Dade County Premises Liability Lawyer
Every year, numerous Georgia residents and visitors sustain injuries because of dangerous situations on someone else’s property. If a property was not kept free of hazards or visitors were not made aware of potential hazards, they could file a claim for compensation against the landowner if they sustained injuries as a result.
Hire a skillful Dade County premises liability lawyer to review your case. An experienced attorney can provide advice regarding the best way to proceed to obtain a maximum recovery.
Landowner’s Duty for Maintaining a Safe Property
Whether a property owner or occupier must protect others from harm depends on the person’s legal status. The law recognizes three types of visitors, each owed a different level of care:
- Invitees
- Licensees
- Trespassers
Those responsible for the property owe invitees the greatest level of care. The invitee’s presence benefits the owner or renter and is at their request. Examples of invitees include golfers at a golf course, mall shoppers, or restaurant customers. A reduced level of care is owed to licensees, who enter another’s property with permission but for their benefit or convenience. No contractual relationship exists between the licensee and the property holder. Social guests or those soliciting business at someone’s home fall into this category.
Trespassers deserve the least amount of protection because they lack permission to come onto the property. However, if they do sustain an injury, they may have recourse if the cause rises to the level of willful or malicious. The one exception to not owing a duty of care to trespassers involves children.
Attracting Kids onto the Property
Due to their innocence, children often fail to recognize dangers apparent to adults. They see something interesting, and their curiosity gets the best of them – they just want to explore, play, and learn. As adults, the law requires landholders to account for wandering children and the potential for injury.
Georgia Code § 51-3-3(c) codifies this doctrine of attractive nuisance. The law exempts children lured onto another’s property from the definition of trespasser. As such, owners and occupiers owe an increased duty of care and may find themselves liable for children’s injuries. The conditions that cause harm may seem quite ordinary to adults, but to unsupervised children, they pose a real threat.
The application of Georgia’s attractive nuisance doctrine is not straight forward. Injury attorneys with experience in this area understand the nuances and requirements, and they can help ensure that a family with an injured child receives adequate compensation.
Types of Compensation Available in a Premises Liability Case
When thinking about suing someone for negligence or wrongdoing, people often focus on medical bill reimbursement. Georgia Code § 51-12-1 expands an injured party’s recovery beyond that to include economic and noneconomic harms, also called special and general damages:
- Physical and occupational therapy
- Unearned wages
- Travel costs to healthcare appointments
- Nursing and other in-home care
- Psychological counseling
- Pain and suffering
- Mental Anguish
- Inconvenience
- Disruption of daily life
- Loss of companionship
- Wrongful death
Seasoned premises liability attorneys know how to investigate the causes of an accident, build a case supporting favorable award amounts, and negotiate with the property holder’s insurance representatives to make those amounts a reality. When settlement eludes the parties, premises liability litigators confidently proceed to trial to seek just compensation.
Call a Dade County Premises Liability Attorney Today for Help
The fact that you suffered an harm on someone else’s property means that the landholder may owe you compensation. If their actions or inactions caused you or a family member to suffer, Georgia law provides you with a recourse. By calling a Dade County premises liability lawyer today, you will be one step closer to justice.
