Shreveport Premises Liability Attorneys

Property Owner Negligence & Liability in Louisiana

Louisiana premises liability laws require property owners to maintain reasonably safe premises for visitors. This includes conducting routine property maintenance and, whenever possible, removing, repairing, or warning others of dangerous conditions and hazards.

When property owners fail to do this, and innocent people are hurt, they can be held legally responsible for victims’ injuries and damages.

If you were injured on someone else’s property due to unsafe or defective conditions, you could have grounds for a premises liability claim against the property owner or their insurance provider. At The Hall Law Firm, our Shreveport premises liability lawyers can help you with every aspect of your claim, from investigating what happened to identifying who was at fault.

We offer highly personalized legal representation; as a client, you will always receive direct, one-on-one attention from your attorney.

Premises liability refers to the responsibility property owners have to ensure their premises are reasonably well-maintained, safe, and free of hazards that could cause foreseeable injury to others. This area of personal injury law involves a wide variety of accidents, injuries, and incidents arising from all types of unsafe property conditions.

Some examples of common premises liability claims include those involving:

• Slip and falls
• Dog bites
• Animal attacks
• Negligent security
• Swimming pool accidents
• Elevator and escalator accidents
• Insufficient maintenance
• Defective conditions
• Structure collapses
• Parking lot accidents

At The Hall Law Firm, we have helped people injured on all types of public and private properties, including residential homes, apartment complexes, retail stores, grocery stores, government buildings, construction sites, playgrounds, public swimming pools, amusement parks, and more.

We have a long history of success and have secured millions of dollars on behalf of our clients.

In Louisiana, public and private property owners owe varying “duties of care” to certain types of property visitors. A “duty of care” is the legal responsibility a person or party has to act reasonably and prevent foreseeable injury or harm.

First, the state of Louisiana defines three types of property visitors:

• Invitees: An invitee is someone who has the property owner’s expressed or implied permission to be on the property, typically for the mutual benefit of both parties.
• Licensees: A licensee is someone who enters a property lawfully but for their own purposes rather than the mutual benefit of both parties.
• Trespassers: A trespasser, also known as an “unlawful entrant,” is someone who does not have the property owner’s permission, whether expressed or implied, to be on the premises

Louisiana property owners owe the highest duty of care to invitees, followed by licensees. While property owners must ensure reasonably safe premises for invitees, they must only warn licensees of potential hazards and unreasonable injury.

When it comes to trespassers, Louisiana property owners generally only have a duty to refrain from causing intentional injury or harm; they do not have any legal responsibility to ensure a safe premises or warn possible trespassers of hazards.

The only exception involves “attractive nuisance” claims, in which children are injured on a property after being drawn to the property by a feature that the property owner could reasonably know might attract young children or teenagers, such as a swimming pool or trampoline.

In such cases, the injured child (or their parents) can file a claim against the property owner if the property owner failed to take reasonable measures to prevent injury, even if the child was trespassing. For example, if a child fell into a pool after wandering into someone’s backyard, and the pool did not have a fence with a securely locked gate, the property owner could be liable.

Before filing a premises liability claim or lawsuit, you must establish that you have grounds to do so.

You may have grounds to file a premises liability lawsuit if you can prove the following:

• You were injured
• You were lawfully on the property when you were injured
• The injury resulted from a dangerous property condition or hazard
• The property owner knew about or reasonably could have known about the dangerous condition or hazard
• The property owner failed to adequately remove, repair, or warn of the dangerous condition or hazard

Like other personal injury claims, premises liability cases are governed by comparative negligence in Louisiana. This means that, if you are found to be partly at fault for the incident that led to your injury, you may still file a claim for damages. However, the amount you can recover in damages will be reduced by your percentage of fault.

It is also important to note that premises liability lawsuits are subject to a one-year statute of limitations in Louisiana. This means that you only have one year from the date of the incident (or the date on which the injury was discovered, in cases where the injury could not reasonably be discovered right away) to sue for damages.

If the statute of limitations expires, you will almost certainly lose your right to file a lawsuit against the liable party.

Since 1975, our firm has been helping injured individuals and the families of those wrongfully killed fight for their rights. Based in Shreveport, our premises liability attorneys proudly represent clients throughout the state, offering aggressive and dedicated legal advocacy from start to finish.

If you or someone you love suffered serious or even catastrophic injuries due to unsafe conditions or hazards on someone else’s property, turn to our team to learn how we can help you fight for the maximum compensation you are owed.

We are happy to answer your questions and address any concerns you may have during a complimentary consultation, and there are no legal fees for you unless we secure a settlement or verdict on your behalf.