Premises liability encompasses injuries arising out of a dangerous condition on someone's property; such as injuries caused by slips, trips or falls, inadequate security, lead poisoning, construction, farms, swimming pools, fires, explosions, exposure to hazardous materials, athletics, animal bites, and workplace injuries are far too common.

Owners and occupiers of property have a duty to protect persons lawfully on their property from injuries resulting from hazardous conditions that the owner or occupier knew or should have know existed. When owners or occupiers of property act irresponsibly by failing to adequately protect persons from such hazards, they should be held accountable.

A thorough understanding of the ever-changing and fact-specific law regarding the various and numerous incidents that result in premises liability is essential to successful legal representation.

For example, under Georgia law, merely owning or occupying land does not make that person liable for injuries sustained on the property. There must be some form of negligence on the part of the owner or occupier of property before there can be any liability. In order to understand the duty owed by an owner or occupier of land, it is necessary to understand the difference between the owner of the property and the occupier of the property and their relative liability.

Likewise, it is necessary to understand the three different types of people who may be on the property because the degree of responsibility owed by an owner or occupier varies according to the status of the person who is injured. These types include: invitees, licensees, and trespassers.

Generally, it is easy to determine who owns a particular piece of property. An occupier of the property is anyone who exercises some form of control over it. This form of control includes a tenant who leases the property but it may also include other, less traditional, forms of occupancy. For example, a contractor who comes onto the property for purposes of constructing a home, commercial building, or other structure, may become an occupier of the premises by exercising control over the property.

An invitee is someone who comes onto the property by the express or implied invitation of the owner or occupier of the property (such as a customer in a store). It is the duty of the owner or occupier to keep the premises in a safe condition. The liability of the owner or occupier to the invitee is based upon the duty of the owner to make a reasonable inspection of the premises for the protection of invited people. A social guest at a residence is generally a licensee.

Someone who is not an invitee is generally a licensee. An owner or occupier of property is liable to the licensee only for willful or wanton injury. The owner or occupier has a duty to warn the licensee of any known dangerous conditions on the premises that create an unreasonable risk of harm to the licensee, and where the owner or occupier knows the licensee is unaware of the condition and is unlikely to discover it. However, the owner or occupier has no duty to a licensee (unlike the invitee) to inspect for defects or to repair known defects. An owner or occupier simply has the obligation of not acting willfully or wantonly with regard to the licensee.

A trespasser is someone who comes on the premises without the permission of its owner or occupier. A trespasser may be on the property by mistake. The duty owed to a trespasser by an owner or occupier of property is less than that owed to an invitee or licensee. Kids will be kids. Sometimes they wonder off into dangerous place where they are not supposed to be. However, under certain circumstances owners and occupiers of land have a responsibility to anticipate a wondering child and must be held responsible if the child is injured on their property as a result of their negligence.

For example, if a child wondered onto the property because he or she was enticed by some inherently dangerous and attractive man-made thing on the premises, that thing may be considered an "attractive nuisance". By creating or being aware of the attractive nuisance, the owner or occupier should anticipate the presence of children on the premises and impliedly consent to the presence of a child on the property. This changes the child's presence from the status of trespasser to licensee, thus the owner or occupier of the property is obligated to maintain a greater level of responsibility.

Negligent Security
Dark alleys are wise to avoid. We should all vigilantly protect ourselves from senseless and violent crime by acting prudently. In the same sense, owners and occupiers of property have a responsibility to guard against foreseeable crimes on their property. Foreseeability, rather than the relationship between the landowner and the person criminally assaulted, triggers liability in cases involving negligent security. For example, if an owner or occupier knows of burglaries on or near the premises, he or she must to take reasonable precautions to protect persons coming on the premises from burglaries and will be liable to victims of burglary if he fails to do so. If the owner or occupier fails this responsibility, he or she will be held liable for monetary damages to the person injured by the crime.

If you have any questions or concerns, please contact us. You may use our interactive contact form, send us an email, or call us at 404.521.3455.