Washington Premise Liability Attorney - Helping Those Injured on Someone Else's Property

Washington is a state where people are constantly on the move, and we also welcome millions of visitors every year. When someone enters the property of another, there are legal issues and standards that arise almost immediately. When someone is injured while on someone else's property, he or she must analyze how those rights apply before obtaining an understanding of the viability of any legal claim.

Below is an overview of the issue of premises liability in Washington, and this will include information such as the statuses that apply in these situations, how these statuses help to define someone's potential recovery and how to proceed if you've been injured on the property of someone else.

Premises Liability Statuses in Washington

Most cases involving premises liability turn on the status of the plaintiff. Below is a look at these statuses and how they will affect an overall claim:

Invitee - An invitee is someone who is allowed onto the property of another, sometimes known as the possessor, in order to provide a potential commercial benefit to the possessor. The invitee does not need to be specifically and individually invited onto the property, but is tacitly invited simply by the fact that the possessor has opened his or her business for the day.

As an invitee, a person enjoys several legal rights, including the right to have the possessor exercise ordinary care to warn or otherwise protect an invitee from risks of harm from a condition on the possessor's property. Additionally, the invitee must be warned if:
  1. The danger presented is unreasonable; and

  2. The possessor knows or should have known of the dangerous condition and should understand that it poses a danger to invitees.
Therefore, if an invitee is injured on someone else's property, he or she would likely be able to bring a strong legal claim depending on the facts that surround the situation.

Licensee - A licensee is someone who has a temporary 'license' to enter and enjoy someone else's premises. This typically occurs in a social setting and has nothing to do with commercial benefits that could occur for the possessor. However, the possessor does still owe a licensee a high duty of legal care. The plaintiff can prevail for an injury claim if he or she can show the following:
  1. The possessor should have known of the unreasonably dangerous condition and should have taken reasonable steps to warn the licensee. The possessor also should have known that the licensee would not discover this dangerous condition.

  2. The possessor did not take reasonable steps to make the premises safe, and did not take adequate steps to warn the licensee of the danger; and

  3. The licensee had no reason to know of the dangerous condition's presence.
Trespasser - A trespasser is someone who enters the property of another without any permission, express or implied. However, it is not necessarily true that no trespassers have legal rights if injured on another's property. If the possessor had no reason to expect trespassers, then he or she will likely not be liable. If he or she did have reason to expect trespassers, though, then it's possible that the possessor could owe a duty of care even to trespassers.

Seattle Washington Premise Liability Attorney

If you or someone you love has been injured while on someone else's property, you need to contact the premises liability lawyers at Phillips Webster today to schedule a free initial consultation. You will need the help of your attorney to properly analyze the status that attached to you while you were on the premises, so get that process started today to make sure that your rights are properly protected and enforced.
 



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Phillips Webster es la firma de abogados de Washington y nuetros abogados experimentados lo pueden ayudar.   Si usted se ha lastimado en un accidente,  si necesita declararse en bancarrota o necesita que le ayudemos a negociar su deudas, podemos ayudarlo.

Hablemos Españo; 1-800-226-4236

 

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