Premise Liability

Business owners and lessees have a legal duty to their customers and others lawfully visiting their premises to maintain their property in a reasonably safe condition. Private property owners and lessees may also be held legally responsible for personal injuries which occur on their property. Premises liability cases include but are not limited to:

  • Accidents in commercial and residential building
  • Elevator accidents
  • Inadequate and defective maintenance of building and property
  • Sidewalk accidents

Although some premises cases, such as so-called “slip and fall” cases, can seem simple, Florida law favors the premises owner. Simply because a person is injured on another person’s property or on the premises of a commercial establishment, does not guarantee that a lawsuit may be successfully brought.

An injured plaintiff must prove that the property owner or lessee either caused the defective or unsafe condition or they knew or should have known that there was a defective or unsafe condition on the property. Furthermore, a plaintiff must prove that this defective and/or hazardous condition causing the injury. Another important factor that usually arises in these cases is the degree of responsibility for the accident by the injured party, also known comparative negligence, which could reduce a recovery.

Prompt and thorough investigation of these claims is essential. This usually includes an immediate inspection of the accident location including scene photographs and witness interviews before evidence is lost or destroyed. At the Biondo Law Firm, P.A. trained investigators are retained to immediately secure all available evidence and try to answer a host of pertinent questions including the length of time the unsafe condition existed, prior complaints, prior accidents, and building code violations. It may even be necessary to utilize experts in various disciplines such as an engineer or an architect to properly investigate and evaluate your case. If necessary, we also retain expert accountants and financial analysts to evaluate our client(s) economic losses. The Biondo Law Firm, P.A has successfully litigated premise liability cases in courts throughout the State of Florida.