Tulsa Premises Liability Lawyers

Did you slip and fall on someone’s property recently in Tulsa? Oklahoma property owners must watch for hazards and repair them so visitors and guests aren’t injured. If they fail to maintain their property reasonably, they can be found liable for someone’s injuries in an accident.

Whether you suffered injuries in someone’s home, an apartment building, or a business, having an experienced premises liability attorney on your side is crucial. At Nix Patterson, our Tulsa premises liability attorneys are standing by to help with every part of your claim or lawsuit. Our attorneys will ensure you obtain fair compensation for your medical bills, lost wages, and pain and suffering.

What is Premises Liability?

When someone is hurt on someone else’s property because the owner fails to fix specific hazards or not posting adequate warnings, the owner can be liable for the injured party’s damages and losses.

The injured person usually has to have been invited to the property to be eligible to file a premises liability claim. Thus, trespassers in Oklahoma may not be candidates to receive compensation in a claim or lawsuit. However, if the property owner didn’t clean up a spill, fix damaged steps or handrails, or ensure icy or snowy sidewalks were safe, they could be liable for the injured person’s medical bills, lost earnings, and pain and suffering. Some of the injuries the liable property owner may have to pay for are:

• Broken bones
• Burns
• Sprains
• Paralysis
• Head trauma and brain injuries
• Electric shock
• Drowning
• Poisoning
• Amputation
• Bruising
• Spinal injuries

What Are Common Types of Premises Liability Cases?

Premises liability claims can involve many types of people legally entering a property. They might be customers, contractors, visitors, construction workers, or anyone authorized to be on the property. If the owner was aware of a defect and didn’t fix the problem in a reasonable amount of time, they should at least place warning signs to warn visitors of the hazard. Negligent owners of homes, apartments, retail stores, and other establishments can cause severe injuries to guests in many ways.

Many premises liability accidents can cause severe injuries and affect your life negatively for months, years, or permanently. Consider speaking to a Tulsa premises liability attorney promptly if you have a preventable injury on another person’s property because of a:

• Slip and fall accident
• Escalator or elevator injury
• Dog bites
• Someone’s violent act against you
• Collapsed or damaged steps or porch
• Fire or explosion
• Chemical exposure
• Swimming pool injury

Injuries from any of these premises liability accidents can damage your ability to live and enjoy life and may prevent you from working. In some tragic cases, the accident could be fatal.

Unfortunately, the National Floor Safety Institute has found that slip-and-fall accidents are one of the highest causes of accidental death in the US. Many homes and businesses can be hazardous, especially for older people at higher risk of severe injury or death because of a wet floor, icy sidewalks, tripping hazards, and other dangers on someone else’s property.

Protecting Your Rights as a Victim

You generally have the right to file a claim or lawsuit against an Oklahoma property owner if you’re injured on their property. However, to have a valid case and recover compensation in a premises liability case, knowing your reason for being on the property is essential. People who visit commercial, government, and private properties are generally in one of these categories:

• Invitee: This is a person who was on the property by invitation of the owner, such as a consumer in a grocery store. The owner or landlord of the property is responsible for keeping the property safe and free of danger for invitees.
• Licensee: A person on the property with the implied consent of the owner, such as being a guest in someone’s home. Property owners owe licensees a duty of care to disclose any hazards but may not be required to fix them. For example, if the steps on your friend’s back porch are rotted, he must inform you to avoid using them.
• Trespasser: This is someone who went onto the property without being authorized. Property owners generally owe trespassers little duty for their safety.

If you think you were an invitee or licensee on a person’s property and suffered a severe injury, you might feel overwhelmed and at a loss. How will you get your medical bills covered, work, and who should you sue? This is where a Nix Patterson premises liability attorney in Tulsa will help. Our attorney will review your case free of charge and determine if you have the potential right to compensation for your injuries and other losses.

Sometimes, even if you were a trespasser, the owner could still owe you compensation. A common occurrence is when a trespasser slips and falls into an uncovered pool. If you can prove that the property owner was negligent and didn’t keep the property safe, you still might have a case.

