Omaha Premises Liability Lawyer

Injuries that occur due to a landowner’s negligence are among the most common claims in personal injury law. All landowners have a legal duty to protect invited visitors from foreseeable harm.

With this clear rule, obtaining damages after a premises liability injury seems as if it would be simple. However, the insurance companies that handle these claims are hesitant to issue payments. They may argue that steps taken by the landowner to prevent the injury were reasonable or that the plaintiff contributed to the incident that resulted in their injuries.

An Omaha premises liability lawyer is dedicated to holding negligent landowners responsible for their actions. This includes fighting for the rights of individuals who were injured while visiting others’ land. The dedicated injury attorneys at Berry Law can fight to protect your rights while seeking the compensation you deserve.

What is a Premises Liability Claim?

Premises liability law is summarized by the idea that a landowner has a legal obligation to protect visitors invited onto their land from harm. This obligation is known as a duty. When a landowner fails in this duty and a visitor is injured, the landowner is considered negligent and can be held liable.

To prove a negligence case, a plaintiff must be able to demonstrate that he or she was invited onto the land. This can be an express invitation, such as an email asking him or her to a house party, or an implied invitation, such as a grocery store being open for business.

Landowners must protect these guests from foreseeable harm. The type of foreseeable harm will vary depending upon the type of property but will generally include:

• Cleaning temporary hazards such as spills or ice
• Ensuring that all entryways and staircases are well maintained
• Providing adequate security
• Filling potholes in parking lots

Ultimately, it is up to the jury to decide whether steps taken by the landowner were adequate to protect the visitor. An Omaha premises liability attorney can further explain what is necessary to prove liability under specific circumstances.

What Are a Property Owner’s Obligations to You?

When you pursue a premises liability claim, you have to show that the property owner, or occupier, fell short and failed to fulfill their obligations to keep you safe. Those specific obligations aren’t the same in all cases. Your reasons for being on the property help to determine what a property owner must do to keep you safe.

In general, there are three different categories of guests to a property:

• Invitees: Invitees are owed the highest duty of care. They are on the property because they were invited there to benefit the property’s owner. If you are a diner at a restaurant or a shopper in a store, you are an invitee. Property owners have the highest duty to keep you safe by investigating their premises for risks and correcting or warning you of dangers. 
• Licensees: Licensees are owed an intermediate duty of care. They are on the property for their own benefit and the benefit of the property owners. If you are a friend or neighbor casually visiting someone’s home upon their invitation, you are likely considered a licensee. Property owners have an intermediate duty of care in this situation. They must fix or warn you about hazards they know of, or reasonably should be aware of.
• Trespassers: Trespassers are owed the lowest duty of care. While a property owner can’t harm trespassers and must let known trespassers know of serious hazards, they aren’t under a general obligation to go out of their way to keep trespassers safe. If a property owner creates a dangerous yet enticing condition, such as putting in a swimming pool or adding a trampoline to their property, they do have to keep trespassers safe from the risky condition, which is often called an attractive nuisance. 

Berry Law can help you to determine what your classification or status is and can work with you to prove both that the property owner had a duty to you and that the owner’s duty to fulfill it was the direct cause of the accident. This is necessary for you to receive compensation for your losses.

Common Types of Premises Liability Claims

Certain injuries are more likely than others to happen due to negligent property owners. Some of the different types of premises liability claims where Berry Law has helped victims include:

• Slip and fall accidents
• Elevator accidents
• Escalator accidents
• Accidents due to inadequate maintenance
• Accidents due to improper lighting
• Falling objects
• Negligent security
• Dog bites
• Swimming pool accidents
• Toxic exposure 
• Fire safety violations
• Defective stairway accidents
• Electrical injuries
• Accidents due to ice or snow

In these and other situations, you should be entitled to be “made whole” for all losses resulting from the incident, if you can prove that the property owner’s failures were to blame for what happened to you. 

This means the property owner must compensate you for medical bills, lost wages, pain and suffering, emotional distress, and other damages resulting from the injury that occurred in their space.

Injuries Typically Seen in Omaha Premises Liability Cases

Because a premises liability claim can arise out of almost any sort of negligent behavior on the part of a landowner, the injuries involved in these claims vary widely. However, some typical examples of injuries in premises liability cases include:

• Broken bones
• Separated joints
• Concussions
• Spinal cord injuries

Any form of physical injury that requires medical attention may be compensable. These claims will demand payment for reimbursement of the medical costs associated with the injury as well as for any other economic or emotional damage endured by the plaintiff because of the landowner’s negligence.

However, a plaintiff may only recover compensation if he or she brings a claim within the set time limits. Nebraska law strictly controls when a court can hear a premises liability case. According to Nebraska Revised Statute §25-207, a plaintiff has only four years from the date of the injury to file a claim. If this time limit expires, the court may not hear the case which can prevent the plaintiff from recovering any compensation.

Work with an Omaha Premises Liability Attorney Today

A visitor has a right to believe he or she will be kept safe when on another’s property. This includes being kept safe from a temporary hazard such as ice, a structural defect such as a broken stair, and criminal activity. If a landowner fails in this duty and an individual is injured, he or she has the right to collect compensation.

An Omaha injury lawyer could help you pursue this compensation. The attorneys at Berry Law work to investigate the cause of the incident, gather the necessary paperwork, and fight for the compensation you deserve. Call today to schedule a consultation.