Rosenbaum Personal Injury Lawyers | October 14, 2024 | Premises Liability
Premises liability is the personal injury liability faced by the owner or operator of real property – land and buildings. Under premises liability, a property owner or operator bears liability for unreasonably dangerous conditions on their property that they fail to remedy or warn of. Not all injuries result in liability–only injuries resulting from unreasonably dangerous conditions that the owner should have or could have remedied or warned about.
Common Premises Liability Accidents
The following types of accidents very frequently generate premises liability:
This list is just the tip of the iceberg. Many more types of accidents can generate premises liability.
Property Owner/Operator
Premises liability can apply to the owner of real property, the operator (typically a lessee), or both parties. Think of a shipping mall versus individual shops in the mall. To simplify terminology, starting with the next section, the term “owner” will refer to both or either of these parties, according to the context. Here is how courts distribute premises liability between owner and lessee.
The Owner
The owner is the party who holds legal title to the property. Just look at the name on the deed. The owner is usually responsible for the overall safety of the property, regardless of their degree of actual control.
The structural integrity of the building, for example, is the owner’s responsibility. So are “latent defects” (hidden or non-obvious defects in the absence of a property inspection). Although the landlord generally bears liability for repairs, this responsibility might shift based on the terms of a lease with a lessee.
The Operator
The operator, typically a lessee, is the party with actual physical control of the property, unless the owner controls the property. The operator bears responsibility for the day-to-day safety of the property. They must keep the property clean and free of unnecessary obstacles, and they must provide sufficient security to meet reasonably anticipated needs. They must also warn visitors of known dangers on the property. Again, the terms of a lease can affect the distribution of liability to some extent.
Invitees, Licensees, and Trespassers
The duty of care that a landowner owes depends on the status of the visitor:
Invitees
An invitee is someone who either is on the property (i) for a purpose that benefits the owner or (ii) for a purpose that reflects the reason why the property is open to the public. Invitees include customers, clients, delivery drivers, contract workers, users of a public library, etc.
The property owner must repair any dangers, warn of dangers that they cannot repair, and inspect the property regularly.
Licensees
A license is someone who appears on the property with the owner’s permission. Their presence does not necessarily benefit the owner. Licensees include social guests, family members, door-to-door salespeople, etc. Counterintuitively, firefighters and police officers are licensees, even though their presence may very well benefit the owner tremendously.
The owner must warn a licensee of known dangers that the license probably won’t discover by themselves (except by having an accident). There is no duty to inspect.
Trespassers
It is inaccurate to make a blanket statement that the owner has no duty to a trespasser, although this statement is accurate under most circumstances. There are three major exceptions where an owner does have a duty to trespassers:
- The owner cannot “booby trap” their property to deliberately injure trespassers.
- The owner can bear liability for an attractive condition, such as a swimming pool, that injures or kills a child too young to appreciate its danger. The owner of a swimming pool should put a fence around a pool, for example, if a reasonable person could foresee that a child might get hurt there.
- An owner may have a duty to warn of non-obvious dangerous conditions to protect ‘habitual trespassers.’ A habitual trespasser might be someone who regularly takes a shortcut through the owner’s property, for example.
Other nuances exist under New York state law.
The Rule Against the Introduction of Evidence of Subsequent Remedial Measures
New York law prevents a defendant from introducing evidence of “subsequent remedial measures” to prove that a condition on the property was dangerous. In other words, if the defendant repairs a condition that injured you, you cannot use the fact of the repair to prove that the condition was dangerous to begin with. The purpose of this restriction is to avoid penalizing someone for repairing a dangerous condition.
Damages
Damages work more or less the same for premises liability as they do for other types of personal injury claims. You can qualify for the following damages:
- Economic damages: Medical bills, lost earnings, out-of-pocket expenses, etc.
- Non-economic damages: Pain and suffering, emotional distress, and similar intangible losses.
- Punitive damages: These damages might be awarded if the defendant’s conduct was sufficiently outrageous.
New York’s no-fault insurance will cover most economic damages in case of a traffic accident, but it won’t cover non-economic or punitive damages.
Comparative Fault
Comparative fault applies when more than one party bears liability for your injuries (typically, both you and the defendant). New York is a pure comparative fault state. Under New York rules, a court will assign a percentage of fault to each party. It will then deduct whatever percentage of fault applies to you and reduce your award by that percentage.
If the accident was 20% your fault, for example, and if your damages were $100,000, you will lose 20% of your damages, or $20,000, leaving you with $80,000. Unlike most states, there is no cutoff percentage beyond which your damages drop to zero. Even if the accident was 99% your fault, you will still qualify for 1% of your damages.
Talk to a Personal Injury Lawyer
The intervention of an attorney can help lead you to victory. While not a guarantee, it is fair to say that the intervention of a skilled New York personal injury lawyer will probably improve your odds. It might also multiply the value of your claim. If you believe you might have a viable claim, act now to schedule a free initial case consultation with a reputable New York personal injury lawyer.
Contact Our Premises Liability Law Firm in New York City
If you’ve been injured in an accident in Manhattan, NY, and need legal help, contact our New York City premises liability lawyers at Rosenbaum Personal Injury Lawyers to schedule a free consultation.
Rosenbaum Personal Injury Lawyers
100 Wall St 24th Floor
New York, NY 10005
(212) 514-5007