San Bernardino Premises Liability Lawyers
San Bernardino offers residents and tourists alike many choices when it comes to dining out, entertainment, and nightlife. However, when property owners fail to maintain their premises safely and carefully, accidents may occur, leaving visitors seriously injured. While some premises accidents involve slip-and-falls, others happen when property owners fail to maintain sidewalks or provide adequate security on their premises.
If you suffered injuries in a premises accident that resulted from a property owner’s negligence, you might have legal options available to you. In addition to seeking immediate medical treatment after your premises accident, you should retain a knowledgeable lawyer who can assist you every step of the way.
The San Bernardino premises lawyers at Bentley & More LLP are ready to help you handle every aspect of your premises-accident claim or lawsuit. First, we can retain an accident reconstructionist to visit the scene, speak with witnesses, review police documentation, and determine your eligibility for filing a claim.
Suppose you are eligible to pursue legal action. In that case, we can file a claim with the property owner’s insurance company, negotiate with the settlement adjuster, and seek the favorable settlement conversation you deserve for your premises-accident injuries.
If the insurance company refuses to compensate you adequately, we welcome the opportunity to file a lawsuit and litigate your case. In either instance, you can rest assured that we will zealously advocate for your legal rights and work to maximize your total monetary recovery.
Our experienced legal team has recovered millions of dollars worth of compensation on behalf of our seriously injured clients. Let us help you recover the full and fair monetary damages you deserve for your injuries.
For a free case evaluation and legal consultation with a San Bernardino premises liability lawyer, please call us or contact us online to learn more.
Special note for other law firms: Our team primarily represents accident victims who suffer permanent and catastrophic injuries. Thus, we regularly accept referrals from other firms. If you find yourself with a strong case that you lack the wherewithal to pursue, feel free to call today and let us know if we can help you.
What Are Some Common Injuries That Premises-Accident Victims Suffer?
The injuries that individuals may suffer in a premises accident depend upon the accident type and whether they fall to the ground. If they suffer injuries in a slip-and-fall, the extent of their injuries will typically depend upon how they fall to the ground, the amount of force involved, and what body parts they strike.
Common examples of premises-accident injuries include:
- Traumatic head and brain damage
- Spinal cord injuries
- Full or partial paralysis
- Permanent soft tissue injuries
- Bone fractures
- Internal organ damage
- Rib fractures
- Internal bleeding
If you sustained any of these injuries in a recent premises occurrence, you should receive the medical treatment that you need as quickly as possible. Failing to seek proper medical treatment after a premises accident may cause your injuries to become worse over time.
Once you arrive at a hospital emergency room or urgent care facility, the medical provider on duty can X-ray the injured areas or take an MRI. The provider can also recommend future medical care if you need it. For example, if you suffered a broken bone, you will likely need to follow up with an orthopedic doctor.
While you concentrate on fully recovering from your injuries, the San Bernardino premises lawyers at Bentley & More LLP can start advocating for your legal needs. Specifically, we can obtain investigation reports, witness statements, and other potential evidence for your premises-accident claim or lawsuit. In addition, we can start gathering your medical treatment records to date and assembling all of the documentation into a settlement demand package.
Finally, we can present this demand package, along with a settlement demand letter, to the insurance company once you finish your medical treatment. Our legal team can then begin zealously negotiating a settlement in your case.
What Are Some Common Premises Accidents That Occur in San Bernardino?
Premises accidents in San Bernardino are not just limited to slip-and-fall occurrences. While these accidents can lead to debilitating injuries, other accidents may cause injuries that are equally serious.
Additional premises incidents that may result from property owner negligence include:
- Assaults and attacks that occur on the property due to an inadequate security presence or lack of security cameras on the property
- Staircase accidents, where a property owner fails to maintain carpeting or flooring materials
- Sidewalk accidents, where a property owner fails to repair spalling and other concrete defects, causing a visitor to fall on the property
- Driveway accidents, where potholes, cracks, and other defects cause a visitor to fall and injure themselves
- Accidents that result from loose railings that become detached when a property visitor tries to hold onto them
- Fires or explosions that occur on the property and cause serious injuries
- Elevator and escalator accidents that result from defective equipment or improper maintenance
Premises accidents may also occur both indoors and outdoors and can leave an injured visitor in need of ongoing medical care.
If you suffered injuries in one of these types of premises accidents that occurred on someone else’s property, you have legal options available to you. The skilled San Bernardino premises lawyers at Bentley & More LLP can discuss those options with you and help you decide on the best course of action to recover monetary damages in your case.
Sometimes, that might mean negotiating a fair settlement offer from the insurance company adjuster handling your claim. At other times, it might mean filing a lawsuit and litigating your case to a conclusion in the court system.
How Do You Prove That a Property Owner’s Negligence?
