Aurora Premises Liability Lawyer

Were you hurt in an accident caused by a dangerous condition on somebody else’s property? If so, you could be entitled to compensation for your medical bills, lost income, pain and suffering, and more. But being owed compensation and getting it are two different matters entirely. Between property owners anxious to keep their insurance premiums from increasing and insurance companies that will do whatever they can to protect their profit margins, there’s a lot standing in the way of the money you need to rebuild your life.

Fortunately, you don’t have to face off against them alone. Instead, you can turn to an Aurora premises liability lawyer from The Wilhite Law Firm for help.

Since we opened our doors in 1977, our firm has grown from two partners and a secretary to one of the Mountain West’s leading personal injury law firms, with a team of 26 attorneys and over 90 support staff. We have worked hard to develop a reputation for providing excellent legal representation and caring client service – a reputation we’re eager to put at your disposal. Our lawyers and staff can fight for your rights and interests, helping you stand up to corporations and insurance companies to demand accountability and justice. We are prepared to handle every detail of your case so you have the time and energy to focus on your physical and emotional healing.

If you’ve been injured by a hazardous condition on someone else’s property, contact The Wilhite Law Firm today. A knowledgeable Aurora premises liability attorney is standing by to discuss your situation during a free initial case review. Let us fight for the justice you deserve from negligent property owners and other liable parties.

What Is Premises Liability? 

Premises liability involves the duty property owners owe to those who visit their premises and their legal responsibility for any injuries those visitors suffer. A property owner or manager does not always have liability for a visitor’s injuries. Instead, premises liability establishes the legal duties that owners owe to visitors to their property. When property owners breach their legal duties to visitors, premises liability law holds them responsible for compensating accident victims for their injuries and losses.

What Kinds of Accidents Fall Under Premises Liability?

Premises liability claims can stem from a wide range of accidents, including:

• Slip and falls
• Dog bites
• Negligent security that puts lawful visitors at heightened risk of crime
• Swimming pool accidents
• Ski area accidents
• Elevator and escalator accidents
• Parking lot and garage accidents
• Fires and explosions
• Electrocutions
• Building collapses
• Construction site accidents

What Types of Injuries May Be Caused by a Premises Liability Accident?

When property owners don’t take their duties to visitors seriously, they put those visitors at heightened risk of severe injury. Some of the most common types of injuries associated with premises liability accidents include:

• Broken bones
• Brain injury
• Spinal Injury
• Puncture wounds, often from dog bites
• Electrocution
• Burns
• Back and neck injuries, including herniated disc injuries
• Ligament sprains and tears
• Muscle and tendon strains and tears
• Lacerations and degloving injuries
• Facial injuries
• Nerve damage
• Traumatic amputation or limb loss
• Disfigurement or dismemberment
• Diseases and chronic health conditions caused by infections or toxic exposure

How Do I Know If I Have a Premises Liability Claim?

You may have a viable premises liability claim if:

• You were hurt while visiting someone else’s property.
• Your injury was because of a hazardous condition on the premises.
• The accident occurred because the property owner breached their legal duties.

A property owner’s legal duty depends on your status as a visitor under the Colorado Premises Liability Act, which recognizes three categories: invitees, licensees, and trespassers.

Invitees

Property owners owe invitees the highest duty of care. Invitees include visitors who lawfully enter the property upon the owner’s invitation and for the owner’s benefit, such as business customers. 

Property owners must use reasonable care to protect invitees against dangerous property conditions the owner knows about or should have discovered through reasonable inspections of the property. Reasonable care may involve cleaning up, fixing, or placing a sign warning invitees of a dangerous condition.

Licensees

Property owners owe a lower duty of care to licensees. Licensees are people who lawfully enter a property for their benefit or purpose, such as a social guest, door-to-door salesperson, or utility worker. 

This duty of care requires property owners to use reasonable care to correct dangerous conditions they know about. They must also warn licensees of dangerous conditions that normally are not on the premises.

Trespassers

The lowest level of care is for trespassers. Trespassers enter property without permission or lawful authority. 

Property owners owe them a duty not to willfully or deliberately cause them injuries. However, this rule does not apply to children who suffer injuries due to an unusual condition of the property likely to attract children, like a swimming pool or trampoline.

Who Can Be Held At Fault in a Premises Liability Claim?

The property owner is the party most often at fault when a visitor suffers an injury because of an unsafe condition on their premises. But depending on circumstances, various other parties may also bear liability, such as:

• A residential tenant, who may have liability for an accident that occurs within their leased premises
• A commercial tenant, who may have contractual responsibility for maintaining the entire leased premises
• A property management company
• A third-party janitorial services company
• A third-party property maintenance or landscaping company

Depending on the circumstances, determining just who is to blame for a premises liability accident and liable for the harm you suffered could prove challenging. An attorney knows how to gather evidence, review it, discover the person whose negligence led to your injuries, and seek the full compensation they owe you.

