Being injured on a New Jersey property can be serious. If you suffered a slip and fall, it can be devastating enough that you might even need to miss time from work. In this situation, you have cause to file a premises liability lawsuit. It’s important to know who is responsible in your case.
What is premises liability?
Personal injury cases that involve a victim who has suffered injuries while on someone else’s property are known as premises liability. If the person was legally on the property and became injured as a result of disrepair, slippery or uneven surfaces or other unsafe conditions, they have cause to file a claim. The lawsuit might be against the property owner, manager or a tenant depending on the circumstances surrounding the case.
However, if the injury occurred to a person who was not legally on the property, that person would not have a legal claim. For example, if someone was trespassing and slipped and fell, suffering injuries, they would not be legally entitled to file a premises liability lawsuit.
Who can be held responsible in a premises liability case?
If there are dangerous conditions on a property that result in an injury, the property owner can be held responsible. A good example is an apartment building with a broken staircase at the entrance.
Other times, a party other than the owner might be held responsible as well. For example, if a customer visiting a grocery store slips and falls on a food or drink that was spilled on the floor in an aisle, the store manager could be liable.
A tenant in an apartment building can also be liable in some cases. For instance, if a person is visiting someone in the building and a neighbor’s dog is running loose in the building bites and injures them, the tenant who owns the dog would be responsible.
When are both parties at fault?
Sometimes, both parties can be at fault for an injury stemming from premises liability. If the visitor behaved negligently such as running on the property and fell, they might be held partially responsible due to comparative negligence laws. For example, if the person is found 10 percent at fault for their injury, they would receive 10 percent less than what they sought in their claim.
Premises liability can sometimes be complex. However, it’s important to know who’s responsible when you file a lawsuit.