Dallas Premises Liability Attorney | Dallas Premises
Liability Lawyer
PREMISES LIABILITY
Every year thousands and thousands of people are injured, some seriously,
due to property owner negligence. A slip, trip, fall, or other accident
that results in injuries sustained due to a dangerous condition
on both public or private property falls under premises liability
and the owner or owners can be held responsible. Kimberly A. Stovall
has successfully handled hundreds of premises liability cases over
the years for injured clients.
Click
here to contact Kimberly A.
Stovall, the Dallas Personal Injury Attorney Who Cares!
The Duty of Property Owners
Slip and fall accidents and other types of premises liability injuries
are often caused when property owners or store owners neglect to
maintain their property in a condition that is safe for their customers
and visitors, thereby creating dangerous and hazardous conditions
to anyone who comes onto their property. Slip & Fall/Trip &
fall accidents are often caused by rain, snow, ice, water, food
substances or other debris on the floor, postholes, cracks, uneven
elevations and code violations.
Property owners and possessors owe different degrees of responsibility
to people on their establishment or property, depending on the status
of the person in question. The law recognizes three main categories,
invitees, licensees, and trespassers. The legal duty owned by the
property owner varies depending on the category the injured person
falls into.
Dangerous Indoor Conditions
For all practical purposes, if the area where you sustained an
injury is on property where the owner failed to fulfill their legal
duty to take precautions to protect you, the property owner is responsible
for your injuries. Kimberly has handled premises liability cases
where people were injured due to the following:
• Flooring – Examples include but are not limited to
an owner’s failure to provide adequate monitoring for wet
spots resulting in a slip and fall injury, failure to provide proper
barriers to prohibit access to dangerous areas, using excessive
or uneven floor waxing, allowing leaking coolers, roofs or water
containers and allowing torn, uneven or bulging areas to go un-repaired.
• Stairs – Stairs receive a good deal of normal wear
and tear and the property owner is responsible for maintaining their
upkeep. Edges can become rounded, the stairs non-stick surface can
wear out or a missing or broken handrail can all be the result of
a property owner/operator’s negligence.
• Falling merchandise or equipment
• Escalators and Elevators – Both are designed to carry
passengers, meaning that the property owners are in most situations,
held to a higher degree of care than in other premises situations.
Click
here to contact Kimberly A.
Stovall, the Dallas Personal Injury Attorney Who Cares!
Dangerous Outdoor Conditions
• Inadequate Outdoor Lighting – Inadequate lighting
can lead to pedestrian injuries in parking lots or on sidewalks.
The property owner can be held liable if they knew, or should have
known, about the dangerous situation and failed to remedy the problem
in a reasonable time or manner.
• Parking Lots – Parking lot owners are legally responsible
for maintaining the safety of conditions on their parking lots.
This includes, but is not limited to, any protrusion in the surface
of the parking lot, any pot holes, etc. which may cause injury.
An example of a case Kimberly successfully handled was a woman who
was seriously injured when she slipped and fell in the parking lot
of her employer’s building due to ice buildup because the
maintenance company failed to turn off the sprinkler system despite
a well broadcast freeze warning. Another example of a case Kimberly
successfully handled was that of a woman leaving a country and western
bar who tripped over an unmarked handicap ramp that did not meet OSHA and other safety guidelines.
• Unsafe areas of outdoor premises - Owners of property must
use reasonable care to protect persons invited on the property from
tripping and falling in unreasonably dangerous conditions such as
holes in the property, tree stumps, rocky terrains and the like.
• Attractive Nuisance
Click
here to contact Kimberly A.
Stovall, the Dallas Personal Injury Attorney Who Cares!
Store Owner Liability
Stores, especially retail stores, are frequented by customers.
Because people in the stores are there primarily for the benefit
of the store owner (i.e., to purchase their goods or services) they
have a high duty of care to make the premises safe. Store owners
in Texas have the responsibility to construct and design their stores
to eliminate reasonably foreseeable dangers but also to inspect
their property for potential dangers and to then either remedy the
problem in a reasonable amount of time or adequately warn the public
of the danger.
Premises Liability cases, especially slip and fall cases, involve
complex areas of the law due to the sheer number of legal factors
that come into play. Indeed, many attorneys, even those who purport
to do only personal injury law, will not take these types of cases.
Kimberly A. Stovall has represented individuals in these types of
cases for over 20 years and is well versed in both the law and the
evidentiary requirements necessary to succeed. She has a proven
track record in this area of injury law which is unmatched by few
other attorneys.
Q: How much does it cost for Kimberly to meet with me and evaluate
my case?
A: Kimberly will not charge you anything for an initial consultation
and, if she takes your case, she will take it on a contingency fee
basis. You don’t have to pay anything up front and Stovall
& Associates only gets paid once your case is won or settled.
Click
here to contact Kimberly A.
Stovall, the Dallas Personal Injury Attorney Who Cares!
Martindale-Hubbell, the nation's premier law directory, has given
Kimberly A. Stovall its highest rating: "A.V." - the very best.
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