Premises Liability

Flynn & Gottlieb, P.A. represents individuals in premises liability lawsuits who have been injured due to the negligence of landowners, occupiers, and businesses that failed or refused to make the premises safe, whether the dangerous condition existed on public or private property. We have successfully tried many premise liability cases, and understand the legal requirements of proving these cases, enabling us to establish early on that we will prevail at trial which many times encourages the opposing side to settle the case without trial. If litigation is required, however, we will fight for a full recovery, and we have even fought to change the law if necessary to prevent an unfair result for our client. This is exactly what occurred in 1993, when Mr. Flynn, of Flynn & Gottlieb, P.A., demonstrated his commitment to protecting Georgia’s citizens from the harms posed by dangerous premises by vigorously pursuing a case all the way to the Georgia Supreme Court. In that case, the Georgia Supreme Court ultimately agreed with Mr. Flynn, and reversed the lower courts’ rulings, and forever changed the law in Georgia, by holding that apartment complexes and residential housing developments could no longer avoid liability for injuries to tenants that resulted by the failure to repair a dangerous condition which violated a housing or building code, even if the tenants knew about these hazardous conditions before they were injured. See, Bastien v. Metropolitan Park Lake Associates, L.P., 434 S.E. 2d 736, 209 Ga. App. 881 (1993). Demonstrating that persistence is sometimes necessary to achieve justice, our attorneys believe that every client is entitled to “full-justice,” not just “easy-justice.” The value of being represented by trial lawyers committed to these principles, and who have experience handling premise liability cases, cannot be over-emphasized. Many otherwise winnable cases are lost by attorneys who don’t have the passion to fight, or are less experienced in this area of law. In fact, many premise liability cases are lost by summary judgment where the case is dismissed by the Judge without any recovery for the Plaintiff. While not all cases can be won, not all cases that are lost were un-winnable, and having an attorney who understands the nuances of premise liability law is essential for a fair chance of success.

Essentially, premises liability deals with the breach of duty owed by an owner or occupier of land to protect people, on and off the premises, from dangerous conditions and defects on the property. Premises liability is a “form of negligence” in which the owner has a duty to exercise reasonable care in the management of the premises and to avoid exposing persons to an unreasonable risk of harm.

Under Georgia law, in order to establish a premises liability cause of action, the plaintiff must prove: (1) the defendant owned, leased, occupied or controlled the property; (2) the landowner/occupier had superior knowledge (i.e., more knowledge than the plaintiff had at the time) of a dangerous or hazardous condition that existed on the premises; (3) the plaintiff was invited upon the premises for a business purpose and was injured by the dangerous condition, although the plaintiff was being reasonably careful at the time of injury.

“Slip and fall” and “trip and fall” accidents are the most common form of premises liability cases. Common conditions giving rise to premises liability accidents include wet floors, slippery surfaces, uneven floors or steps, cracked sidewalks, falling objects, high-stacking, torn carpeting, poor lighting, inadequate security, dangerous conditions caused by weather conditions, the failure to secure a swimming pool area, inadequate protection from dogs or other animals, as well as a variety of other conditions.

Rape, murder, and other serious injuries can result from negligent security and/or a failure to effectively guard against dangers caused by known criminal activity in the area of a commercial building, apartment complex, hotel, motel, store, or any other business premise. When people come to a business establishment unaware of the criminal activity that has occurred near or on that establishment it poses special risks for the un-suspecting tenants, employee, customer or renter who come to that place of business for a business purpose. Georgia law requires landowners and occupiers to routinely inspect the premises they own or occupy to discover any danger that exists, and to warn their tenants/employees/customers (their “invitees”) of known dangers, and to undertake reasonable precautions to guard against injury to their invitees BEFORE injury results. Flynn & Gottlieb, P.A.’s attorneys have successfully prosecuted cases involving apartment rapes and serious injuries caused by the failure of landowners or occupiers to fulfill these responsibilities.

Regardless of the specific condition or where the incident may happen, all property or building owners have a certain level of responsibility to make sure an environment is safe. Ultimately, the issue of liability hinges upon whether the landowner or landholder had actual or constructive notice of the dangerous condition that caused the incident. In other words, in order to prevail in a cause of action for premises liability, the plaintiff must prove that the defendant knew or should have known that the dangerous condition existed causing the incident.

Commercial establishments and property owners are responsible for hazards on their property that lead to personal injury. Likewise, a homeowner or property owner is responsible for a slip or a fall that is caused by hazardous conditions on their premises. When a landowner or landholder fails to warn about potential slip and fall hazards or other dangerous conditions on their property, they may be legally responsible when an injury occurs.

If you or a loved one has been injured on another’s property, please contact our office. We will be happy to discuss your particular case to help you understand what legally must be proved, and assist in obtaining the evidence necessary to obtain “full-justice” in your case.