Visitor trip and fall from wet floor.

Have you sustained injuries while on someone else’s property in Queens? If so, you may have a legal claim for financial compensation. Landlords and property owners in New York are generally liable for injuries that happen to guests while on their properties, and victims can recover their losses in the form of a financial settlement or court award in a premises liability claim.

The personal injury law firm of David Resnick & Associates, P.C., has decades of experience and has recovered over $180 million for our clients, including several $1 million-plus outcomes in premises liability lawsuits. Our Queens premises liability attorney has the skills and tenacity to pursue your case to the fullest extent and keep you informed with clear and honest communication.

Contact us online or call today for a free consultation with an experienced premises liability attorney in Queens.

What Is Premises Liability?

Premises liability is an area of law that holds property owners, businesses, and certain occupants responsible for unreasonable hazards on their properties that harm guests. If a guest sustains injuries due to unsafe property conditions, such as a slippery floor or an unlit staircase, the property owner or other responsible party can be liable for paying for the injured person’s medical costs, lost income, pain, suffering, and other injury losses.

More specifically, premises liability law holds that property owners must fix or post sufficient warnings about property hazards to protect guests. If an owner knows or reasonably should know about a hazard and negligently fails to address it, they could be legally liable for injuries. For instance, if a store owner knows about a plumbing leak and doesn’t place a wet floor sign nearby, customers who slip on the wet floor and sustain injuries could file a premises liability claim.

What Are Some Types of Premises Liability Cases in Queens?

Some of the most common types of premises liability cases in Queens include:

  • Slip-and-fall and trip-and-fall accidents(wet floors in grocery stores, icy parking lots, or loose tiles in a hotel lobby, for example)
  • Dog bites and other domestic animal attacks
  • Impacts with falling objects(merchandise falling off shelves or tools dropped from scaffolding, for example)
  • Defective machinery, such as elevators and escalators
  • Poor lighting
  • Electrocution
  • Construction site accidents
  • Swimming pool accidents
  • Inadequate security leading to criminal attacks
  • Toxic exposure

What Sort of Injuries Happen in a Queens Premises Liability Accident?

Premises liability injuries depend on the circumstance and can include examples such as:

  • Muscle strains
  • Sprains
  • Bruises
  • Cuts and lacerations
  • Concussions and other traumatic brain injuries
  • Bone fractures
  • Spinal cord injuries and paralysis
  • Electrocution
  • Burns
  • Drowning
  • Organ damage and internal bleeding
  • Death

What Is Needed to Prove the Property Owner Is at Fault for My Injuries?

A successful premises liability claim rests on proving four key elements:

  • Duty – The property owner owed the victim a duty of care.
  • Breach – The property owner negligently violated that duty by failing to remove or post warnings about a hazard.
  • Causation – The property owner’s negligent actions caused the victim actual harm.
  • Damages – The injuries resulted in losses to the injured party.

If these conditions are met, the victim has a strong claim to recover financial compensation. I

What Does ‘Constructive’ Notice Mean?

Property owners can be liable for injuries when they either know or reasonably should have known about the hazard. When they actually know about the danger, they have what is called actual notice. When they reasonably should have known about the danger on their property, that’s constructive notice.

Constructive notice means a reasonable person in a similar situation would have discovered the hazard through due diligence. For instance, landlords have a duty to inspect their properties for fire hazards. If the landlord neglects inspections and a tenant sustains injuries, the landlord could be liable because they would have known about the hazard if they exercised appropriate care.

Constructive notice is an essential concept for premises liability claims because it is often difficult to prove a property owner had actual knowledge about a specific hazard. If the victim can show that the property owner had constructive notice of the hazard, they can still hold the owner liable for the losses associated with the victim’s injuries.

What Should You Do Immediately After Being Involved in a Queens Premises Liability Accident?

In the immediate aftermath of a premises liability accident, the most important thing is getting the medical treatment you need. Reporting the accident and gathering evidence are the next most important. After checking yourself for injuries and receiving necessary emergency care, take photos of the scene, get contact info for eyewitnesses, and make notes about specific accident circumstances. If the accident happened at a business, report it to the manager.

Keep and preserve the clothes and shoes you wore at the time if they could provide evidence about the cause of the accident. For example, sticky residue on shoes could provide evidence that a sugary liquid was spilled on the floor.

Contact the Queens premises liability attorneys at David Resnick & Associates, P.C., as soon as possible to secure the legal help you need.

What Types of Compensation Can You Receive for a Premises Liability Claim?

You may be able to recover money for the following types of losses in a premises liability claim in Queens:

  • Emergency medical bills and continuing medical expenses
  • Lost employment income
  • Diminished future earning capacity
  • Pain and suffering
  • Emotional distress
  • Quality of life reductions
  • Wrongful death
  • Out-of-pocket injury expenses

We will examine your case from every angle to identify every possible avenue for securing maximum compensation for all your accident-related losses.

What Is the Statute of Limitations for Queens Premises Liability Cases?

Generally, you have three years from the accident date to file a premises liability claim in New York (NY CPLR 214.5). If three years pass before you file your lawsuit, the court will likely dismiss your case without a hearing, and you won’t be able to recover financial compensation.

The main exception to this time limit is if you are filing a premises liability claim against a government entity or agency. In that case, you must first file a notice of claim with the respective agency within 90 days of the accident. You then have one year to file a lawsuit, giving you a total time limit of one year and 90 days to file a claim (NY CPLR 217-A).

Contact a Queens Premises Liability Lawyer

David Resnick & Associates, P.C., stands ready to use every available legal strategy and resource to identify and pursue all potentially liable parties. Our clients are like family to us, and we get to know them and their families so we can best represent their interests. We want to be on your side, fighting for you.

Contact our offices online or reach out by phone for a free case consultation with a Queens premises liability attorney.