Bridgeport, CT Premises Liability Attorneys

Lawyers Working to Hold Property Owners Liable for Accidents and Injuries in Bridgeport

Property owners have legal responsibilities to protect the safety of people who visit their property. Whether a person is visiting a store, walking on a sidewalk, staying in a hotel, or attending an event, they have the right to expect that the owner of the property has taken reasonable steps to prevent them from suffering harm. When negligent property maintenance, dangerous conditions, or inadequate security lead to injuries, victims can hold property owners accountable through premises liability claims.

Premises liability may address a wide range of accidents and injuries that occur on someone else's property. Determining how to demonstrate that a property owner was negligent is not always easy, which is why legal representation is crucial in these cases. At Tremont Sheldon P.C., our attorneys work to protect the rights of injury victims and help them obtain fair compensation for their damages.

Types of Premises Liability Cases

Property owners can be held liable for various types of accidents and injuries that occur on their premises. Our lawyers can help injury victims in cases involving issues such as:

• Slip and Fall Accidents: These incidents may occur when wet floors, icy sidewalks, uneven surfaces, poor lighting, debris in walkways, or other hazards cause people to lose their footing and fall. Property owners may be held responsible for their failure to keep walkways clear, clean up spills promptly, remove ice and snow within reasonable time periods, repair damaged flooring and sidewalks, provide adequate lighting, or warn visitors about temporary hazards that cannot be immediately corrected.
• Negligent Security: When inadequate security measures allow criminal acts such as assaults, robberies, and sexual attacks to occur, property owners may be liable for their failure to protect against these issues. Property owners may be held responsible for the failure to implement reasonable security measures, including surveillance cameras, adequate lighting, security personnel, functioning locks, and controlled access to buildings.
• Dog Bite Injuries: When dogs attack visitors, delivery workers, or passersby, they can inflict serious injuries. Owners may be held responsible for injuries caused by their dogs, regardless of whether the animals previously showed aggressive tendencies. Dog attacks can cause severe lacerations, infections, permanent scarring, and psychological trauma.
• Swimming Pool Accidents: Inadequate safety measures at residential and commercial pools can lead to injuries. Property owners are required to install proper fencing and gates to prevent unauthorized access, especially by children. They should maintain pools properly, ensure that pools have adequate supervision, provide safety equipment, post rules and depth markers, and address hazards such as broken diving boards or slippery pool decks. Drowning, near-drowning, diving injuries, and slip and fall accidents around pools may be addressed through premises liability claims.
• Elevator and Escalator Accidents: Mechanical failures, poor maintenance, or safety violations can lead to injuries. Sudden stops, doors closing on people, falls on broken escalator steps, and entrapment in elevators may occur because of a property owner's failure to maintain safe equipment. Building owners must inspect and service elevators and escalators regularly and address safety concerns promptly.
• Toxic Exposure: Injuries from mold, asbestos, lead paint, carbon monoxide, or other harmful substances may take place when landlords and property owners fail to address toxic conditions or warn occupants about hazards.
• Inadequate Maintenance: Property defects such as broken stairs and handrails, falling objects from poorly maintained structures, collapsed ceilings or balconies, fires from faulty wiring or equipment, and injuries from malfunctioning doors or windows can lead to serious injuries. A property owner may be held liable for their failure to keep their premises in a reasonably safe condition.
• Amusement Park and Recreational Facility Injuries: When rides malfunction, safety equipment fails, or inadequate supervision leads to accidents, patrons may suffer serious harm. Operators of these facilities have a duty to protect the safety of visitors through proper equipment maintenance, staff training, and safety procedures.

Property Owner Duties and Responsibilities

The extent of property owners' duties generally depends on the legal status of people entering their property. Visitors may be classified as invitees, licensees, or trespassers, with different duty levels applying to each category. Invitees are people invited onto a property for purposes benefiting the owner, including customers in stores, guests at hotels, and patrons at restaurants. Property owners owe invitees the highest duty of care, including responsibilities to inspect for hazards, repair dangerous conditions, and warn of risks that are not obvious.

Licensees are people with permission to be on a property for their own purposes rather than for business benefiting the owner. Social guests, friends visiting people's homes, and delivery workers may fall into this category. Property owners must warn licensees of known dangers.

Trespassers may enter a property without permission. Property owners have limited duties to trespassers, and they are mainly required to refrain from willfully injuring them. However, special rules may apply to child trespassers when dangerous conditions like swimming pools are likely to attract children. Property owners must take precautions to prevent child access to known dangers.

Property owners may need to conduct regular inspections to identify hazards, perform prompt repairs of dangerous conditions, place warning signs to notify people about hazards, install adequate lighting in areas where people walk, provide appropriate security measures, and comply with building codes and safety regulations.

Legal Representation in Premises Liability Cases

Proving that a property owner is liable for injuries suffered by a visitor will require a person to establish that dangerous conditions existed, that the owner knew or should have known about the hazards, and that the owner's failure to address these issues caused a victim to suffer harm. At Tremont Sheldon P.C., our lawyers can conduct thorough investigations into accidents. We can visit accident sites to document the conditions, obtain incident reports and surveillance videos, interview witnesses who observed accidents or property conditions, and examine maintenance records.

We will work with relevant professionals depending on the specific issues involved in a case. Safety specialists may evaluate whether conditions on a property violated industry standards. Building inspectors can assess code compliance. Security professionals can review protective measures in negligent security cases. Medical specialists can document a victim's injuries and treatment needs. These professionals can provide testimony establishing that property owners breached their duties and that their negligence caused a person to suffer harm.

Our team will calculate the full extent of a victim's damages, including all medical expenses for emergency care, surgery, therapy, and ongoing treatment, lost wages and reduced earning capacity, pain and suffering, permanent disabilities or disfigurement, and the costs of ongoing care or life changes that will be needed to address the injuries that have occurred. We will take steps to secure full compensation that will address a person's current and future needs.

Contact Our Bridgeport, Connecticut Premises Liability Lawyers

Property owners who fail to maintain safe conditions or provide adequate security should be held accountable when their negligence causes visitors to suffer injuries. Victims can take steps to obtain compensation that will address all of the damages that have affected their lives. The lawyers at Tremont Sheldon P.C. can investigate these cases thoroughly, work with qualified professionals, and fight aggressively to hold negligent property owners responsible for the harm they have caused. Contact our Bridgeport property owner liability attorneys at 203-335-5145 to set up a free consultation.