A grocery store. A friend's apartment. A hotel lobby. One moment, you're going about your day. The next, you slip on an unmarked wet floor, trip on uneven pavement, or experience harm due to inadequate security. Suddenly you're facing medical bills, time away from work, and a difficult recovery.
You shouldn't have to bear the burden of someone else's negligence. Property owners and their insurance companies often try to minimize their responsibility, arguing that the hazard was obvious or that your injuries aren't severe. Without experienced trial representation, you may not receive the full compensation you need to heal and move forward.
We have guided many premises liability victims through this process and helped them recover the support and compensation they deserve.
Premises liability is an area of law that holds property owners responsible for accidents and injuries that occur due to dangerous or defective conditions. In Missouri and Illinois, property owners have a legal duty to maintain reasonably safe conditions for visitors and warn them of known hazards that aren't immediately obvious.
These cases take many different forms depending on where and how the injury happened. Below are some of the most common types we see.
When businesses, landlords, and homeowners are negligent, the consequences for the people they injure are often life-changing. Our team understands the unique challenges each type of property hazard presents, and how to build cases that demonstrate property owner fault, whether the injury occurred at a retail establishment, apartment complex, hotel, office building, or private residence.
When property owners and building managers fail to address wet floors, icy walkways, torn carpeting, or other hazards that cause visitors to slip or trip. Falls often result in broken bones, traumatic brain injuries, and spinal cord damage.
Property owners must provide reasonable security in areas where crime is foreseeable. When they fail to install proper lighting, security cameras, or access controls, and you become the victim of an assault or robbery, they may be liable for your injuries.
Facilities with pools must have proper fencing, signage, and supervision. Failure to maintain these safety standards frequently results in drownings, near-drownings, and diving accidents.
When property owners neglect to maintain proper fire prevention systems or allow dangerous electrical conditions, visitors can suffer serious burns and other injuries.
Building codes have specific requirements for stair safety that owners and facility managers must follow. Broken steps, missing handrails, poor lighting, and other defects often cause devastating falls.
Pet owners must control their animals and warn visitors about potentially dangerous situations. If you've been attacked without provocation, you may have grounds for a premises liability case.
Building owners and management companies have a duty to properly maintain these mechanical devices. Serious injuries from falls, entrapment, or mechanical failures often happen because of negligent oversight.
Insurance companies know which firms settle quickly and which ones are trial-tested and proven. We have built our reputation by successfully trying personal injury cases that other firms might settle. Here is what makes premises liability cases distinctive.
Many premises liability cases involve several defendants who may share responsibility:
The individuals or entities who own the land and buildings where your injury occurred bear primary responsibility for maintaining safe premises.
Companies that fail to address hazards or properly maintain properties to ensure safety may share in liability.
In commercial settings, the business operating on the property may be responsible for certain areas and conditions within their control.
Third-party contractors hired to perform cleaning and upkeep may be liable if their negligence created or failed to address dangerous conditions.
In cases involving inadequate safety measures, the company providing security services may share responsibility for failures that led to your injuries.
Premises liability cases require prompt and thorough investigation. The dangerous condition that caused your injury could be repaired or removed shortly after your accident. We act quickly to preserve what the case will need at trial.
Formal legal notice to property owners and managers requiring them to preserve all relevant evidence, surveillance footage, maintenance records, incident reports, communications.
Most commercial surveillance systems overwrite recordings on a 30 to 60-day cycle. Footage requested two months later is often gone for good.
The dangerous condition that caused the injury, wet floor, broken step, missing handrail, may be repaired before the next morning. Documentation captures it as it was.
Other customers, employees, or visitors may have seen the condition before your injury. Their accounts strengthen the "knew or should have known" element.
Prior incidents, complaints, or known hazards that the property owner failed to address are often the strongest evidence in a premises case.
Code violations and prior failed inspections establish standard-of-care benchmarks that juries understand and that defendants struggle to explain away.
Expert witnesses who can testify about industry standards, code requirements, and what reasonably-careful property management looks like.
This immediate action builds a foundation for your case that insurance companies cannot easily dismiss.
If you're injured due to a property owner's negligence, you may be entitled to various economic and non-economic damages. We have secured numerous multimillion-dollar verdicts by structuring settlements to cover both current and future needs:
In cases involving extreme negligence or reckless disregard for safety, the court may also award punitive damages to punish the wrongdoer and deter similar conduct.
We pair trial experience with a boutique firm approach, giving your case the focused attention it deserves while delivering the caliber of result you would expect from a larger firm.
By handling fewer cases, we provide you with personalized attention and allocate the resources your case deserves.
We collaborate with safety engineers, medical experts, life care planners, economists, and others who strengthen the case and clearly demonstrate the full extent of your losses.
We carefully assess all losses to ensure you're fully compensated for the short-term and long-term impacts of your injury.
We cover all initial expenses so you don't pay anything out of pocket while recovering from your injuries.
You pay no fees unless we win your case. Our interests are aligned with yours: full case value or nothing.
The first 48 hours matter. Free case review. An attorney personally reviews every case. We serve injury victims throughout Missouri and Illinois. English- and Spanish-speaking staff available.