Articles Posted in Premise Liability/Negligent Security

Property owners are responsible for curing or warning of dangerous conditions of which they know or should know and that may not be easily discoverable by guests.

That’s the general basis for premises liability claims in Florida. In some cases, though, property owners can be held responsible for third-party acts when those acts were precipitated by some dangerous condition on site. Some examples include negligent security and attractive nuisance. The latter primarily involves children on the property, and the principle holds that children are going to be drawn to certain dangers on site. Because children lack the ability to fully process the consequences of their actions, property owners have a duty to protect children in cases of foreseeable danger.

F.S. 823.08 details some obvious attractive nuisances, which can include:
-Iceboxes;
-Refrigerators;
-Deep-freeze lockers;
-Clothes washers;
-Clothes dyers;
-Similar airtight units from which the doors have not been removed.
Continue reading ›

Property owners are required to keep the site reasonably free of foreseeable harm to guests and patrons under Florida law. Generally speaking, property owners aren’t required to insure against harm caused by third parties except in certain circumstances.

Under Florida premises liability law, a property owner can be liable for third-party attacks when:
–There is a special relationship for which owner assumes a duty to protect.
–There is an element of foreseeability to the alleged crime (i.e., there have been similar crimes committed on site or nearby in the past).
–Precautions taken to protect or warn the guest of danger were inadequate.

There have been numerous examples of Floridians who were injured as a result of a third-party attack who successfully sue the site owner or manager for damages based on this aspect of premises liability law. However, these cases are often complex in nature and require the help of an experienced litigator. While a criminal prosecution may result in a judgment for restitution, in addition to other criminal sanctions, that’s not standard, nor is it the primary purpose of the criminal justice system. That’s why third-party lawsuits are initiated.
Continue reading ›

When important evidence in a civil injury case has been destroyed, altered or simply lost, this is called “spoliation of evidence.” Because this kind of action can throw off an entire injury case, it might seem defendants in such actions would have incentive to conveniently “lose” key documents, video or other evidence.

In order to counter this, both federal and Florida courts have consistently held that sanctions are appropriate when spoliation of evidence occurs.

The kind of sanctions imposed by the court will vary depending on the egregiousness of the act, whether it was intentional and how important the lost evidence would have been to the other party. Some examples have included entering a default judgment on the issue of liability, imposition of evidentiary presumption, exclusion of expert witness testimony or dismissal of a claim or counterclaim.
Continue reading ›

A strip mall nightclub in Miami coined “The Spot” was the site of a bloody scene recently, when 15 people – ranging in age from 11 to 25 – suffered gun shot wounds in the early hours of a Sunday morning. At least one of those victims was in critical condition, while the others are expected to recover.

Although authorities are continuing to investigate, initial reports are that two groups were shooting at one another. The recently-opened business bills itself as a “lounge, restaurant and bar.” It did have a liquor license, and apparently catered to teen patrons, though the media reports it’s unclear whether alcohol was being served to youth.

In a scenario like this, injured minors and parents may have grounds for a civil suit against the business and/or property owners. While courts generally do not impose liability on third parties for violent criminal acts, there are exceptions made when the risk was foreseeable and the business owner owed a duty to protect invitees.
Continue reading ›

One of the first things our Fort Myers premises liability lawyers will do in reviewing a trip-and-fall case is to determine the legal status of the plaintiff at the time of the incident.

That is, was the plaintiff a business invitee? A licensee? Or a trespasser? For each classification, the level of duty owed by a defendant is going to vary, which means plaintiff legal status can guide the entire course of a case.

The highest degree of duty owed is to that of a business invitee, who is on the property for the financial benefit of the property owner. A prime example would be a customer at the grocery store. A licensee, meanwhile, is someone who is on the property for some purpose other than commercial. An example would be a social guest. An finally, a trespasser would be someone who did not have permission to be on the property. Trespassers can sue property owners for injuries, but usually only if the owner knew trespassers routinely came on site and failed to address or warn of a hazard that wasn’t obvious. The one exception is children, and the most common example in Florida would be a child who enters an unprotected swimming pool area.
Continue reading ›

Just like commercial property owners, private property owners owe a duty to those on their property to address potentially dangerous conditions or, alternatively, to warn of them. The degree of that duty depends largely upon the status of the person on the property – whether an invitee or trespasser.

