If you’re a property owner in Waterford, you must ensure your property is safe for sanctioned visitors. If somebody gets hurt on your property because you were negligent about following safety measures, you’re liable for those injuries.
The same holds if you’re a visitor to the property and the owner has failed to maintain a safe environment—any injuries you suffer during that visit are the property owner’s responsibility, meaning they’re liable for the injuries and losses you suffer there.
In a perfect world, if you were injured on another person’s property due to their negligence, they would cover the costs stemming from that injury without any dispute. Unfortunately, it isn’t a perfect world, and property owners typically won’t acknowledge their liability even when it’s fairly clear.
If you find yourself in this situation, your best option is to contact a qualified premises liability attorney. Our Waterford premises liability lawyers can help you understand your rights and your options after sustaining an injury and guide you through the process of seeking compensation for the harm you’ve suffered.
Experienced Premises Liability Lawyers in CT and RI
Polito & Harrington LLC has handled premises liability cases in Connecticut and Rhode Island for more than 45 years. Our attorneys have won millions of dollars in personal injury settlements and verdicts during that time. Along the way, we’ve earned a reputation for being fierce advocates for our clients both in and out of court.
When you retain a premises liability attorney from Polito & Harrington, you’ll always be represented directly by one of our founders, James Harrington or Humbert Polito.
Unlike other law firms, we never push our work onto interns or paralegals. We believe in taking responsibility for our clients and working tirelessly to get them the most money the law allows in their premises liability cases.
How a Premises Liability Lawyer Can Help You
If you’ve been seriously injured on another person’s property, you’re likely facing multiple challenges. In addition to the pain of the injury, you probably have looming medical bills for treatment, as well as expenses or other losses like lost wages from being unable to work.
Dealing with all of these challenges at the same time can be daunting. While we can’t relieve your pain, we can get you compensation for your medical bills and all associated expenses and losses resulting from your injury. Most importantly, we’ll work to get you that compensation quickly.
In our experience, securing necessary damages for injury victims in a reasonably short time frame is one the best ways to relieve their stress and help them recover fully. If you’ve been injured through no fault of your own, contact our legal team immediately to speak with an experienced premises liability attorney.
Winter Conditions Represent a Common Danger in Waterford
Waterford winters are known for being perilous.
Waterford averages roughly 26 inches of snow per year. This makes roads and sidewalks slick and icy.
Winter weather may not seem applicable to premises liability law. However, it often is, as a state statute allows municipalities to transfer liability for slip and fall accidents to the person in legal possession of the property that abuts a sidewalk covered with snow or ice.
In other words, if you slip and fall on a frozen Waterford sidewalk, you can hold the owner of the adjacent property liable for your injuries if investigators determine that they didn’t take reasonable action to remove the snow or ice.
When it gets cold enough, snow and ice can also build up on pedestrians’ shoes. When those people walk indoors, the accumulated snow and ice melt, puddling on the floor of the entryway of the building they entered. Melted snow and ice can produce slick spots that may result in slip and fall injuries.
As with sidewalks and other walkways, the owner of the premises is responsible for any injuries that occur if they aren’t diligent about clearing the standing liquid from the entryway and making it safe.
No matter how careful you are, someone else’s negligence can injure you.
When that happens, contact an experienced premises liability lawyer at Polito & Harrington to learn more about your legal options.
High Traffic Areas Equal More Danger
As a rule of thumb, the more people visit a property, the more dangerous that property becomes.
For example, you’re typically in more danger of suffering physical harm while visiting the Waterford Walmart than while visiting a local coffee shop. It’s simply a numbers game—more people equals a higher likelihood of accidents and other mishaps.
However, just because a property has a high visitor count doesn’t take the property owner off the hook when it comes to taking appropriate safety measures.
If anything, property owners have even more responsibility to protect visitors when the risk of injury is elevated. In the case of a business, they need stricter safety policies and more employees dedicated to enacting those policies.
Suppose the property owner hasn’t assigned an appropriate number of properly equipped and trained personnel to ensure the safety of their premises. In that case, they’re liable for any injuries visitors sustain while on those premises.
That’s precisely why it’s so important to retain the service of a knowledgeable premises liability attorney. Your attorney will investigate the details of your injury to establish negligence on the property owner’s part and determine how much compensation you deserve. If they can demonstrate a clear pattern of negligence, you may recover additional damages.
Poor Lighting Can Result in Injuries
Another ever-present danger in Waterford is insufficient lighting. This is particularly true in the winter, when, due to the state’s high latitude, sunrise comes late and sunset comes early. When a property owner fails to ensure that all parts of their property are outfitted with ample lighting, you could trip and fall or run into something dangerous.
