What Steps Should Someone Take in A Premises Liability Claim?

The first thing to do is to get in contact with an experienced board-certified personal injury lawyer concerning any premise liability claim. We are trying to do is put the injured person on equal footing with the insurance companies, and the building owners. Those folks will investigate once the claim is made immediately in cases like these. They will take photos, and witness statements. The ethical ones will do so in a manner that is designed to get to the bottom of the causation of the injuries. Unfortunately, and I think it is this way in every profession; there are a few bad apples that ruin the reputation for everybody else. Some companies, building owners, and insurance companies will investigate in such a manner as to tilt the playing field, make the evidence seem one-sided, change the facts, or leave out unfavorable facts. They are doing an investigation only to protect themselves from liability, and not to get to the truth of what really happened.

Given the fact that some insurance companies on large buildings, have all these advantages against an individual, who, number one is hurt, or maybe in the hospital for days, and weeks, and has limited resources. He may not be able to even move around, much less, make money, and pay for an investigation that needs to be done, because the injured person has all these disadvantages, it is very important to hire a firm with the knowledge, experience, and resources to balance the playing field and make sure there is a fair investigation. That is the first thing you need to do. If you look to hire a lawyer a year later, after the occurrence, it is going to be very, very difficult on the playing field to be awarded any damages.

How Does Your Firm Determine Whether to File a Premises Liability Claim or Not?

Any personal injury case has two main areas: Liability and Damages. Some cases are very obvious that it needs to go to prosecution. I have given examples of the balcony that fell off the building with the young men on it. They were all in intensive care, and rehabilitation for weeks. They all had very serious life-threatening injuries to different areas of their bodies, but very serious injuries nonetheless. One had a head injury and a broken jaw, one had his feet de-gloved, which means that when his ankles hit the pavement at such an angle that all the flesh was torn off of the foot, and then the other young man had a very severe Open Book pelvic fracture. Some cases like that, it is very evident that this is going to be a major case involving major injuries, with life-long injuries, and that case is going to need to be prosecuted.

The case with the dangerous skylights where the young man had extremely severe injuries wound up losing a leg and having rods placed in his back. Obviously, that case needs to be prosecuted. Our firm has handled a case where a twelve- year old girl received third degree burns to fifty-two percent of her body, and had thirty-four surgeries involving skin grafts. It is very painful concerning the removal of dead tissue. Her injuries were caused by polyurethane foam that was ignited that did not have a flame retard agent in it. You see polyurethane foam all over the place; it is used in packing materials to protect packages being shipped. People use it on their walls for sound insulation, which is what happened in this case.

The polyurethane foam, which by the way, in our case had the flammability of kerosene, obviously that case needs to be prosecuted. Other cases are on a reevaluation basis. We try to be very honest with the clients, and tell them how long this is going to be litigated. We tell them how much is it going to cost in terms of expenses, because we will front the expenses, but how much will it cost in terms of your time off from work as well. Those cases where attendance is mandatory, such as your deposition, the mediation, and the trial of the case are required. We sit down with the client and we are very honest about the commitment of time, effort, and energy involved. We need the client to be committed to the case, because we are going to be committed to the case once we file it.

For more information on Steps To Take In Premises Liability Claims, a free initial consultation is your next best step. Get the information and legal answers you are seeking by calling today.