If you suffered injuries on another party’s property, you must consult with a Jacksonville personal injury lawyer, as you have the right to seek compensation for your losses. A premises liability lawyer from the Law Offices of Anidjar & Levine can file a claim or lawsuit on your behalf.
Florida Statutes § 95.11(3)(a) dictates how long you have to file. Contacting us promptly could protect your right to financial recovery.
The Cost to Hire a Premises Liability Lawyer
It costs you nothing upfront to partner with our firm. We handle most of our cases on a contingency fee basis, meaning we finance your claim’s obligations until its conclusion. Once you receive a settlement (and results are not guaranteed), we take a portion of your winnings as payment for our help.
You will know about our financial arrangement at the beginning of your case. If we can’t recover damages on your behalf, you don’t pay our attorney’s fees.
Damages Available in a Successful Jacksonville Premises Liability Case
The types of damages we can recover depend on your financial losses, the nature and severity of your injuries, and the facts of your case. After we investigate your accident, we can offer more information specific to your situation.
In general, common types of compensable damages include:
- The cost of medical care
- Rehabilitation and/or therapy costs
- Ongoing care costs
- Lost wages
- Property damage
- Loss of future earning potential
- Pain and suffering
- Mental anguish
- Loss of consortium
- Reduced quality of life
- Physical and/or intellectual disabilities
- Miscellaneous expenses related to the accident or your injuries
Keep track of your invoices, medical bills, and receipts, as they provide insight into the value of your damages.
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We Can Determine Whether You Have a Valid Premises Liability Claim or Lawsuit
Premises liability injuries can occur in a number of ways. If you have any questions about whether you qualify for legal action, a premises liability lawyer in Jacksonville, FL, can review your case.
Some of the types of premises liability cases we can handle include:
- Slip hazards, including wet floors, spills, and poor traction on stairs
- Trip hazards, such as uneven floors, torn carpet, and obstructed walkways
- Other dangerous conditions that led to falls, such as poor lighting or missing handrails
- Dog bites
- Diving or swimming pool accidents
- Electrical hazards, including exposed wiring
- Property neglect, such as broken banisters
- Negligent security precautions leading to break-ins
- Other unaddressed hazards that led to injuries
How Florida’s Premises Liability Laws Apply to You
In general, most people who visit restaurants, stores, public parks, or private property have protection under Florida’s premises liability laws. This includes a wide range of visitors and guests, such as:
- Invited guests
- Customers
- Potential customers
- Contractors
- Delivery service people
If you were injured as a trespasser, you may not be able to claim compensation for your losses. This is especially true if you are over the age of 18. In some cases, the parents of minor children can seek legal action if their child was injured as a trespasser.
As a personal injury law firm, we can help you understand if you qualify to file a claim or a lawsuit against the property owner. We will explain how the law affects your case and take action accordingly.
Who Is Liable After an Accident?
In many premises liability cases, the liable party is whoever owns the property on which you were injured. However, depending on what the property is used for and how your injury occurred, you may have a different liable party, or you may be able to sue more than one party. For example:
- If the owner hired a manager or someone else to take care of the property on their behalf, the manager may also be liable
- If the owner leased the property to a business, the business owner may share liability for your accident
- If the owner used faulty building materials when doing repairs and those materials contributed to the accident, you may be able to sue the company that manufactured the faulty materials
A pivotal part of any case is to accurately identify the liable party or parties and to calculate how much money they owe you.
What Makes Someone Liable for Dangerous Property Conditions?
To hold someone accountable for your losses, our accident lawyers must be able to prove that they owed you a duty of care. This means that they were legally responsible for your safety.
Next, we must meet these criteria with the evidence we collect:
- They neglected their duty of care. To satisfy this criterion, we have to prove that the responsible party knew or should have known about the unsafe conditions. It could be that the property owner had already received a citation for a hazard and refused to rectify it or post warning signs.
- Their negligence caused your accident. Just because the property owner is negligent, doesn’t mean they are at fault. We must connect your accident to their negligence. Essentially, we must prove that your accident would not have happened if not for their actions or lack of action. Witness statements can help to prove the cause of your accident.
- Your accident resulted in damages. Using evidence of your medical costs, financial statements, wage estimates, and other documentation, we can connect your personal and financial losses to your accident and injuries.
