NJ Premises Liability Lawyers
Hurt in an Accident on the Property of Another? Call us for help
If you are injured on the property of another person, you may have a premises liability case. This is a type of claim based on the use or occupancy of property. It could be a store, office building, or at a colleague’s house. Any type of personal injury occurring on the property of another may qualify. The most common types of cases are slip and falls, trip and falls, construction accidents, and related types of accidents. While most slip and falls or other premises cases may be a mere inconvenience, our New Jersey premises liability lawyer knows that falls are the leading cause of traumatic brain injuries and the second leading cause of spinal cord injuries.
The severity of injuries caused by a fall may be a surprise for most people. However, insurance companies are well aware of these facts. They often try to aggressively settle a case by undermining the value and threatening to disclaim coverage for a valid claim. They do this in a variety of ways, including trying to trick you into admitting “facts” that are not necessarily true and could hurt your case. Sometimes they even have a defense lawyer helping them without you knowing.
We do not think that is fair. Here at the Law Offices of John Allegra, we have handled many serious personal injury and catastrophic injury cases including premises liability matters for the over 30-plus years we have been practicing. We are committed to justice and will not let insurance carriers and homeowner’s policies try to escape liability. This is why we offer FREE consultations, do not ask for any upfront money, and have a no-win, no-fee guarantee. This means you can get started with premises liability lawyer in New Jersey at no upfront cost and no out-of-pocket financial risk. Learn how we can help you after a slip and fall, ceiling collapse, lead poisoning claim, or any other incident on the property of another person, business, or government agency.
Premises Liability Law in New Jersey
All property owners, tenants, maintainers, or others in control of a property must use reasonable care under the circumstances in maintaining that property. This includes preventing foreseeable harm to entrants on the property. These obligations are known as a duty of care. A duty of care is owed to all others by the defendant, whether the defendant is a person, business, government agency, or any other type of entity. This duty of care also applies to all properties, whether it is a store, dentist’s office, hospital, county building, mall, friend’s house, or another establishment.
The extent of the duty is measured by the type of entrant onto the land. Different types of entrants are owed different types of duties from a defendant. For instance, consider these following entrants and the duties owed by a defendant:
- Business invitees – individuals coming onto a defendant’s property to transact business are customers and called business invitees. Businesses owe customers the highest level of care. This means performing routine inspections to look for defects, and immediately repairing or making safe a defective, hazardous, or otherwise dangerous condition. Businesses must also warn of possible defects and take preventative measures.
- Social guests/invitees – a person who goes to a dinner party at a friend’s house or a holiday BBQ is a social guest or invitee. Defendants must repair known defects or block off/prevent social guests from coming into contact with the hazardous condition. However, defendants do not have to perform routine inspections.
- Trespassers – a minimal duty is owed to trespassers to not cause artificial injury or intentional harm to them, such as placing a bear trap where known trespassers cut through property.
Proving a Case in New Jersey
If a defendant fails to reasonably maintain their property, if that failure causes personal injuries you may have a case under New Jersey law. Individuals hurt will need to prove their case by the burden of proof.
While many people believe that is “beyond a reasonable doubt,” that is not true for civil cases. Rather, personal injury cases like premises liability matters need to be proven by a “preponderance of the evidence” which requires only a 51% or more showing. This is lower than the 98-100% showing required in a “beyond a reasonable doubt” case.
But that does not mean it will be easier to prove for an injured victim. It just means that a defendant only needs to establish a defense by 50% or more, because a “tie” goes to the defendant. This is why individuals injured on the property of another must find an experienced attorney that is committed to justice and getting you the compensation you deserve like our premises liability lawyer in New Jersey at the Law Offices of John Allegra.
Types of Premises Liability Cases We Handle
There are many different types of cases that could result from the negligence of a landowner or tenant. Some of the most common types of cases causing personal injuries that we can help you with include the following:
Slip and Fall
A slip and fall case is when an individual steps onto something that results in a slip, skid, or otherwise loss of friction causing him or her to fall to the ground. The most common types of slip and fall in New Jersey are related to snow and ice, but also slippery product slips on the floor in grocery stores. Some examples of slip and falls include the following:
- Snow and ice
- Spilled products/broken jars or containers in grocery stores
- Leaky refrigeration units in a store
- Crushed or broken produce in a produce aisle
- Tracked in and melted snow
- Excessive use of floor cleaner, soap, or wax
- Tracked in rainwater
- Inadequate lighting in an area
- Slippery pool deck
- Debris, dirt, mud, or peddles on the ground
- Failure to use a friction stripe on a painted, wooden stair, and
- Other common causes our lawyer in New Jersey could help you with.
Lead Poisoning
The dangerous effects of lead are well-known, particularly in paint and piping. Landowners and tenants who have failed to conduct the necessary testing for lead could be liable whether or not they actually knew there was lead present. Further, defendants who fail to abate or take care of lead that they do know is present could also face even stronger prospects of liability.
Construction Accidents
One of the most important parts of construction is to ensure a clean and orderly job site, as well as to exclude others not related to the construction from coming onto the job site. While many construction companies do a great job of this, far too many construction companies do not. An open construction site can be an attractive nuisance drawing children inside who can be seriously injured or killed. Other types of construction accidents include falling debris and unsecured workers who could drop objects or fall from a height. This could cause obvious harm to themselves or others below. If you are injured in a construction accident, ask our premises liability lawyer in NJ for help recovering compensation for your medical bills and lost wages.
Ceiling Collapses
One of the rarer types of premises liability cases is a ceiling collapse. However, it is also one of the most devastating types of cases. Oftentimes ceiling collapse cases are due to improper construction or maintenance of a building. Sometimes this is due to a store owner looking the other way about a leak, and other times it is due to sheer neglect and negligence.
We Can Get You Compensation for Medical Bills, Lost Wages, and More
It is not just the victim who is hurt in a personal injury case, but the entire family. Medical bills and lost wages will result in significant financial harm for a family. This is often coupled with the horrific agony, pain and suffering that an individual will endure while recovering. The only thing worse than these is when an insurance adjuster refuses to accept a claim and outright denies coverage.
Our experienced premises liability lawyers at the Law Offices of John Allegra will not let that happen to your family. Call us for a FREE consultation to learn how we can work with your treating physicians and hire leading experts to prove the negligence of a defendant. We offer a no-win, no-fee guarantee, meaning we do not get paid unless you get paid. Call (201) 433-8282 to get started with our lawyer or use the contact us box available here to get your FREE case evaluation.