Florida Premises Liability Lawyer

Property Injury Attorney in Santa Rosa County, FL, Skillfully Pursuing Premises Liability Claims

It only takes a relatively small safety hazard—like a spill on the floor, a pothole in a parking lot, or a broken escalator—to cause a serious accident. When an injury on someone else’s property has impacted your life, a Florida premises liability lawyer at Dan Stewart Law Firm can help you pursue compensation for your medical costs, wage loss, and other losses.

Our firm offers free, no-obligation consultations to help injured victims explore their options and understand their rights. Contact us today to find out what our experienced legal team can do for you.

Injury Compensation for Hazardous Premises Accidents in Florida

In Florida, property owners, lessees, and maintenance providers have a duty to address safety hazards and keep the property in a safe condition for visitors. Although the extent of this duty depends on the type of property and the visitor’s reason for being there, the existence of this duty provides injured victims with grounds to file a claim for compensation against negligent property owners.

Property Owner Responsibilities

Property owners in Florida have a duty to maintain their property in a safe condition for visitors, a responsibility that may include:

• Inspecting properties for hazards regularly
• Properly repairing dangerous conditions
• Warning visitors of hazards that can’t be immediately repaired, including through signage and blocking off areas

Commercial property owners, like retail stores that invite the public into their spaces for the purpose of making sales, have a greater duty of care than residential property owners maintaining private homes. However, even residential property owners can be held accountable when their hazardous premises constitute a breach of duty owed to visitors to the property.

The duty of care a property owner owes depends on the victim’s classification. For an invitee, who visits a property such as a retail store for a purpose that serves the property owner’s benefit, this party owes the highest duty of care. The property owner may be expected to routinely inspect the property and keep logs of these inspections, as well as promptly address hazards by blocking off public access to them and putting up warning signs.

Licensees, such as social guests, can still expect some duty of care from the owners of the properties they visit, but this duty isn’t as extensive as the one owed to invitees. Primarily, the property owner has an obligation to warn their guests of dangers that may not be obviously apparent, but they don’t have a responsibility to routinely inspect the property for issues.

The type of visitor that has the least legal protection is a trespasser. Because trespassers are people on a property (commercial or residential) without the owner’s permission, the duty of care owed to them is minimal. The owner cannot willfully inflict harm on the trespasser, but they also aren’t expected to maintain the property in a safe condition for people who aren’t supposed to be there.

Compensation You Can Pursue in a Premises Liability Case

If the defendant owed you a duty of care as an invitee or licensee visiting their property, you’re entitled to pursue compensation for the economic and non-economic losses you suffered because of their negligence. That includes:

• Medical and rehabilitation costs, such as emergency room care, hospital admission, medications, physical therapy, surgery, and devices like canes, walkers, and wheelchairs
• Future projected care needs, if your injuries leave you facing long-term limitations
• Lost wages due to missing work during rehabilitation
• Reduction in future earning capacity, if you aren’t able to return to work in the same capacity as before
• Out-of-pocket costs, such as the cost of renovating or replacing your home or your vehicle for accessibility or hiring someone to perform tasks that your injuries keep you from doing yourself
• Non-economic losses, such as your pain and suffering, emotional distress, and permanent scarring and disfigurement

At Dan Stewart Law Firm, we know that the key to recovering maximum compensation for our clients is thorough identification and careful documentation of all of your damages.

Types of Claims Our Property Injury Attorney in Santa Rosa County, FL, Handles

Premises liability is a broad area of personal injury law that encompasses any type of case in which the injured victim is seeking compensation from a negligent property owner due to a safety hazard on the premises. In Florida, several different causes of action can be pursued under premises liability law. Our firm has extensive experience holding property owners and other defendants accountable for all types of failures that put visitors at risk, including:

