Rochester, New York, Premises Liability Injury Lawyers

Elite Rochester Premises Liability Lawyers

If A Property Owner’s Negligence Has Injured You, You Deserve Recompense.

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Premises liability is a legal theory suggesting that landowners are responsible for maintaining their properties free from unreasonable dangers. If the owner fails to make good-faith efforts to mitigate obvious hazards, they can be held liable for any resulting accidents and injuries. Every state has its own premises liability laws. In New York, accident victims are afforded the right to pursue compensation by filing a personal injury lawsuit. However, obtaining fair compensation can be challenging. When victims bring a claim against a homeowner, a landlord, or a government agency, they must demonstrate by a preponderance of the evidence that the owner’s negligence caused their injuries.

Jed Dietrich, Esq., has spent years fighting for the rights of Rochester residents. Since founding the Dietrich Law Firm P.C. in 2005, Jed Dietrich, Esq., has helped his clients secure more than $175 million in damages from negligent landlords, irresponsible business owners, and other wrongdoers. If you, or a loved one, have been injured in a Monroe County premises liability accident, our highly experienced team of award-winning attorneys could help you obtain the settlement you need and the justice you deserve. Please send the Dietrich Law Firm P.C. a message online or call us today at 585-939-3939 to schedule your free, no-obligation consultation.

Elements of a Successful Premises Liability

Premises liability is a broad term used to describe a landlord’s potential liability in the event that a guest is injured on their property. A negligent landlord could be responsible for the damages incurred by:

1. Slip and fall accidents;
2. Accidents resulting from poor or inadequate maintenance; and
3. Accidents resulting from poor or inadequate security.

However, an accident victim cannot successfully claim damages simply because they suffered an injury on another person’s property. New York courts typically require that victims provide evidence of the following four elements of a premises liability claim:

1. The defendant owned, occupied, leased, or otherwise controlled the property where the injury occurred;
2. The defendant was negligent in the use, maintenance, or surveillance of the property;
3. You, the accident victim, were injured on the property; and
4. The defendant’s negligence caused your injuries.

Premises liability claims can seem deceptively simple: if you slipped and fell on a wet floor inside a supermarket, you might believe that the business owner owes you compensation. However, New York law also protects property owners. Just as landlords have a responsibility to keep their premises safe from unreasonable dangers, so too do visitors have a responsibility to take common-sense precautions to avoid injury. Even if you have a seemingly open-and-shut case, the negligent business and its insurance company could claim that your own negligence caused or contributed to the accident. Your compensation could be reduced if the court finds that you were reckless, inattentive, or otherwise negligent.

The Dietrich Law Firm P.C. is committed to providing accident victims across Rochester with the highest level of personal injury service. When we accept a new case, we do everything in our power to ensure that our clients receive fair compensation for their injuries—even if that means standing up to powerful landowners who believe they are above the law. Please call Jed Dietrich, Esq., at 585-939-3939 to schedule your no-cost consultation and discuss your options for rapid legal relief.

Landowners’ Duty of Care in the Empire State

When an accident victim files a personal injury lawsuit, they must typically prove that the negligent party—a landlord, a tenant, or even a government agency—owed them a duty of care. Everybody, including landowners, has a duty of care. For example, the owner of an apartment complex must perform reasonable, regular maintenance to ensure that their property features do not endanger guests. Landowners must also take proactive steps to address imminently dangerous conditions, such as:

1. Slippery floors;
2. Broken sidewalks;
3. Faulty railings;
4. Exposed electrical wiring; and
5. Poor lighting or inadequate signage.

The existence of a dangerous condition does not always mean that the landowner breached their duty of care. Rochester, for instance, is prone to lake-effect snow and other harsh winter weather. Since New York’s courts recognize that property owners have finite resources and cannot reasonably be expected to continue shoveling snow and salting sidewalks throughout the duration of a storm, somebody who slips and falls on accumulated ice outside of a business may not be able to hold the owner liable for the accident if the storm is still in progress.

Unfortunately, some negligent property owners try to circumvent the law by claiming that unforeseeable, unpreventable circumstances were responsible for an obvious hazard—even if they had adequate time and opportunity to mitigate its danger. The Dietrich Law Firm P.C. understands that challenging an irresponsible landlord, business, or government entity might seem intimidating. However, our experienced team of attorneys knows what it takes to construct a compelling, evidence-based claim for recompense. We could help you investigate the causes of your accident, subpoena surveillance camera footage, and analyze the landowner’s safety policies and procedures. You do not have to accept a property owner’s excuses: call the Dietrich Law Firm P.C. today at 585-939-3939.

Visitors to a Property

New York law once categorized visitors to a property as either:

1. Invitees: An invitee is a person who the landowner has explicitly permitted onto the property for the economic benefit of the property owner. An invitee could be an employee, a contractor, or a customer.
2. Licensees: A licensee is a person who has express or implied permission to visit a property for non-commercial reasons. A licensee could be a friend or family member.
3. Trespassers: A trespasser is a person who visits a property without the owner’s permission.

In the past, personal injury claimants had to demonstrate that they had reason to be present on a property before filing a claim for compensation. While trespassers could—under certain, limited circumstances—pursue damages from a landowner, they had to meet a higher standard to establish the landowner’s negligence. New York’s courts have since determined that landowners have a responsibility to “use reasonable care to keep the premises in a reasonably safe condition for the protection of all persons whose presence is reasonably foreseeable,” including trespassers, potentially, and other persons who were not given explicit or implicit permission to access a property or property feature.

You could be entitled to significant compensation if you have been injured in a Rochester premises liability accident. However, you have to act fast: New York has a strict statute of limitations that could prevent you from filing a personal injury claim. Please take advantage of your opportunity to ascertain justice: send the Dietrich Law Firm P.C. a message online or call us at 585-939-3939 to find out how our experienced attorneys could help you.

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Call the Dietrich Law Firm P.C. immediately at 585-939-3939 so that our aggressive, tenacious, and hardworking personal injury lawyers can fight to obtain the best result for your personal injury claim in Rochester, New York. We are available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and there is never a fee until we WIN for you!

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