Liability of the owner may be reduced if the danger was open and obvious to the injured party or if there was any degree of comparative fault on the part of the injured person.

Our Fort Myers premises liability attorneys know while homeowners may not be fully aware of their legal obligations, ignorance is no excuse, especially if someone is seriously hurt as a result of encountering a dangerous condition without warning.
Continue reading ›

A slip-and-fall lawsuit against a South Florida hospital will be allowed to proceed, per the Fourth District Court of Appeals. But the plaintiff in Denniser v. Columbia Hospital Corp. of South Broward is going to have a tougher time proving the case.

The reason has to do with the distinction given to the injured party at the time of the incident. Cape Coral slip-and-fall injury attorneys note three different classes of entrants in premises liability cases in Florida. These are: trespassers, licensees and invitees. The degree of difficulty in proving the case is going to depend heavily on where the plaintiff falls on this spectrum.

When plaintiffs are trespassers, land or property owners have a minimal duty to ensure they are protected. In fact, the law says only that they must refrain from intentional harm to trespassers. There are a few exceptions, usually pertaining to children, especially if the danger is not open or obvious.
Continue reading ›

News media is hailing the survival of a 15-month-old boy in Minneapolis following a fall from an 11th-story balcony a “miracle.” Officials say he slipped through the railing of the balcony as his father stepped away for just a moment. The toddler remains in critical condition, with multiple broken bones and a concussion. Still, he is expected to survive, something doctors attributed to the flexibility of babies and the fact that he fell on a soft mulch patch.

Questions now remain as to whether the railing spacing and height was up to code, and whether there is a possibility that the landlord and/or property owners could be held liable.

Fort Myers premises liability lawyers know that property managers and building owners have a duty to keep residents and guests safe. This is especially true when it comes to balconies, as a 2011 study published in the American Journal of Emergency Medicine, indicating that falls from heights are fairly common in urban areas.
Continue reading ›

Big business in Florida is pushing hard to get lawmakers to pass a series of bills limiting awards in civil lawsuits in the state. These powerful business lobbyists, which include Disney, Publix, State Farm, Walgreen’s and Liberty Mutual, are focused on two measures in particular.

One of those promises to alter the way medical damages are tallied for accident victims, which would almost certainly result in smaller jury awards and pre-trial settlements. Even negotiating a pre-trial settlement would be tougher because it would strip the plaintiff of a certain degree of leverage. The second would shield insurance firms from lawsuits that allege they have acted in “bad faith” in handling claims.

Last year, there was a concerted effort by the business lobby to pass these reforms, but they faced substantial opposition not only from trial lawyers, but also doctors and hospitals. Now, the lobbyists have resurrected the issues, hoping to capitalize on what could be the last term of Republican Gov. Rick Scott, who has historically made reducing personal injury litigation a main priority.

Experienced personal injury attorneys know, while these companies argue that inflated medical costs and greedy trial lawyers are to blame for rising insurance prices, the reality is that despite numerous tort reform efforts over the years, which have slashed victim rights, insurance costs remain on the rise.
Continue reading ›

You send your child to school hoping they’ll make it through unharmed. Unfortunately, dangers for injury exist. In fact, instances of school liability have increased over the last several years.

School-aged children have to worry about bullying, sexual harassment, serious injury and even wrongful death.

Our school injury attorneys note studies have shown that recent verdicts in school-related negligence cases have overwhelmingly ruled in the favor of the schools in question. Unfortunately, government immunity typically protects schools in these cases. It’s important to be familiar with these factors, especially in pursuing a case against a school. More than 53 million children in the country spend about a fourth of their day at school or on campus.
Continue reading ›