No, a property owner’s negligence depends on the specific circumstances surrounding your injury. The duty of care owed by the landowner to you as a visitor depends upon your reason for being on the property. The highest duty of care is owed to an invitee such as a guest or a business customer of a property owner. This is the most common situation and requires the property owner to maintain its premises in a reasonably safe condition free from defects that are known to the landowner but unknown to the guest. The injured person must prove that there was a defect on the property and that the landowner knew or in the exercise of reasonable care, should have known about the defect and did nothing to correct it. Alternatively, if the landowner is aware of a defect he may be relieved of liability if he has properly warned the guest of the potential danger or hazard.
Slip and fall, trip and fall and other premises liability cases are extremely difficult under Florida law. It is extremely important that we get involved in these cases as soon as possible to photograph the condition of the property as they existed at the time of the incident. It is critically important to identify witnesses at the business or restaurant or other location. Defects in the property are often fixed or abated by the landowner quickly after the incident making it extremely difficult to prove the condition. Oftentimes surveillance video captures the incident, but the surveillance video is recorded over after 36 to 48 hours and the evidence is lost. For these and other reasons it is critically important to contact the lawyers at Harris Guidi as soon as possible after an injury on someone else’s property so that the investigation can begin immediately.