When you’re injured on property owned by someone else in Buffalo, New York, it’s important to explore your legal options. The experienced Buffalo premises liability lawyers at O’Brien & Ford Buffalo Car Accident and Personal Injury Lawyers can help you fight for the compensation you deserve. Call us today at (716) 222 2222.
Injury victims and families in Buffalo have turned to O’Brien & Ford Buffalo Car Accident and Personal Injury Lawyers for help standing up to property owners, corporations, and government agencies after life-changing accidents. As proven leaders in personal injury disputes, we’ve helped plaintiffs recover millions in settlements and jury awards.
Find out how our top-rated legal team can make a difference in your life, too. We offer a free consultation with our Buffalo personal injury lawyers, so contact our Buffalo, NY, law office today to get started.
How OO’Brien & Ford Buffalo Car Accident and Personal Injury Lawyers Can Help With a Premises Liability Claim in Buffalo, NY
It can be intimidating, to say the least, to accuse a property owner of being negligent and ask them to compensate you for injuries you suffered on their premises. This is particularly true when you’re taking on a powerful corporation or government entity. Fortunately, you don’t have to navigate your premises liability claim on your own.
Our Buffalo personal injury lawyers have decades of experience handling complex premises liability disputes. Through smart, dynamic, client-driven strategies, we press insurance companies and at-fault parties into larger settlements for our clients. That’s why we’re recognized by Super Lawyers as the Legal Elite of Western New York and the Top 50 Upstate New York attorneys.
We know that you have a lot going on right now, which is why we’re here to handle all aspects of your premises liability lawsuit for you:
- Promptly investigate the circumstances of your case
- Establish that you were lawfully on the premises with the owner’s consent
- Determine what steps the owner should have taken to protect you and how their efforts deviated from accepted standards
- Evaluate pieces of evidence we obtain during our investigation and through the discovery process
- Enlist qualified expert witnesses to consult as we build your case and assess your damages
- File your claim with the insurance company and, if necessary, the local Erie County court
- Serve copies of your lawsuit on the defense
- Press the defense to engage in meaningful settlement negotiations as we pursue a life-changing monetary award on your behalf
- Litigate your premises liability lawsuit at trial if the defense refuses to acknowledge fault for your devastating accident and injuries
Our Buffalo premises liability attorneys work on a contingency fee basis. There are no upfront costs to hire our law firm. In fact, we’ll cover the cost of pursuing compensation. We’ll only get paid (and recoup case-related expenses) if we win compensation for you.
Contact our Buffalo, NY, law office today to discover more about the benefits of having our award-winning law firm fighting for you. Your initial case assessment is free with O’Brien & Ford Buffalo Car Accident and Personal Injury Lawyers.
What Is Premises Liability?
Premises liability refers to laws that require property owners to maintain their premises in a reasonably safe condition. The goal is to protect visitors who enter the premises from suffering avoidable injuries.
If a property owner is negligent in maintaining their premises, they can be liable for a visitor’s resulting injury or wrongful death.
How can you prove an owner was negligent? You’ll need to establish they owed you a duty of care, breached it, and you were injured as a result. The owner’s duty of care will ultimately depend on how you are classified as a visitor. In New York, visitors are classified as invitees, licensees, and trespassers.
Invitees, Licensees, and Trespassers
Invitees are owed the highest duty of care because the owner enjoys a business-related benefit from their visit. Invitees can include diners in a restaurant, patrons in a grocery store, and members at a fitness center or gym. New York requires property owners to inspect their premises for potential dangers, fix hazards when they have actual or constructive knowledge of them, and provide adequate warnings.
Licensees are owed a lesser duty of care simply because the visit is of a more personal nature. For instance, you’d be considered a licensee rather than an invitee if you ran into a local gas station in Buffalo for the sole purpose of using the restroom. If you bought gas, you’d be an invitee. Property owners in New York do not have to inspect the premises to protect licensees. However, there still remains a duty to fix known hazards and provide adequate warning of known risks.
Property owners do not generally owe trespassers a duty of care. Instead, trespassers enter the premises at their own risk. There is an exception, which involves children. If a property contains an attractive nuisance – like a swimming pool or heavy machinery – an owner must take precautions to protect children who might be drawn to the property.
What Is My Premises Liability Case Worth?
The value of your premises liability case will likely depend on the following crucial factors:
- The severity of your injury
- Available insurance policies
- Medical treatment required
- Time missed from work
- Ability to return to work
- How the injury impacts your life
A dedicated personal injury lawyer can help you evaluate what your premises liability case is worth and pursue full compensation.