To recover monetary compensation in a premises-accident case, you must satisfy the legal elements of your claim. First, you must show that the property owner owed you a legal duty of care, which they subsequently violated. A landowner’s duty of care to a property visitor depends upon the property visitor’s status on the land at a particular time. Depending upon the status, a property owner may owe the visitor a greater or lesser duty of care.
For example, the owner likely owes a trespasser no legal duty of care.
The next category of property visitors is licensees or social guests. A social guest is a property visitor who enters the property for their benefit rather than for the property owner’s benefit. Regarding social guests, property owners have a duty to timely warn about known dangerous defects and hazards on the property or to repair the defects within a reasonable amount of time.
The final category of property visitors is business invitees. A business invitee is someone who enters another person’s property for a business purpose or to benefit the property owner financially in some way. Classic examples of business invitees include grocery store shoppers, restaurant patrons, and visitors to a bar or nightclub. A property owner owes a business invitee the same duty of care as they owe to a social guest.
Moreover, the property owner must also regularly inspect their premises for potentially unknown hazards. If they come across such a hazard, they have a duty to adequately warn about it or repair it.
In addition to establishing that a premises owner owed you a legal duty of care, you must demonstrate that the property owner violated that duty of care somehow. For example, the property owner might have failed to provide enough security personnel on the premises, causing a nightclub visitor to suffer injuries in an attack.
Next, the premises-accident victim must establish that it was the property owner’s deviation from the standard of care that caused the accident and their injuries.
To prove these legal elements, accident victims may need to retain an accident reconstructionist who can review all of the evidence to determine how the occurrence likely happened and who caused it. A medical expert may also be necessary to causally relate an accident victim’s claimed injuries to the premises accident or to establish that a particular injury is permanent in nature.
The San Bernardino premises lawyers at Bentley & More LLP can retain the necessary experts to prove your claim or lawsuit and recover the monetary compensation you deserve.
How Long Do You Have to Take Legal Action Following a Premises Accident?
Premises-accident victims have a minimal timeframe in which to take legal action against the property owner. Pursuant to the personal injury statute of limitations in California, accident victims have only two years from their accident date in which to file a lawsuit seeking monetary recovery. Absent a few minimal exceptions, premises accident victims who filed a lawsuit after the deadline will become ineligible to recover any monetary compensation for their injuries. Therefore, you should act immediately after suffering injuries on someone else’s property.
At Bentley & More LLP, our legal team is very much aware of the limited lawsuit-filing timeframe. Therefore, if the statute of limitations is running short in your case, we can probably file a lawsuit in the court system on your behalf, safeguarding your right to recover favorable monetary damages for your injuries. We can also answer all of your legal questions and help you make intelligent and informed decisions about your case at every stage. Our primary goal is to ensure that you recover the maximum amount of monetary compensation available to you in your premises-accident claim.
What Monetary Damages May I Receive for a Premises Accident?
Premises accidents can lead to severe injuries that leave individuals with high medical bills and other out-of-pocket costs. Moreover, accident victims may be unable to work for a significant amount of time after their premises accident, causing them to lose income and allowing medical bills and other expenses to mount up quickly.
The damages that a premises-accident victim might recover will depend upon the type of accident that occurred, the severity of their injuries, and the cost of their medical treatment. In premises-accident cases where victims suffer permanent injuries, they are likely to recover more significant monetary damages than in cases where accident victims sustain less-serious injuries. Monetary damages for premises accident injuries include compensation for past and anticipated medical expenses, lost earnings, loss of earning capacity, pain and suffering, inconvenience, mental distress, permanent disfigurement or disability, lifetime-care costs, loss of use of a body part, loss of enjoyment of life, and loss of spousal companionship.
Our legal team can help you set realistic expectations and goals for your premises claim or lawsuit and help you recover the monetary damages you need through a favorable settlement offer or litigation result.
Talk with a Knowledgeable and Compassionate San Bernardino Premises Liability Lawyer About Your Premises Accident Today
Greg Bentley & Keith More, Premises Liability Lawyers
If you sustained injuries in a recent premises accident, you should talk with an experienced team of personal injury lawyers right away. At Bentley & More LLP, our knowledgeable and compassionate legal team can go over all of your legal options with you in clear terms, file a claim on your behalf, and negotiate settlement offers with the insurance company adjuster. You should remember that it is very rarely a good idea to attempt to negotiate with the insurance company by yourself. Reach out to a San Bernardino personal injury lawyer.
If you need to litigate your case in the court system, we will be by your side every step of the way and can represent you in all legal proceedings, including your discovery deposition, civil jury trial, or binding arbitration hearing. We will present probative evidence and make the necessary arguments to pursue the highest amount of compensation available to you for your premises-accident injuries.
For a free case evaluation and legal consultation with a San Bernardino premises liability attorney, please call us at (949) 870-3800 or contact us online for more information.
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Bentley & More LLP – Santa Bernardino Office
Phone: (949) 870-3800