How Can Fault for My Injuries Be Proven?

To recover compensation for your injuries, you must first prove that the property owner or other party is at fault for the injuries you suffered. This requires evidence identifying the hazardous condition and showing how the property owner was to blame for its presence. This evidence might include:

• Accident or incident reports prepared by a property or business owner
• Surveillance camera footage
• Accident scene photos and videos
• The clothing and shoes you were wearing at the time
• Eyewitness statements
• Staffing and maintenance records
• Police reports
• Accident reconstruction or engineering expert reports
• Medical records from the treatment of your injuries
• Property leases or maintenance contracts

This evidence can prove challenging to find and secure on your own. That’s why you should seek help from an experienced Aurora premises liability lawyer. They will know what evidence to look for and how to preserve it from becoming lost or destroyed.

What Damages Are Available for an Aurora Premises Liability Claim?

When you pursue a premises liability claim in Aurora, you are asking for compensation to offset the financial and personal losses you incurred due to your injuries, such as:

• The costs of medical treatment and rehabilitation for injuries, including emergency care, hospitalization, surgeries and other medical procedures, physical and occupational therapy, and prescription medication
• The costs of long-term care and support services, such as home health services, housekeeping assistance, or medical and mobility equipment
• Lost income if you need to take time off work or earn less while recovering from your injuries
• Loss of future income and job benefits if you become permanently disabled from your current employment or other kinds of work
• Physical pain and emotional distress
• Disabilities or disfigurement and scarring that cause a loss of enjoyment or quality of life

In many cases, this money comes from insurance coverage the property owner has purchased. For private individuals, that coverage might be provided by a homeowners’ insurance policy. These policies protect homeowners from the financial burden of an injury occurring on their property. However, coverage limits can vary significantly – which could affect how much money is available for your losses.

Businesses carry general liability insurance covering a broad range of liability claims, including those related to premises liability. Like homeowners’ insurance, a general liability policy usually covers the cost of property damage, medical expenses, and judgments or settlements for covered claims. Like homeowners’ insurance policies, they are subject to limits.

Both types of policies play a critical role in risk management strategy for their respective policyholders. They provide essential financial protection against unexpected costs that can arise from an accident occurring on the property.

Is There a Deadline for Filing a Premises Liability Claim in Colorado?

Under Colorado’s statute of limitations for most types of injury claims, you have two years to file a premises liability lawsuit against a negligent property owner or other liable parties. The court can dismiss a lawsuit filed after the limitations expire on a premises liability claim. 

There are additional deadlines if you suffered injuries on state or local government property. The Colorado Governmental Immunity Act requires you to provide notice of your premises liability claim to the relevant government agency or department within 182 days of the date of your injury. Failure to provide timely notice of your claim may result in losing your right to seek compensation from the government for your injuries.

While the statute of limitations puts a hard deadline on how long you have to file your lawsuit, there are other reasons to start as soon as possible. Strong cases take time to build. The longer you wait, the harder it might be to uncover the evidence that backs up your claim. Physical proof can deteriorate or go missing, while eyewitnesses’ memories may fade. Rather than risk this possibility, reach out to a premises liability lawyer in Aurora immediately. That way, they have as much time as possible to build a strong case on your behalf.

Contact an Aurora Premises Liability Lawyer

Have you been hurt by a dangerous condition of someone else’s property? Then turn to an Aurora premises liability lawyer for help pursuing financial recovery for your injuries and losses. At The Wilhite Law Firm, we are ready to:

• Explain your rights to you during a free, no-obligation case review
• Thoroughly investigate the accident to determine whether the underlying hazard violated the property owner’s duty of care to you
• Work with experts to establish the full extent of your compensable losses so that we know what fair compensation for your case entails
• Timely file demand letters, insurance claims, and other necessary paperwork to pursue your case expeditiously
• Negotiate aggressively with the insurance companies in pursuit of a settlement that compensates you for the full range of your losses
• Take your case to court if trial becomes the best way to protect your rights and demand full compensation
• Support you throughout this challenging process, giving you the time and space you need to heal from your injuries

We will do all of this at no upfront cost to you. Instead, we only collect a fee if and when we get you the money you deserve. That way, you can pursue justice without worrying about how much it will cost or how you’ll pay for our high-quality services.

Ready to get started? Then contact The Wilhite Law Firm today for a free, no-obligation consultation to discuss how our firm will fight to hold a negligent property owner and other liable parties accountable for the harm you’ve suffered.