Types of Buffalo Premises Liability Cases We Handle
At O’Brien & Ford Buffalo Car Accident and Personal Injury Lawyers, we represent clients in all types of premises liability cases, including:
- Dog bites
- Swimming pool accidents
- Falls from heights
- Falling object accidents
- Slip and fall accidents
- Trip and fall accidents
- Elevator accidents
- Building collapse accidents
- Broken sidewalk accidents
- Assault
- Sexual assault
- Negligent security
- Fires and explosions
- Parking lot accidents
If you or a loved one has been injured at a business, on government property, or on another person’s private property, don’t hesitate to contact our Buffalo premises liability attorneys to discuss your situation. We can listen to your story and help you understand what rights you may have. If you decide to seek damages, we’ll be ready to help you fight to hold the property owner fully accountable for your accident.
What Damages Can I Recover With a Premises Liability Lawsuit?
Filing a premises liability claim gives you the opportunity to seek compensatory damages from a property owner or insurance company.
Compensatory damages are designed to help offset financial losses related to your accident and more difficult-to-value trauma.
These are known as economic and non-economic damages, respectively, and can include money for:
- Medical bills
- Rehabilitation
- Nursing assistance
- Out-of-pocket costs
- Property damage
- Lost wages
- Temporary and/or permanent disability
- Diminished earning capacity
- Funeral expenses if you’ve experienced the wrongful death of a family member
- Pain and suffering
- Loss of consortium
- Mental anguish
- Disfigurement
- Embarrassment
- Chronic physical pain
- Loss of enjoyment of life
The property owner will attempt to limit your damages by downplaying your injuries and trauma. Our Buffalo premises liability attorneys will not allow unsubstantiated claims to hurt your opportunity to recover the full value of your case.
Can Comparative Fault Affect My New York Premises Liability Settlement?
Yes. Just because you enter another person’s property doesn’t mean you’re not responsible for your own behavior. If it’s proven that your negligence contributed to your accident, it will reduce any financial award you receive.
Under New York’s pure comparative fault law, your damages will be reduced proportionally to fault up to 99 percent.
If you’re 40 percent at fault for an accident at a Buffalo business, your financial recovery will be reduced by 40 percent.
The owner and its insurer will try to blame you for getting hurt. Unchallenged, these claims can stand between you and the compensation you need. Count on our premises liability attorneys in Buffalo to anticipate these strategies and fight them from the start.
How Long is the Statute of Limitations for New York Premises Liability Claims?
New York limits the amount of time you’ll have to pursue compensation from a negligent property owner or business in Buffalo.
If you were injured, you have three years to seek damages in a premises liability lawsuit.
If you’ve experienced the wrongful death of a loved one in an accident on someone else’s property, you’ll have two years to demand compensation from the owner or its insurance company.
There are some exceptions to these standard rules. For instance, government tort claims are subject to much shorter deadlines. You’ll have months, not years, to sue a government agency if you were hurt on public property in Buffalo.
Don’t put off your legal claim until it’s too late. You will lose the right to file a premises liability claim once the statute of limitations expires.
Schedule a Free Consultation With an Experienced Buffalo Personal Injury Lawyer
When you’re injured because of a property owner’s negligence in Buffalo, New York, call O’Brien & Ford Buffalo Car Accident and Personal Injury Lawyers. You may have the right to seek compensation. Our Buffalo premises liability lawyers can help you seek maximum recovery.
Putting decades of experience and an unrivaled passion for justice into every case, our law firm has helped injury victims in Buffalo win millions. Today, we’re here to fight for you to get top results, too.
Contact our Buffalo, New York, law office today. We proudly serve al throughout Erie County and surrounding areas. Your initial case evaluation is free. Members of our legal team are available to take your call right now.
Our Personal Injury law firm in Buffalo also provides:
- Bicycle Accident Attorneys in Buffalo, NY
- Brain Injury Lawyer in Buffalo, NY
- Buffalo Catastrophic Injury Lawyers
- Buffalo Dog Bites Lawyers
- Buffalo Personal Injury Lawyers
- Car Accident Lawyers in Buffalo, NY
- Child Injury Attorneys in Buffalo, NY
- Construction Accident Attorneys in Buffalo, NY
- Motorcycle Accident Lawyers in Buffalo, NY
- Pedestrian Accidents Lawyer in Buffalo, NY
- Premises Liability Lawyers in Buffalo, NY
- Product Liability Attorneys in Buffalo, NY
- Slip And Fall Accident Lawyers in Buffalo
- Truck Accident Attorney in Buffalo
- Uber Accident Attorneys in Buffalo
- Wrongful Death Attorney in Buffalo, NY
Visit Our Personal Injury Law Office in Buffalo, NY
O’Brien & Ford Buffalo Car Accident and Personal Injury Lawyers
4549 Main St Suite 201 Buffalo, NY 14226
Phone: (716) 222-2222
Opening Hours: From 7:00 am to 7:00 pm
7 days a week
