Pasadena Premises Liability Attorney

Under California premises liability law, a person entering a property has a reasonable expectation of not getting hurt. Simply put, this means that the owner/operator of a property (or non-owner resident) is solely responsible to maintain their property with a reasonable amount of care to keep the site safe from hazardous conditions.

A Pasadena premises liability attorney can help you understand your rights under California law if you have been injured on a private property (such as a residence or office building) or a public property (such as a shopping mall, public library or park).

The Duty

California premises law specifies that the owner/occupant of a property has the duty to visitors to exercise reasonable care in the use, maintenance or management of such premises. Failure to fulfill this duty in exercising adequate care is considered negligence. If such condition exists, reasonable warning must be given to allow guests to avoid the area.

Notice Of The Condition

Lack of knowledge of a dangerous condition is not a viable defense if constructive notice might be proved by showing that the owner or occupier should have known of the issue. Evidence that the condition existed for an adequate period of time so as to be unreasonable is enough to imply constructive notice.

To put constructive notice simply, if the banana peel on the floor of the supermarket was yellow when the person slipped on it and fell, constructive notice could be difficult to prove as it only fell very recently. If the banana peel was brown and deteriorated, it might have been there for a sufficient period of time to be reasonably assumed that the store employees should have known about it.

Slips and Trips

A painful slip and fall accident can occur nearly anywhere. A wet, oily or otherwise slippery surface is generally to blame. With slip and falls, the person usually falls backward, resulting in injuries to the spine, back and shoulder. More serious injuries to the skull, brain and brain stem can result in lifelong disability or even death.

A trip and fall accident is due to cracks, holes or uneven surfaces in places like parking lots or sidewalks. They might also occur due to insufficient lighting when somebody trips on stairs or over an object in an unlit hallway. With trip and falls, the person usually falls forward, resulting in injury to their skull, face, jaw, neck, shoulders, arms, hands and ribs.

Not every situation gives rise to legal liability, but valid slip and fall claims are filed and settled every year. One of our experienced premises liability attorneys can explain the strength of your case and the probability of a favorable outcome.

Other Types of Premises Liability

Most people think of premises liability cases in the context of slip and fall or trip and fall cases, but across Southern California, they include but aren’t limited to animal attacks, swimming pool injuries or deaths, elevator and escalator accidents, amusement park accidents and negligent or inadequate security.

Common private property/home related injuries:
* Drowning in swimming pool
* Spinal and neck injuries from diving
* Electrocution from faulty wiring
* Slip and trips
* Dog bite (California is one of the states that has a dog bite statute. Under the statute, negligence isn’t an issue. A dog owner is strictly liable for any bites caused by their dog regardless of whether the dog has ever shown dangerous tendencies)
* Negligent or inadequate security is relatively new in the law. It is now recognized that Pasadena property owners have a duty to keep others safe from criminal acts or attacks. If they fail to take adequate protective measures, and injury results, they can be held liable.

Common amusement or theme park injuries:
* Whiplash
* Fractures
* Internal injuries
* Heart attacks
* Back and neck injuries
* Traumatic brain injuries

Common elevator/escalator injuries:
* Falls or drops
* Improper door movement
* Elevator arriving above or below the specified floor
* Accidents caused by sudden stops, missing or degraded parts and side entrapment of footwear

At the Pasadena Law Offices of Brent A. Duque, we maintain a staff of a highly professional, knowledgeable, aggressive and successful premises liability attorneys who represent injured people through our offices that stretch across Southern California. Time limitations apply to any injury claim you might have, so for purposes of investigating a possible case and possibly preserving evidence, it’s best for you to contact us immediately after an accident.

Contact our Pasadena Personal Injury Attorney at 1-877-241-9554 to learn more about your legal options. A free consultation is just a phone call away. You can even use our online contact form, and we’ll reply to you quickly.