San Francisco Premises Liability Attorneys

What is Comparative Negligence in California?

Premises liability injuries can occur anywhere - businesses, property owners, and homeowners are required to keep their premises safe. Additionally, premises must maintain insurance to pay for their legal fees and any damages they cause if they do not.

San Francisco and the rest of the state follows the rule of pure comparative fault. Under this law, injured individuals can pursue compensation for damages even if they were partially responsible for what happened. However, they will not be able to obtain the full amount of the damages incurred. Instead, the court will assign a percentage of fault to each party involved - compensation is then scaled accordingly.

If you were injured on someone else’s property because of their failure to maintain safe conditions, let the San Francisco premises liability lawyers at Rouda Feder Tietjen & McGuinn help. Our attorneys have a long track record of success in these cases. For example, we won a $29 million settlement for a client who suffered catastrophic injuries after coming into contact with a high-voltage power line.

Obtain the help of an experienced premises liability lawyer at Rouda Feder Tietjen & McGuinn. Contact us online today.

Premises Liability Laws in California

In California, all property owners have a legal duty to make sure that their premises are safe for guests and patrons. If a person is injured due to the negligence of a property owner or property manager, they may be able to seek compensatory damages from the at-fault party. In some cases, the state may require the negligent party to pay punitive damages as well.

Property owner negligence is established through the consideration of the following elements:

• Duty: The injured party must prove that the defendant owned or leased the property on which they were injured and thus owed a duty of care to any lawful patrons of the premises.
• Breach of duty: Next, the injured individual must establish that the defendant breached the aforementioned duty of care, such as by failing to fix a dangerous condition on the property in a timely manner or failing to warn patrons of a known defect or danger.
• Causation: It must be clear beyond a reasonable doubt that any injuries sustained were directly caused by this breach of duty (i.e. a hazardous condition on the property).
• Injury: Lastly, a person will not be able to file a claim if they did not sustain an injury. Even if negligence is established, damages will only be paid out to compensate for an injury, not for being put in a situation in which someone could have been injured.

If all four elements are established, some potential damages for which premises liability claimants may be eligible include but are not limited to:

• Medical bills
• Pain and suffering
• Loss of quality of life
• Lost wages
• Missed time from work and/or school

Types of Visitors Eligible to Take Legal Action

In California, only individuals who were lawfully on the property at the time of the accident are eligible to file a premises liability claim.

Visitors fall into three categories in the eyes of the law:

• Invitees: Someone invited onto the property for the benefit of the property owner, such as a store customer or restaurant patron.
• Licensees: A person who has verbal or implied permission from the property owner to be on the premises (for instance, a family member who was given a key to the house or a social guest). Contractors working on the property also fall into this category.
• Trespassers: An individual who was on the property without the consent of the property owner.

Therefore, only invitees and licensees are considered lawful guests. Trespassers cannot file a claim because the property owner does not owe them a duty of care if they did not give them consent to be on the premises in the first place.

Why Hire a Lawyer?

Following a serious injury, your priority will no doubt be recovering and regaining your health. Let Rouda Feder Tietjen & McGuinn handle the legal side of your accident; we will fight to win you justice. With our firm, you will not pay any fees unless we win a settlement or verdict in your favor. To date, our San Francisco legal team has won more than $500 million in damages for our clients. Let us stand by your side and advocate for you.

You can count on us to fight for you if you were hurt in an accident involving:

• Elevator malfunction
• Slip and falls
• Negligent security
• Drowning
• Construction accidents
• Industrial accidents

Our Recent Success in Premises Liability Cases

Founded in 1980, our firm has more than 150 years of combined experience in personal injury law. During this time, we have successfully handled hundreds of cases for our clients, resulting in numerous seven-figure outcomes.

These successes include various premises liability cases, including the favorable settlements we obtained for the following claims:

• Tara Tenant v. Property Owner: We recovered $2 million (the policy limit settlement) for a tenant who suffered injuries after falling from an illegal roof deck.
• Julie and Emily Roe v. Red Ranch: Our firm obtained a $1.5 million settlement for our client who suffered a head injury after being thrown from a horse-drawn carriage.

If you are pursuing a premises liability claim in San Francisco, do not settle for anything less than a team of acclaimed attorneys who genuinely care about you — our firm offers just that. We provide aggressive representation and apply our skills to fight for a favorable resolution for each and every case. Since our legal staff works on a contingency fee basis, we can offer our services to you at minimal financial risk.

We are ready to help you. Call Rouda Feder Tietjen & McGuinn at (415) 940-7176 to speak with a San Francisco premises liability attorney today.