If you have suffered an severe injury on the property of a Stamford landowner, you could have a viable claim for damages. However, the strength of your premises liability claim depends on your connection to the property. Your purpose for being on the property, in addition to whether or not you have permission to be there, could play a major role in determining if you are entitled to compensation.
Following your injury, you could benefit from talking with a Stamford premises liability lawyer about your claim. Prevailing on these claims is not always easy, but a skilled injury attorney that has used aggressive tactics to resolve cases could answer your questions related to your claim. Schedule a case evaluation with a tough, legitimate, and credible attorney right away to learn more.
There are three common classifications of visitors on a Stamford property. An injury victim’s right to recover damages is greatly impacted by which category they fall into. Determining a victim’s right to enter a property is a major step for a Stamford attorney building a premises liability case. The three categories include:
Stamford property owners owe the highest duty to their invitees. An invitee is a person that enters a Stamford property with permission. What’s more, their purpose is to benefit the property owner. Typical examples could include customers entering a place of business or contractors making repairs at a private residence. A property owner owes a Stamford invitee a duty to maintain safe premises, as well as to warn of any unforeseen hazards.
A licensee also enters the property of a Stamford landowner with permission, but they do not enjoy the same protections as an invitee. Licensees enter the premises for their own purposes. A common example is a person on a social visit. The property owner must warn a licensee of any unforeseen hazards on the property.
Anyone that enters a Stamford property without permission is a trespasser. The protections for trespassers are limited, as a property owner does not owe a duty to keep them safe. The law does not allow property owners to intentionally injure a trespasser, however.
At trial, a Stamford premises liability attorney could search for evidence that supports that the landowner owed the victim a duty. However, the defendant has the opportunity to raise their own defenses. There are several defenses to choose from in a premises liability case.
For example, a defendant could claim the plaintiff sustained injuries from foreseeable or obvious hazards. If the plaintiff was aware of or should have known of the hazard, a property owner could avoid liability.
State law also gives a property owner a reasonable opportunity to address a hazard before they face liability. For example, if a Stamford customer slips on a banana on a grocery store floor only seconds before it fell from a display, the defendant could argue they did not have a reasonable opportunity to address the hazard. However, the defense is unlikely to succeed if the banana was on the floor for two days before a customer slipped and fell.
If you or someone close to you sustained an injury on a Stamford property, you could benefit from the guidance of skilled legal counsel. An injury lawsuit could result in monetary compensation for your injuries.
To get started on your Stamford premises liability claim, contact a lawyer right away. A Stamford premises liability lawyer could evaluate your case and help you get your case underway.