Nevada residents who are injured on another’s property and who feel that the accident could have been prevented if the owner was not negligent may have a case under premises liability law. Negligence is defined as the failure to act in a way that is reasonably expected in a given set of circumstances. When applied to property owners, it usually covers instances of poor property maintenance.
Owners may, for example, neglect to salt down an icy sidewalk, remove trip hazards from a store aisle or cover up a swimming pool when it’s not in use. They could also ignore safety guidelines regarding the construction of, say, a flight of stairs and consequently make them too narrow or too steep. This is why owners should make sure they comply with building codes and public safety laws. To see where else they could improve, they should speak with a lawyer who works in property law.
Victims must prove negligence in order to be eligible for damages. Whether they were lawful entrants or not will also impact the case. Since many cases involve simple carelessness rather than negligence, they often fail to obtain the damages that victims want. Property owners are negligent only when they fully know that a situation is dangerous and yet do nothing about it.
There are many complexities in premises liability law, so victims may want to have their case evaluated by a lawyer. If a case seems strong, the lawyer might hire a network of professionals to gather proof against the property owner, such as the incident report, surveillance footage and eyewitness testimony. Victims may leave the negotiations to their lawyer and prepare for a trial if a settlement cannot be reached.
