slip and Fall lawyer?

Dangerous Condition

A premises liability case begins with a dangerous condition on someone else’s property. Dangerous conditions come in many forms. Here are a few examples:

• weather-related accumulations—like sleet, snow, or ice—on driveways, sidewalks, and parking lots
• foreign substances on store floors
• animals with dangerous characteristics
• dangerous chemicals or other substances
• criminal or violent activity, 
• buildings that are improperly designed or built.

Property Owner Negligence

The fact that a dangerous condition exists doesn’t mean there’s a premises liability claim. The dangerous condition must exist because the property owner (or another person who controls the property, like a tenant) negligently:

• created it
• didn’t inspect the property to discover it
• didn’t remove or fix it, or
• failed to warn visitors about it.

Negligence, in essence, refers to the failure to act in a manner consistent with how a reasonably cautious individual would behave in comparable circumstances.

In premises liability cases, we initiate the examination of negligence by questioning whether the property owner was legally obligated to ensure the safety of their property. If such a duty exists, and if the property owner does not conduct themselves in a manner consistent with that of a reasonably careful individual (legally referred to as “breaching” the duty of care), then the property owner is deemed negligent.

The determination of when a property owner is obliged to ensure the safety of their property hinges, in part, on the laws of the state in which the property is situated. Broadly, states adhere to one of two approaches:

The Status-Based Approach
Some states adhere to an older, status-based approach concerning a property owner’s duty. Whether a property owner owes a duty is contingent on the status of the injured party:

• Trespassers are subject to the lowest duty of care.
• Licensees are entitled to an intermediate duty of care.
• Invitees receive the highest duty of care.
• Trespassers: In general, landowners are not obligated to ensure the safety of most trespassers. There may be special protections mandated for trespassing children, and property owners are not allowed to create perilous conditions on their land that could jeopardize trespassers.

Licensees: Licensees, individuals who have the property owner’s consent to be on the premises (e.g., social guests), must generally be warned about any dangerous conditions if the property owner is aware of them and the licensee is unlikely to discover them.

Invitees: Invitees, often referred to as business invitees, are individuals whom the property owner invites onto their premises, typically for business purposes. This category includes store customers and visitors to professional office buildings. A property owner must inform invitees of any hazardous conditions that they are aware of or should reasonably be aware of, especially if the invitee is unlikely to identify them.

The Reasonable Care Approach
Under the reasonable care approach, which is the prevailing law in most states, property owners generally owe a duty of reasonable care to nearly all individuals who enter their property. This duty typically necessitates the property owner to warn visitors about dangerous conditions on the property that are:

• Known to the owner, or
• Would be known if the owner exercised reasonable diligence in inspecting the property,and
• Unlikely to be discovered by a visitor.

It is important to note that this duty of care usually does not extend to trespassers in most reasonable care states unless trespassing is frequent or involves children. Similar to status-based states, property owners cannot introduce extraordinarily hazardous conditions on the property that might harm trespassers.