Parking lots and garages are two locations that can become particularly hazardous when lighting is poor. When there isn’t enough lighting in a parking structure, drivers may have difficulty seeing other cars or pedestrians. This lack of illumination could easily result in a preventable car accident.
If you’ve been the victim of a car accident due to poor lighting in a parking area, contact a premises liability attorney as soon as possible to discuss the details of your case and receive expert advice on how to proceed.
Be Wary of Inadequate Building Security
Any property with slippery floors or nails jutting out of walls would clearly be considered unsafe. But an otherwise clean and intact property would also be considered unsafe if it lacked essential security features like locked doors, security cameras, and guards.
These features represent a different type of safety for different types of threats, but they’re equally important to visitors’ well-being. Property owners are supposed to ensure that people are safe from theft, assault, and similar crimes while on their premises.
For some properties, proper security may mean little more than adequate lighting, doors that lock, and a working telephone for emergencies. For other buildings, owners may need to install alarm systems, hire 24-hour security personnel, and station metal detectors at all main entrances. The precise level of security depends on the likelihood of that location being in danger from malicious actors.
When a property owner fails to provide appropriate security, the result could be a mugging, theft, or assault. And while the person who harms is primarily responsible for the attack, the property owner might also bear liability for any injuries you suffer due to a lack of security measures.
In situations where the absence of critical safety measures opens the door for crime, a premises liability attorney will work to help you recover damages from all responsible parties.
Common Types of Injuries in Premises Liability Claims
A significant number of premises liability claims involve accidents in which the victim’s body smashes or collides with a solid surface. This is true in all slip and fall accidents and most accidents involving motor vehicles.
If you’ve been involved in an accident on an unsafe property, you probably suffered:
- Bruises or contusions
- Cuts, scrapes, or lacerations
- Soft tissue damage
- Sprains or strains
- Dislocated joints
- Broken bones
- Concussions or traumatic brain injuries
Depending on the severity of your injury, treatment might last a few weeks or the rest of your life. Regardless, it’s an expense you shouldn’t have to pay for yourself. A premises liability lawyer will help you get the money you need to fully recover from your injury or keep up with the necessary treatment and therapy.
What to Expect When You Retain a Premises Liability Attorney
The legal process that unfolds during a premises liability case is complex, but the right lawyer can make it seem simple.
When you hire a premises liability attorney from Polito & Harrington, your lawyer will take charge of your case and go to work performing many technical tasks, most of which you’ll never see.
First, you’ll receive a free case consultation. During this consultation, your attorney will evaluate the merits of your case and offer you a no-nonsense assessment of what damages you can expect to receive and the time frame you should expect to receive it.
After the consultation, your new premises liability lawyer will investigate the circumstances surrounding your injury. An experienced investigator can determine which parties are liable and gather evidence that proves those parties’ negligent actions caused your injuries.
The more evidence your attorney can uncover to support your claim, the more likely you are to receive a quick, fair settlement from the at-fault party’s insurance company. If your attorney succeeds in winning you an adequate settlement, you’ll get the money you need to support yourself and pay your medical bills while recovering from your injuries.
Your attorney will determine whether a settlement is fair by calculating the type and amount of damages you’re owed.
These damages are a combination of current medical bills, anticipated medical bills, loss of income, and other foreseeable expenses you’ll most likely incur due to your injury. An experienced premises liability lawyer knows how to accurately calculate these damages based on similar past cases.
While most cases end with a negotiated settlement, insurance companies sometimes refuse to agree to a fair offer. When this happens, your attorney can file a lawsuit on your behalf. Polito & Harrington has an excellent record of success in court, which means you’ll be well-protected if your case goes to trial.
Even though you won’t witness most of this process, you’ll still be apprised of what’s going on throughout the process. It’s important to ensure that the client understands everything that’s happening and that each step of the process is carried out as quickly as possible.
The latter is particularly important in Waterford, where injured parties only have two years after an injury to file a lawsuit. If you miss that deadline, you cannot get the compensation you deserve for your premises liability claim.
Let the Attorneys at Polito & Harrington Pursue Your Premises Liability Claim
It’s difficult to overstate the stress a severe injury can cause you. As sluggish as recovery can be, additional stress can slow it down even more.
At Polito & Harrington, we understand that you need an attorney who attends to your needs and will act quickly and decisively without adding to your existing worries. Reach out to a Waterford personal injury lawyer.
If you’re injured through no fault of your own on someone else’s property and believe you have a valid premises liability claim, contact us at our Waterford offices today at (860) 447-3300 for your free case consultation.
Polito & Harrington LLC – Waterford Office
567 Vauxhall Street Ext.
Suite 230, Waterford, CT 06385
Phone: (860) 447-3300
Fax: (860) 447-3389
Mail: hpolito@politolaw.com
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