Every time you leave your own Georgia property, you put your safety in the hands of other people and trust them to care for their property in a way that does not put you at risk of harm. At Cook & Tolley, LLP, we often assist clients with holding property owners responsible for the costs associated with an injury caused by negligence.
People often file premises liability claims because of injuries sustained in slip-and-fall accidents or other accidents that occur because of poorly maintained property. Property owners may also be liable for swimming pool accidents, animal attacks or injuries caused by a fire. Even if you become the victim of a crime, the property owner may be liable if it was his or her duty to provide security.
A property owner owes you a duty of care if he or she invites you to come onto the premises for a legal purpose, according to Georgia Code § 51-3-1. If you are trespassing on the property and you sustain an injury, or if you are engaged in some other illegal activity on the property, you may not be able to seek relief under this law.
Stated simply, the law expects folks to be reasonable. A property owner must use reasonable efforts to keep the grounds, facilities and/or buildings safe. Property owners are responsible for hazards that they knew or should have known about on their property. For example, if you are at a store and a fall on a spill, then the property owner can be liable if he or she had a reasonable opportunity to find and clean up the spill before you slipped. If, on the other hand, you sustain an injury because of a hazard that the owner could not have known about or had not yet had a reasonable chance to discover, then he or she may not be liable.
Sifting through the details is what the lawyers at Cook & Tolley, LLP, do. If you believe that you have been injured by negligence of a premises owner, contact us to discuss your situation.
More information about premises liability lawsuits is available on our webpage.
Cook & Tolley, LLP
304 E Washington St
Athens, GA 30601
(706) 549-6111
https://www.cooktolley.com/