• Slip and fall accidents: Incidents in which the victim slips, trips, or falls as a result of property hazards that range from spills and wet floors to frayed carpets and broken stairs
• Negligent security incidents: Situations in which a property owner’s inadequate security measures, such as a lack of working locks, security cameras, lighting fixtures, or security personnel, enable intentional assaults and robberies that were known or foreseeable risks
• Dog bites: Injuries caused in an attack by a pet dog (one owned by a human), regardless of whether the dog had any history of aggression or the human owner had any knowledge of prior bites
• Elevator and escalator accidents: Entrapment injuries, injuries arising out of sudden stops, and other types of harm occurring on elevators and escalators, often arising out of improper maintenance or mechanical failures
• Swimming pool accidents: Drowning and near-drowning accidents, as well as falls on slippery surfaces, shocks due to pool electrical equipment failures, and other types of harm at commercially operated or residential swimming pools
• Fire or electrical accidents: Burns, smoke inhalation, shocks, and other harm arising out of faulty wiring or unsafe contact with heat sources, or injuries due to fires in which a lack of safety measures, such as smoke detectors and marked fire exits, contributed to harm
• Falling object accidents: Injuries caused by unstable objects overhead, including items falling from high shelves in retail stores, debris or materials being dropped on construction sites, and collapsing ceilings
• Toxic exposures: Injuries and, often, illnesses that result from unsafe environmental exposures, often occurring in apartments, hotels, schools, offices, military bases, and more

This isn’t an exhaustive list of possible premises liability cases. Every circumstance is unique. What our Florida premises liability lawyer looks for when analyzing potential cases is a safety hazard that constitutes a breach of a property owner’s duty of care and legally recognizable damages for which you could pursue compensation.

How Dan Stewart Law Firm Can Help

As an experienced property injury attorney in Santa Rosa County, FL, we take a proven approach to premises liability claims. The work we do for our clients encompasses:

• Evaluating the full facts of your situation as part of your free consultation
• Carrying out a thorough investigation to identify defendants and gather evidence
• Preparing your claim for compensation, including strategically building theories of liability against each defendant and documenting your damages
• Managing interactions with insurers, claims paperwork, legal filings, deadlines, and procedures
• Representing you in any legal proceedings
• Recovering compensation for you through settlement negotiations or trial presentation

For every aspect of your claim, we’re here to take practical, proactive measures to get the results you deserve while managing the demands of the legal process.

Why Choose Dan Stewart Law Firm as Your Florida Premises Liability Lawyer?

For a Florida premises liability lawyer you can count on, trust your case to Dan Stewart Law Firm, known for our trial readiness, our comprehensive experience practicing personal injury law, and our compassionate, client-first approach.

Willingness to Take Every Case to Trial

Although many personal injury claims end up settling out of court, we believe that every case should be prepared for the possibility of a trial. Having all options available to you is essential for making sure that you’re able to receive the maximum compensation possible for your premises liability case. We’re ready to fight for you in court, and we’re committed to preserving our clients’ right to a jury trial whenever that path offers the best opportunity to secure the results they deserve.

A Full-Service Florida Personal Injury Law Firm

As a firm that handles personal injury claims of all kinds—from car accidents to slip and falls and everything in between—we have extensive experience managing the wide variety of cases that fall under this area of legal practice. We recognize that all premises liability cases can have unique complexities, and we’re ready to address the unique challenges involved in your claim.

Compassionate Client Service

We put our clients first, focusing not only on securing an outcome that provides maximum compensation but also on making the legal process less stressful. We know that life after an accident is hard enough as it is, and we’re committed to providing the most worry-free experience possible as we handle your claim for financial compensation.

Contact a Florida Premises Liability Lawyer at Dan Stewart Law Firm Today for a Free Case Review

Our firm makes getting legal help easy, with free consultations and 24/7 availability to assist with urgent legal issues. If you can’t come to our office, we’re willing to come to you, with “The 4U mobile,” our dedicated RV, complete with all facilities needed to meet in person, that supports home and hospital visits. We represent the injured at no upfront cost, removing the risk from the legal process.

For help from a property injury attorney in Santa Rosa County, FL, contact Dan Stewart Law Firm online or call 850-972-8002 today.