New Jersey businesses, property owners, and landlords have a duty to look out for the health and safety of employees, customers, and other invited guests. When these defendants fail to live up to this obligation, they can be held legally responsible for any resulting injuries through a premises liability claim.
At O’Connor, Parsons, Lane & Noble, our New Jersey premises liability lawyers have decades of experience representing injured victims. We handle the full range of premises liability cases, including slip and fall accident claims, negligent security lawsuits, inadequate maintenance lawsuits, dog bite injury claims, swimming pool accidents, and much more. For a free, no obligation review of your premises liability case, please contact our law office today.
Common Types of Slip, Trip and Fall Accidents
Slip, trip, and falls are among the leading causes of serious injury. Falls send millions of Americans to emergency rooms every year. These injuries can vary widely in their nature and their severity. Our law firm handles the full range of fall accident injuries. These accidents happen for many different reasons. Some of the leading causes of slip, trip, and fall accidents include:
- Slippery floors;
- Unrepaired leaks;
- Uncleaned spills;
- Broken floor boards;
- Tattered rugs or carpets;
- Loose clutter in halls or walkways;
- Damaged stairs;
- Inadequate lighting;
- Slippery exterior sidewalks/walkways; and
- Failure to warn of a slip/trip hazard.
How is Negligence Proved in Premises Liability Cases?
In New Jersey, premises liability claims are based on negligence. You will not be able to recover compensation for a slip and fall accident simply because your injuries occurred on another person’s property. In order to recover compensation, you must be able to prove that the business or property owner was at fault for your accident. This requires establishing negligence. In premises liability claims, plaintiffs are generally required to prove the following five things:
- The property owner or occupier owed you a duty of care, which depends on why you were there;
- There was a dangerous safety hazard that was present on the premises;
- The safety hazard in question actually contributed to the victim’s injuries;
- The business/property owner knew or should have known about the presence of the safety hazard; and
- The business/property owner could have reasonably taken measures to reduce or eliminate the safety risk, but they failed to do so.
Proving liability can sometimes be challenging. New Jersey businesses and property owners, and their insurance companies, often fight slip and fall accident claims aggressively. It helps to have an experienced premises liability lawyer on your side. Your lawyer will be able to help you build a strong, effective legal claim, so that you can prove liability and obtain full and fair compensation.
Why You Were on the Property Matters
New Jersey law sets the owner’s duty based on your status as a visitor. Business invitees, such as customers, tenants, and delivery workers, get the most protection: the owner must use reasonable care to inspect for hazards and fix or warn about them. Social guests are owed a warning about dangers the owner knows of, but the owner generally doesn’t have to inspect for hidden ones. Trespassers are owed much less, though owners can’t intentionally harm them, and special rules can apply when a child is drawn onto a property by something dangerous, like an unfenced pool.
New Jersey Rules That Often Decide These Cases
- Self-service businesses: Under New Jersey’s mode-of-operation rule, when a store’s way of doing business makes a hazard foreseeable, such as customers handling loose produce or self-serve drinks, the injured person may not have to prove the store knew about the specific spill.
- Sidewalks: Commercial property owners generally have a duty to keep the public sidewalk next to their property reasonably safe. Owners of residential properties generally don’t, unless they created the hazard.
- Snow and ice: Under the ongoing storm rule the New Jersey Supreme Court adopted in 2021, a commercial owner generally doesn’t have to clear snow and ice until a storm ends, unless its own actions made conditions worse or a hazard existed before the storm. After the storm, the owner must act within a reasonable time.
- Public property: Claims against a town, county, school district, or state agency are governed by the New Jersey Tort Claims Act, which generally requires a written notice of claim within 90 days and sets a higher bar for proving fault.
- Shared fault: Under New Jersey’s comparative negligence law, your recovery is reduced by any share of fault assigned to you, and you can’t recover if you’re found more than 50 percent responsible.
Premises cases aren’t limited to falls. Owners can also be responsible for injuries from falling objects, fires caused by code violations, and unsafe conditions in rental housing.
What to Do After You’re Hurt on Someone Else’s Property
- Get medical care, even if the injury seems minor at first.
- Report the incident to the store manager, landlord, or property owner, and ask for a copy of any incident report.
- Take photos of the hazard, the area around it, the lighting, and your shoes and clothing before anything is cleaned up or repaired.
- Get names and contact information for witnesses.
- Ask whether the property has security cameras, since footage is often recorded over within days or weeks.
- Keep your shoes and clothing as they were, along with medical bills and records of any time you miss from work.
Statute of Limitations for Bringing a Premises Liability Lawsuit in NJ
If you were injured in a slip and fall accident, you have limited time to take legal action. Most premises liability claims in New Jersey are subject to the state’s two-year statute of limitations. You must file any lawsuit within two years of the date of the accident. If you do not, your case will likely be automatically dismissed. You will be denied compensation on a technicality. Do not let this happen to you: get professional legal representation.
How Can a Premises Liability Lawyer Help?
We are committed to helping our clients recover the maximum available financial compensation. Depending on the specific nature of your claim, you may be able to get money damages for all related medical bills, lost wages, pain and suffering, disfigurement, and long-term disability. We are ready to hold negligent businesses and property owners accountable. Our law firm will:
- Listen to your story and review your premises liability case;
- Explain your legal rights and legal options to you;
- Conduct a comprehensive investigation of your accident;
- Work with doctors and medical experts to document your injuries and their long-term effects;
- Handle settlement negotiations with the insurer; and
- If necessary, file a premises liability lawsuit against the negligent defendant.
Many premises liability claims can be settled prior to litigation. If you were injured in a slip and fall accident, we will help you fight for a full settlement offer. That being said, if the defendant or their insurance provider refuses to cooperate or to offer you fair compensation, our law firm is always ready to take your case to court. We also handle other premises liability cases, including:
- Dog Attack
- Trip & Falls
- Construction Site Accident
- Inadequate Security
- Lead Poisoning
- Swimming Pool Accidents
Hear What Our Clients Say
“Words can truly express how much I appreciate everything you have done for me. When we started on this journey 2 years ago on “the eleventh hour,” I was very concerned because of the problems I was having before I retained you. You quickly put my mind to rest by explaining everything to me, and answering all my questions. The outcome of this lawsuit is nothing less than a miracle because of the many obstacles we faced.” – Marie G.
Results may vary depending on your particular facts and legal circumstances.