West Palm Beach, Florida Personal Injury Lawyers

HOW DO I PROVE MY CASE?

• Expert Testimony
• Evidence
• Parties
• Conclusion

In order to prove your case, it will be necessary to show that the landowner breached the duty owed by failing to employ the care required for that type of entrant. The adequacy of the care employed by the landowner will vary according to the type of business.

For instance, places of amusement, such as a sports stadium, have a continuous duty to look after the safety of patrons, since food and drinks are being sold, and customers are constantly carrying and spilling these items. A safety program must always take into account human imperfection and guard against foreseeable mistakes.

In a retail setting, merchandise displays are positioned at eye level and designed to attract customer attention and generate profits. The customer is not expected to look down for hazards all the time.

In negligent security cases, it is only necessary that the landowner be able to foresee that some injury will likely result in some manner as a result of his negligence.

For a more detailed explanation of the types of premise liability cases we handle click on slip and fall, dog bites, negligent security.

EXPERT TESTIMONY

Expert testimony will be utilized to show deficiencies in the design of premises, inadequacy of lighting, and insufficiencies in maintenance procedures. In slip and fall cases, expert testimony will be required on the coefficient of friction. The coefficient of friction measures how slippery a floor is. Factors that affect the coefficient of friction include abrasive strips designed to prevent slipping, substances on the floor, speed of walking, slope of the floor, and the type of shoe and sole.

EVIDENCE

The evidence that will be collected to build the case includes photographs of the scene, measurements, statements of eyewitnesses, safety manuals and training materials, and depositions of corporate employees. If able to do so, the client should obtain photographs of the scene where the accident occurred and names and addresses of eyewitnesses, as soon as possible after the accident.

For example, in a grocery store slip and fall case, the attorney will inquire as to what type of flooring was installed in the store, what cleaning products were used on the floor, what the cleaning schedule for the floor was, how spills were reported, what the expected response time was for spills, whether an independent contractor or store employees cleaned the floor, what the terms of any cleaning contract were, among numerous other questions.

As stated above, the attorney will also gather photographs of the scene, statements of eyewitnesses, and safety and training manuals, and depose witnesses. In an inadequate security case, the attorney will obtain crime grids, showing criminal activity within a certain radius of the site of the crime injuring her client, and police reports of those crimes.

PARTIES

There may be multiple defendants in the lawsuit. If the business rents space from a landlord, depending on the terms of the lease, the owner of the building, the tenant, or both may share responsibility for the injuries. Also, independent contractors hired by the possessor of the premises are potential defendants.

For instance, in a case involving a slip and fall in a supermarket, a cleaning service hired by the supermarket may be a defendant. In a negligent security case, a security firm hired to provide protection to the premises may be liable. A public utility may be liable when it fails to trim trees near power lines, resulting in electrocution. A governmental entity may be liable for failure to maintain a sidewalk in a safe condition, or failure to keep traffic signs or signals visible and operational.

In negligent security cases, the courts have recently ruled that one party who cannot be sued is the criminal attacker. Because the landowner had a duty to protect the injured person from foreseeable harm by potential criminal assailants on its premises, the landowner or possessor cannot shift liability to those assailants.

CONCLUSION

Many complex factors are involved in successfully litigating a premises liability or negligent security case. If you believe you may have one of these types of claims, you should consult a qualified Florida premie liability attorney who can discuss your case in detail. The foregoing was merely a general overview of this area of the law, and not an exhaustive review of the law. The information provided should not be treated as a legal opinion or relied upon in lieu of consulting an attorney.