Articles Posted in Premise Liability

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Property owners have a legal duty to make sure their property is reasonably safe for those who lawfully enter. Those with the highest duty of care – which includes the responsibility to routinely inspect the property for possible hazards – are those owners whose properties are open to the public for the financial benefit of the owner. Those would include:

  • Restaurants
  • Hotels
  • Shopping Centers
  • Night clubs
  • Amusement parks

This duty can be breached when a property owner fails to keep the property in a reasonably safe condition, fails to correct a dangerous condition about which they knew or should have known and/ or failed to warn of that dangerous condition – and the result is an invitee is injured.

In the recent case of Grimes v. Family Dollar Stores of Florida, Inc., et al., plaintiff filed a lawsuit against a commercial tenant, a landowner and a hired landscaper after suffering a fall outside the store.  Continue reading →

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Property owners and property managers have a responsibility to make sure their site is safe for lawful guests. This duty includes residential landlords, who have many responsibilities to their tenants and tenant guests, including ensuring they are safe from an unreasonable risk of harm. 

This could include things like:

  • Broken stairways
  • Unlit parking lots
  • Lack of security/ locks on the doors
  • Not having working smoke detectors

A recent case of Lompe v. Sunridge Partners before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit shows how landlords and property management companies can be liable for failing to make sure their properties are in safe condition. In this situation, it was a broken HVAC system that was the source of serious injury for a young college student. Continue reading →

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In general, property owners and managers are bound by law to ensure lawful guests – particularly consumers and members of the public – are reasonably safe from foreseeable harms on that property.

However, there is one major exception, and it’s important to understand when it might apply. It’s called the “Recreational Use Statute,” and every state has one. In Florida, it’s codified in F.S. 375.251. The intention is to compel large land owners to allow public use of their property for recreational purposes by significantly reducing any potential liability he or she might face for injury by those guests.

Florida’s recreational use statute states that no land owner or lessee who provides the public with a park area or land for outdoor recreation cannot be presumed to extend any assurance that the area, land or water is safe for any purpose. The term “outdoor recreational purposes” can include (but isn’t limited to) activities that include things like swimming, boating, hiking, picnicking, motorcycling, pleasure driving, hunting and more. Continue reading →

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It’s true that property owners in Florida owe a duty to ensure their grounds are safe for lawful guests.

However, those who are injured on property that is open to the public for free recreational purposes may have a tough time collecting. That’s because Florida’s Recreational Use Statute limits the liability of land owners who allow the public free use of land for recreation. The idea is to encourage those who own property to open it up for public access.

These protections also extend to government entities, like cities and counties, that parks and preserves for use by the public. There may be some situations in which the owner or third-parties may be liable, but it will depend on the circumstances.

Recently, in the case of Carlson v. Town of South Kingstown, a Rhode Island woman was denied compensation after review by the state supreme court. Continue reading →

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A cruise ship injury resulted in a$21.5 million verdict in favor of plaintiff after jurors in the federal lawsuit determined the cruise line was grossly negligent for failing to fix a faulty door, which was a known problem.

In Hausman v. Holland America Line-USA et al., tried in the Washington Western District Court in Seattle, plaintiff not only produced evidence of his own injury, but of similar injuries suffered by dozens of other passengers before him involving the same type of sliding glass doors that struck him. These other cases occurred across the company’s fleet, with the issue being faulty sensor settings.

Plaintiff alleged he suffered a minor brain injury when he was struck by the door as he exited behind several cruise members. Surveillance video of the incident, which occurred in open water, shows plaintiff approaching the doors and then being struck in the face and side of the head when the doors shut unexpectedly. Defense argued in trial plaintiff walked into the closing doors. Continue reading →

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There are tens of thousands of hotels in Florida, and most make a handsome profit on the state’s booming tourism industry here in the Sunshine State. But with that comes an inherent responsibility to keep the property safe from unreasonable hazards. Failure to do so can result in a premises liability lawsuit.

However, hotel guests as invitees have a responsibility as well. They need to protect themselves from dangers that are open and obvious. Failure to do this can result in a reduction of damages or potentially even a dismissal of their case.

The question of whether a hazard is open-and-obvious has been sharply debated in courts across the country. Further, the defense isn’t absolute. It may be used as a way for the defense to argue reduced compensation to the plaintiff for the role he or she played, but it’s not necessarily a total bar to recovery (depending on the state where it occurs). Continue reading →

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Spectator sports are a year-round form of entertainment here in Florida, whether it’s minor league baseball or hockey tournaments or auto racing. Many parents and students also enjoy attending school sporting events, and for the most part, these events are fun for everyone.

But when a facility fails to protect the safety of its patrons, serious injury can occur. In these instances, it may be appropriate to explore the possibility of a premises liability lawsuit. The relative success of such litigation will depend on a host of factors, not the least of which is whether the facility was privately or publicly owned, and whether it was offered free of charge for recreational purposes.

It may seem a strange consideration, but F.S. 375.251 specifically shields property owners from all but the most egregious forms of negligence when they have made their property available to the public free of charge for recreational purposes. The idea is to encourage landowners to open their property for public use, such as picnicking, hiking, nature study, water skiing, sporting events, motorcycling, pleasure driving, boating, fishing or camping.

Continue reading →
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With the holiday season in full swing, stores across Florida are packed with patrons, scrambling to pick up those few last-minutes items. Store employees are often swamped, and when hazardous floor conditions become apparent, they have less time and fewer personnel to remedy the problem. These kinds of incidents give rise to an increasing number of slip-and-fall injuries in area stores.

Not every fall will generate a lawsuit, but particularly where injuries require hospitalization, it’s worth exploring.

Although pro-business lobbyists have done a good job spinning slip-and-fall lawsuits as a byproduct of greed, the reality is, a company that invites guests onto its property for the purpose of spending money owes a duty to keep those guests safe from unreasonable harm. This means promptly addressing spills, poor lighting, debris in the aisles and other dangerous conditions.

Continue reading →
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Florida is one of the top destinations sought by customers of Airbnb, VRBO and other home-sharing, short-term rental hubs – especially around the holidays, where people are seeking a warm respite from the northern cold.

But when injuries occur on these properties as a result of dangerous conditions, the issue of liability can be complex.

Generally, traditional hotels and properties overseen by rental management firms are covered under commercial liability insurance policies that provide for coverage if someone is killed or seriously injured on site. Additionally, private homeowners often carry their own insurance policies to cover injuries suffered by social guests. However, when a private homeowner is renting out a property for commercial gain, injuries sustained by commercial guests may not be covered under a homeowners’ private policy.

Continue reading →
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