Premises Liability

If you were injured in an accident on property, you must prove a variety of things before you will receive compensation. First, you must show that the owner of the property or the party that had primary control and custody of the property owed you a duty of care and that they breached that duty of care. The level of care that a landowner owes to an individual depends on the reason why the individual is on the property. Landowners owe the highest level of care to people who are invited to a property for a business reason, such as shoppers at the supermarket. This class of individuals is known as invitees, and landowners have a duty to ensure that the property is free from dangerous conditions and to conduct regular inspections to address any dangerous conditions.

For social guests, such as family and friends, a landowner has a duty to ensure that any known dangerous conditions are addressed through repairs or adequate warnings. These include any dangerous conditions that the landowner should have discovered through a reasonable search. Whether you are classified as an invitee or a licensee can have significant implications for your case. Having a premises liability attorney in the Boston area on your side can help ensure that you articulate your arguments properly.

After you prove that the defendant failed to use due care, you must show that this was the direct cause of your injuries and that the injuries that you sustained were foreseeable. If the defendant can show that some other factor was to blame, such as the plaintiff’s own negligent conduct in failing to notice a hazard, they may be barred from recovering compensation. Under Massachusetts law, if the plaintiff is 51 percent or more at fault for his or her injuries, he or she will not be entitled to receive compensation. There are ways to defend against this type of allegation by the defendant, however, and a Boston premises liability attorney can help you make sure that the defendant does not inappropriately shift the blame to you.

If you are successful in establishing this causal link, the final step will be to offer evidence showing the damages that you suffered as a result of the accident. These include past and future medical bills, as well as any lost earnings and diminished earning capacity. If your injuries are permanent and result in a lifetime of pain and disabilities, you likely can also receive compensation for your ongoing medical care needs and your reduced quality of life. In some cases, expert witnesses can help explain the expenses that you will likely incur in the future as a result of the accident to ensure that you receive the full amount of damages that you deserve.