This scenario is possible with children; Oklahoma has an attractive nuisance rule that states if the owner knows about a hazardous property condition and doesn’t make the property safe, they could be liable if the trespassing child is injured.

What Damages Can I Recover in a Premises Liability Case?

The recoverable damages in a premises liability lawsuit depend primarily on the accident type and the injuries’ severity. Generally, the more serious your injuries, the more you could receive in the following damages:

• Medical expenses: If you are injured in a fall on someone’s property, you could receive compensation for your hospital stays, surgeries, doctor visits, ER costs, ambulance expenses, medications, and more.
• Lost earnings: Suppose your injury was bad enough to keep you out of work. You could receive compensation for lost earnings in the past and possibly lost future income.
• Lost life opportunities: Being seriously injured means putting most of your regular life on pause. If an accident forces you to be bedridden for weeks or months, you could be entitled to compensation for lost vacations and other major life events.
• Pain and suffering: Many premises liability accidents can involve agonizing injuries. Pain and suffering compensation is subjective, and the insurance company will probably attempt to give you less than you deserve. Our tenacious premises liability attorneys will use your medical evaluation and other vital evidence to argue for the most money for pain and suffering.
• Wrongful death: Did your loved one die on another person’s property because of a dangerous condition? Our personal injury attorneys can file a wrongful death lawsuit and potentially obtain compensation for various damages. These may include burial expenses, loss of income, mental trauma, the deceased’s pain and suffering, and loss of inheritance and services.

What Should I Do If I am Injured on Someone Else’s Property?

Most of us aren’t prepared to deal with being injured in someone’s home or at a business. If you are suddenly lying on the floor with a broken leg or ankle, it can be challenging to think clearly. This is entirely understandable, but your actions immediately after the accident are critical to your health and future legal options. These include:

• Report the incident immediately to the property owner or manager. If you’re in a business and slipped and fell, immediately alert the manager on duty.
• Get immediate medical attention. Do not delay even a day to have a medical evaluation. If you wait for treatment, your injuries could worsen. You also may have difficulty with the insurance company arguing that your injuries weren’t serious. Or, the insurance adjuster may argue your injuries are unrelated to the accident.
• Speak to a Tulsa premises liability attorney: The lawyer will review the case and determine if they can link your injuries to the property owner’s negligence. The consultation is free. The attorney will tell you if you don’t have a case, so there’s nothing to lose.

How To Proceed with a Premises Liability Claim

Talking to an attorney about your premises liability case is the first step to filing a claim or lawsuit. The attorney will investigate the accident and determine if the injury could have been prevented. They will also determine if the owner can be liable for your injuries. Proving liability means proving the following:

• The defendant owned or leased the property where your injuries occurred.
• The defendant was negligent in some way in keeping the property safe.
• You were injured on the property because of the defendant’s negligence.
• You have injuries and other damage related to the defendant’s negligence.

Accident liability might seem straightforward, but it often isn’t. Determining who is liable for your injuries could take a lot of research and interviewing. But your Nix Patterson attorney is adept at accident investigation and will determine who is liable for the accident.

Once your attorney has reviewed all of the evidence, interviewed witnesses and other stakeholders, and gone over your injuries and diagnosis, they will make a settlement demand to the defendant’s insurance company. There could be several weeks or months of back and forth to settle the case. But if the insurance company doesn’t offer a fair settlement, your attorney will take the case to a jury.

Our Tulsa Premises Liability Attorneys Want to Fight For You

If you were hurt on another person’s property in Tulsa, it’s important to immediately communicate with a premises liability attorney. You may be eligible for compensation, but the clock is ticking. You have just two years from the date of injury to file a lawsuit, so contact our Tulsa premises liability attorneys immediately for free consultation. Our attorneys have decades of experience holding negligent property owners accountable for their negligence, and we will fight for the most compensation for your injuries.