Hot Springs Premises Liability Attorney

Arkansas lawyers secure compensation from negligent property owners

If a property owner’s negligence or deliberate act caused you injury, you may be entitled to financial compensation. At Schnipper, Briton & Stobaugh, our experienced Hot Springs premises liability attorneys will thoroughly investigate your accident and work diligently to prove the property owners’ liability. Our goal is to win our clients full reimbursement for their medical bills, lost wages and other damages suffered.

Common types of premises liability cases

Accidents and injuries on property can include the following:

Falls — Slips or trips and falls can be due to wet or slippery walking surfaces, torn carpeting, loose tiles or parking lot hazards. Stairway accidents can result from loose handrails, lack of traction on treads or inadequate lighting.
Swimming pool accidents — Rules for pool safety measures required of owners vary depending on whether a pool is open to the general public, open for use to a specific group (such as tenants of an apartment building) or located at a private home.
Dog bites — Liability for dog bites in Arkansas is a complex area. There is no statewide liability statute, but owners’ actions and omissions may establish negligence.
Negligent security — Businesses and property owners must take reasonable steps to prevent criminal assaults. If a property owner should have known of potential dangers yet did not put proper security protections in place, they may be liable for injuries.
Toxic exposure — If you became ill because of lead, asbestos, mold or another toxin in your apartment building or in a building you visited, the landlord or other property owner may be held responsible. A tenant lawyer from our law firm can advise you.

Our Hot Springs personal injury attorney will get to the underlying cause of your accident no matter how it happened.

Proving a premises liability case

To hold a property owner or manager liable, you must establish that their negligence led to your accident and resulting injuries. A defendant may argue that you caused their own injuries through carelessness, such as by not looking where you were walking or by ignoring hazard warnings. Under Arkansas’s comparative fault law, if you are found to be 50 percent or more responsible for your own accident, you cannot collect any compensation. We will work diligently to prove that the property owner was principally at fault for your accident.

Property owner responsibilities

Accidents that lead to premises liability claims can occur in businesses, government buildings, private residences, apartment buildings, parking lots, sidewalks and elsewhere. A property owner’s duty of care depends on the purpose of a visitor being on the premises. For invitees — such as a customer at a store or a patron at a restaurant — the owner must insure the premises are reasonably safe. For licensees — such as social guests, deliverymen or service providers — there is a duty to warn them of any hidden dangers that the owner has knowledge of. If the owner fails in their responsibilities, they can be held responsible to pay the injured party’s damages.

Steps to take after injury on someone’s property in Hot Springs

If you’ve been injured on someone else’s property, you should do the following:

Seek medical attention.
Document the scene with photos and video if you are able.
Get contact information for eyewitnesses.
Report the incident to the property owner or manager.

Arkansas has a three-year statute of limitations for bringing a premises liability lawsuit. While this may seem like a generous amount of time, evidence can disappear if you wait too long to pursue your claim.

Compensation for Arkansas premises liability claims

If you’re injured on someone else’s property in Arkansas, you may be entitled to compensation for the following:

Current and future medical expenses
Lost wages
Loss of earning capacity
Pain and suffering
Lost enjoyment of life
Disfigurement and scarring
Punitive damages, if the owner exhibited malice or reckless disregard for the consequences of their actions

The amount of compensation available to you will depend on the extent of your injuries and your specific damages. Our firm will build a case intended to get you a maximum financial recovery.

Contact a responsive premises liability lawyer for help

Schnipper, Briton & Stobaugh, located in Hot Springs, assists injury victims in filing premises liability claims in Arkansas. Call us today at 501-762-0887 or contact us online to schedule a consultation.