The negligent parties might argue that they did not know about the hazard. This is where the “reasonable person” standard comes into play. We do not have to prove the at-fault party knew about the hazard. Instead, we only need to show a reasonable person would have known about it and taken action.
As part of our investigation, we will survey the scene, take pictures, and document the hazard at the accident scene (if possible). This is often key in determining what happened.
Other Benefits of Hiring a Premises Liability Lawyer
Our team works hard to take care of all the “big picture” items on each accident victim’s behalf. With us on your side, you would only need to worry about getting better while we handle settlement negotiations, evidence collection, and more.
These tasks can be challenging on their own. However, premises liability lawsuits frequently require plaintiffs to complete many smaller yet equally critical tasks, including:
- Filling out paperwork correctly and filing it promptly
- Scheduling meetings, court dates, and other important events
- Staying in communication with the liable party, their representatives, and the insurance adjuster
- Deciding whether to settle a case, make a counteroffer, or take the case to court
Our premises liability attorneys have the experience and the drive to manage every aspect of your lawsuit, big and small alike. Our team wants to make your legal experience as stress-free as possible by:
- Handling your entire case so that you can focus on recovering from your injuries
- Giving you your attorney’s contact information so you can get in touch with them whenever you need to do so
- Providing personalized, responsive, and compassionate care at a difficult time in your life
- Visiting you at the hospital or at home to discuss your case, saving you the time and trouble of visiting us in our Jacksonville office
- Charging no attorney’s fees unless and until you receive compensation
Claims Process in Jacksonville
After investigating your case, we can begin the claims process. The first step is generally filing a claim with the liable party’s insurance company. Usually, this is with the negligent property owner.
Once we identify the liable party, we will send them a demand letter explaining:
- How their policyholder exposed you to an unreasonable hazard
- The full value of your damages
- How much we expect them to pay
Insurers typically respond with low offers. This begins settlement negotiations. We are usually able to negotiate a fair settlement agreement during this process. We can then prepare the settlement agreement and review it with you before you sign it.
What Happens If We Can’t Reach an Out-of-Court Settlement?
If the insurance company refuses to pay a fair settlement or denies your claim, we will file a lawsuit. Sometimes, we can still reach an out-of-court settlement after filing a lawsuit.
From here, the judge will hear your case, and a jury will determine if you deserve compensation based on the circumstances of your accident. We can build the most persuasive possible case by:
- Submitting the evidence we have collected as trial exhibits
- Engaging in discovery (exchange of evidence) with the liable party’s defense team
- Participating in jury selection to make sure members of the jury are not biased against you
- Arguing your case before the jury and raising objections if the defense tries to violate your rights
- Questioning witnesses on the stand to solicit testimony and/or undermine the credibility of the defense’s witnesses
If we reach a fair settlement agreement or the jury awards a payout in your case, we will handle all paperwork, and they will forward the check to us. We will process it and distribute your money as soon as possible.
Commonly Asked Questions About Premises Liability Cases in Jacksonville
Below are some of the questions we’ve gotten from our previous clients:
Does Premises Liability Only Cover Slips and Falls?
Premises liability incidents cover any accident that happens on another party’s property and results in injuries. While slips and falls fall under premises liability law, they are not the same thing and should not be used interchangeably.
Can Family Members Sue for Wrongful Death in Jacksonville?
Per Florida Statutes § 768.20, only a personal representative of the decedent’s estate can initiate legal action. Usually, this representative is designated in the decedent’s will, but if not, they can be appointed through the court system. The representative seeks compensation for the decedent’s spouse, children, parents, and other qualifying parties.
Our firm can determine the personal representative in your case and explain your options.
What Happens If the Statute of Limitations Expires in Your Case?
If you file your case outside of the appropriate deadline, you could lose the right to seek damages. However, don’t assume that you’ve run out of time.
For instance, if you are filing a wrongful death lawsuit, your deadline begins from the date of your loved one’s passing – not from the date of the incident. Additionally, if you were injured but did not discover your injuries until a later date, you could have more time to act.
Let our team review your case and determine how long you have to file. However, we’ll have to learn about your situation first.
Call Us Today for a Free Case Review
Jacksonville personal injury lawyers from the Law Offices of Anidjar & Levine will evaluate your case and explain your legal options. If you were hurt on another party’s property, we could pursue fair compensation for your damages.
Call our Jacksonville team today. You can reach us at any time of the day or night by calling or visiting us online.
