Any piece of property that could be used as part of a business, and one that would not be off-limits to any possible customers ought to be free of any faulty parts. Otherwise, someone that might walk onto the same piece of property could get injured, and could sue for coverage of the resulting damages.
Possible threats from some problem with one or more of the property’s parts
• Objects left on a staircase, either inside or outside of a given structure
• A broken or missing handrail on a flight of stairs or on a balcony
• A thin and slippery section of carpeting on a flight of stairs
• A spot where the flooring has a slightly higher section.
• A spot where wooden flooring has an exposed nail.
If any such threat were to cause an accident-linked injury, then the victim might ask these questions:
Who was at-fault? Who had been responsible for creation of that threat?
Who knew about the problem, but failed to have it fixed?
The answers to those questions could suggest the identity of the responsible party. For instance, a property owner might not have a system in place for identification of potential threats. That same failure would count as an act of neglect on the part of the owner or controller.
Still, an injured victim could not submit a personal injury claim without proving all 4 elements of negligence
• Proof that the owner or controller of the property had a duty to keep it free from any dangers or threats to others.
• Proof that the same owner or controller had breached that identified duty.
• Proof that the breach had helped to cause the injury-making accident.
• Proof that the victim of that same accident had suffered a measurable loss.
Anyone that might submit a personal injury claim should anticipate a defense from the opposing party.
Someone that had been injured on a private property might face a charge of not paying an adequate amount of attention to where he/she was walking. Sometimes, a person has ventured onto a spot that had been marked as “off-limits.”
Sometimes, the owner or controller of a property has not created a barrier that can be recognized by all that come onto the marked-off area. Victims that had retained a personal injury lawyer in Highland, would have someone that should be able to help them with identification of any evidence of neglect on the part of the owner or controller. By the same token, a lawyer could work to weaken any defense that might get introduced, concerning the actions or attitude of the injured victim. A lawyer could work with a victim to preserve evidence, such as the footwear worn on the day of the accident.