Chattanooga Premises Liability

In Tennessee and other states, property owners are required to maintain their premises in a reasonably safe condition so that people, particularly customers or other guests, are not injured while on the property. This duty applies the owners of businesses and other public places. The owners of apartment complexes and even private homeowners have a similar duty to visitors or other invitees on their premises. Tennessee courts have found that for a plaintiff to recover damages in a premises liability claim, he or she must first prove the standard elements of negligence:

1. Duty of care owed by defendant to plaintiff
2. Breach of duty of care owed to plaintiff
3. Causation– direct and proximate
4. Damages suffered by plaintiff

In a Chattanooga slip and fall case, the plaintiff typically must prove one of the following to be true:

1. The dangerous condition which injured the plaintiff was caused or created by the owner, operator, or his agent; or
2. If someone else created the dangerous condition, that the owner had actual or constructive notice that the condition existed prior to the injury-causing event.

Premises liability cases tend to be very fact-specific, meaning that the owner’s liability will depend on the individual circumstances surrounding the plaintiff’s injury. Was there a dangerous condition? How long had it been present? Was the owner aware of the dangerous condition? If not, should the owner have been aware? These are common inquiries in many premises liability and inadequate security claims. An injured party should contact an experienced premises liability lawyer in the Chattanooga area who can ascertain the answers to these questions by investigating the facts of the claim, conducting necessary discovery, interviewing eyewitnesses, and obtaining any available video surveillance footage.

In Tennessee, a person injured on the property of another normally has one year from the date of the incident to file a lawsuit in the appropriate court. Certain exceptions exist for minors and incompetent persons. If the injured party fails to timely pursue the claim, his or her right to take legal action will be barred, which means he or she will be unable to hold the negligent property owner accountable for his or her injuries. This is why you should act quickly if you have been hurt on someone else’s land, as a lawyer will need sufficient time to try to negotiate a fair settlement or prepare the claim for litigation prior to the expiration of the statute of limitation.