Huntington Beach Premises Liability Attorney

California premises liability law mandates that when a person enters a property, they have a reasonable expectation of not getting injured. The owner or operator of a property is thereby responsibile to ensure that their property is safe from hazardous conditions.

If you have been hurt in a public property (such as a park, store or shopping mall) or a private property (such as a personal residence or office building) in Huntington Beach, a premises liability lawyer can explain your rights under California law.

The Duty

Under California premises liability law, an owner or occupier of property must excercise reasonable care to inspect the property and correct, repair, replace or give adequate warning of any condition that could be reasonably expected to harm others. The failure of this duty may subject the owner or occupier to liability for injuries caused as the result of the failure to inspect.

Notice Of The Condition

A lack of knowledge of the dangerous condition is not a viable defense if constructive notice might be proved by showing that the owner or occupier should have known of the issue. Evidence that the condition existed for an adequate period of time so as to be unreasonable is enough to imply constructive notice.

To put constructive notice simply, if the banana peel on the floor of the supermarket was yellow when the person slipped on it and fell, constructive notice could be difficult to prove as it only fell very recently. If the banana peel was brown and deteriorated, it might have been there for a sufficient period of time to be reasonably assumed that the store employees should have known about it.

Slips and Trips

A slip and fall accident can occur almost anywhere that contains a wet, oily or otherwise slippery surface. With slip and falls, the person typically falls backward, resulting in injuries to the spine, back and/or shoulder. More serious injuries to the skull, brain and brain stem can result in lifelong disability or even death.

Trip and falls ordinarily result from cracks, holes or uneven surfaces in places like sidewalks and parking lots and often occur due to insufficient lighting. With trip and falls, the person usually falls forward, resulting in injury to their skull, face, jaw, neck, shoulders, arms, hands and ribs.

Not every accident gives rise to legal responsibility, but valid slip and fall claims are filed and settled every year. One of our experienced premises liability attorneys can explain the strength of your case and the probability of a favorable outcome.

Other Types of Premises Liability

Most people think of premises liability cases in the context of slip and fall or trip and fall cases, but across Southern California, they include but aren’t limited to animal attacks, swimming pool injuries or deaths, elevator and escalator accidents, amusement park accidents and negligent or inadequate security.

Common private property/home related injuries:
* Drowning in swimming pool
* Spinal and neck injuries from diving
* Electrocution from faulty wiring
* Slip and trips
* Dog bite (California is one of the states that has a dog bite statute. Under the statute, negligence isn’t an issue. A dog owner is strictly liable for any bites caused by their dog regardless of whether the dog has ever shown dangerous tendencies)
* Negligent or inadequate security is relatively new in the law. It is now recognized that Huntington Beach property owners have a duty to keep others safe from criminal acts or attacks. If they fail to take adequate protective measures, and injury results, they can be held liable.

Common amusement or theme park injuries:
* Whiplash
* Fractures
* Internal injuries
* Heart attacks
* Back and neck injuries
* Traumatic brain injuries

Common elevator/escalator injuries:
* Falls or drops
* Improper door movement
* Elevator arriving above or below the specified floor
* Accidents caused by sudden stops, missing or degraded parts and side entrapment of footwear

At the Huntington Beach Law Offices of Brent A. Duque, we maintain a staff of a highly professional, knowledgeable, aggressive and successful premises liability attorneys who represent injured people through our offices that stretch across Southern California. Time limitations apply to any injury claim you might have, so for purposes of investigating a possible case and possibly preserving evidence, it’s best for you to contact us immediately after an accident.

Contact our Orange County Personal Injury Attorney at 1-877-241-9554 to learn more about your legal options. A free consultation is just a phone call away. You can even use our online contact form, and we’ll reply to you quickly.