Premises Liability

New York Lawyer for Premises Liability Lawsuits

Under premises liability law, New York property owners and occupiers are supposed to use reasonable care to make sure their property is free from obvious, harmful dangers that could result in injuries to visitors. When a property owner doesn’t repair a defective condition that he knew or should have known about, he may be held accountable. If you were injured as the result of a dangerous property condition, you should call the seasoned and knowledgeable White Plains premises liability lawyers of The Law Office of Mark A. Siesel. We have more than 35 years of courtroom experience. We represent clients injured in connection with elevator accidents, escalator accidents, stairway accidents, slip and falls, sidewalk accidents, snow and ice accidents, and accidents caused by faulty construction or structures.

Premises Liability

In order to hold the owner or occupier accountable for your injuries arising out of a dangerous condition on someone else’s property, we will need to prove it’s more likely than not: (1) you were legally on the property, or you were a known trespasser, (2) the property owner was negligent in handling the dangerous condition, either by failing to repair it, or by failing to rope it off or otherwise provide warnings, and (3) the property owner’s negligence caused your injuries.

Generally, in a premises liability lawsuit, our experienced White Plains lawyers will need to show that the property owner knew or should have known about the dangerous property condition. Sometimes we can establish notice, whether actual or constructive, by presenting evidence in the form of video tape footage or photographs that show how long the dangerous condition existed on the property without being fixed, repaired or warned about.

There are situations in which documentary evidence exists of actual notice to the property owner or occupier. Suppose, for example, there are rotted beams under a balcony at a bed and breakfast, and the last guest emailed the hotel about this problem, and the hotel did nothing. If you were then injured in a balcony collapse, there may be grounds to sue. In that situation, we’d present the email as a piece of evidence that goes towards actual notice.

However, in most cases, there is no evidence of direct notice. Instead, there may be surveillance footage showing that the dangerous condition existed for days or weeks, enough time that a reasonably careful property owner would have noticed the problem. Often footage is taped over in the course of a retail business’ ordinary operations, however, making it especially important to seek counsel right away after getting injured.

Injury Trespassers

The rules are a bit different if you were injured while trespassing on another person’s property. In that context, the property owner doesn’t owe you a reasonable duty of care, though there are some exceptions. One of the exceptions is for child trespassers. When there is a dangerous condition on the property that would be attractive to kids, and a trespassing child is injured by it, our White Plains attorneys handling your premises liability case may be able to hold the property owner accountable even though the child is a trespasser. For example, if a child wandered onto a neighbor’s property through a hole in the fence and drowned in an unguarded pool, it might be possible to hold the neighbor accountable in a premises liability lawsuit.

In some cases, a property owner mounts the defense of a plaintiff’s comparative negligence, which contributed to her injuries, or argues that the condition was open and obvious, and that the plaintiff should have avoided it.

Damages

If our White Plains lawyers can establish liability, we can recover medical bills, wage loss, pain and suffering, loss of enjoyment of life, loss of consortium. The nature and extent of your injuries will determine the amount and nature of the damages you can recover.

Call a Seasoned White Plains Lawyer

If you were injured as the result of a dangerous property condition, you should discuss your situation with an experienced White Plains premises liability lawyer. Mark A. Siesel has more than 35 years of experience and may be able to represent you. He represents clients in Brooklyn, the Bronx, and Queens, along with Westchester, Putnam, Dutchess, Sullivan, Rockland, Orange, and Ulster Counties. Please contact us at (914) 428-7386 or complete our online form for dedicated legal representation.