PREMISES LIABILITY

Mississippi Premises Liability and Dangerous Property Accident Lawyer

Dangerous Premises

Premises liability generally refers to injuries that you incur as a result of unsafe conditions on someone else’s property. Premises liability encompasses an almost limitless variety of cases, including slip and falls, swimming pools incidents, fires and explosions, broken glass, animal attacks, faulty store displays, and inadequate security. Dangerous property conditions can exist in just about every type of building or open space, including homes, apartment complexes, theaters, malls, sports facilities, amusement parks, government buildings, commercial buildings, farms, and other open land spaces.

Types of Premises Liability or Dangerous Property Accidents

Questions that Need Answers:

When you are injured on someone else’s property, whether it is a home, a business, or public property, whether you can recover depends on the answer to a number of questions:

• What responsibility does a property owner have to keep me safe while I am on their property?
• Are the precautions they have taken (yellow caution signs, “watch your step” signs, private security, etc.) enough to keep them from having to pay for my injuries?
• Should the property owner have inspected the property before they allowed me onto it, where I was injured?
• What should the property owner have done to prevent me from being attacked by someone on their property? Didn’t they know it was a dangerous neighborhood?
• That dog has bit other people before. Why is it not in a fence?

If you have questions like these, The Guthrie Firm, PLLC will help you find answers for them.

Mississippi Laws on Dangerous Property Conditions

The legal analysis of any type of premises liability claim in Mississippi is relatively straightforward, but each case is slightly different. From a plaintiff’s perspective, good results in premises liability cases are difficult to obtain, but not impossible. This firm does not take every premises case that comes through the door, but will do the work necessary to maximize the value of every case we take.

Basic Elements of a Mississippi Premises Liability Case

In order to recover damages for a slip and fall case, a swimming pool accident case, or any other type of premises case, the basic elements of a negligence case must be met:

1. We must show that the owner of the property owes you a duty to keep you safe;
2. We must show that the owner of the property breached that duty to keep you safe;
3. We must show that the breach of the duty was the cause of your injury;
4. We must show that you were damaged by the breach of the duty that caused your injury.

Lyle v. Mladinich, 584 So. 2d. 397, 399 (Miss. 1991).

Further in regard to premises liability cases, the Mississippi Supreme Court has stated that “The analysis of premises liability involves three steps: first, the court must determine the status of the injured party as invitee, licensee, or trespasser; second, based on the injured’s status, the court must determine what duty the landowner/business operator owed the injured party; and third, the court must determine whether the landowner/business operator breached the duty owed the injured party.” Thomas v. Columbia Group, LLC, 969 So.2d 849 (Miss. 2007).

1. Invitee – you are classified as an invitee on someone else’s property if you “enter the premises of another in answer to the express or implied invitation of the owner or occupant for your mutual advantage.” Anyone who goes into a business such as a store, quick mart, or restaurant with the intent to buy something is usually an “invitee.” If you are an invitee, the property owner owes you the duty to keep the premises reasonably safe, and when not reasonably safe, to warn only where there is hidden danger or peril that is not in plain and open view.
2. Licensee – you are classified as a licensee if you “enter the property of another for your own convenience, pleasure or benefit pursuant to the license or implied permission of the owner.” This usually means that you wander in somewhere uninvited in order to do something. If you are a licensee, the property owner owes you only the duty to refrain from willfully or wantonly injuring you, unless they are engaging in some type of conduct and knows that you are there (and possibly in the way).
3. Trespasser – you are a trespasser if you “enter the property of another without license, invitation or other right.” This means you have gone on someone’s property without their permission. Obviously this is the least “status” you may have in regards to someone else’s property, and the property owner owes you almost no duty in regards to your safety when you are on their land without their permission.

This is a very basic breakdown of Mississippi premises liability law. There are literally hundreds of cases from Mississippi courts interpreting these laws, and every factual case is different, including yours, so if you have been injured on someone else’s property it is strongly recommended that you take advantage of your free consultation with us and let us analyze your situation.

Who controls the property?

Often the difference in success and failure in a dangerous property case is who has the right to control the property when and where the accident occurs. For instance, if you are attacked and injured in the parking lot of a convenience store, and our investigation turns up the facts that the property has been owned by a family for 100 years, leased to a gas company to put a service station on it and supply the gas for sale, and another company has subleased the premises to run the store, then deciding who to sue and how successful the lawsuit may be will require an extensive legal analysis. Multiple parties may control the property, and multiple parties may be liable for your injuries. We are prepared to do the work, to identify the proper defendants, and to ensure that you receive maximum compensation from those that caused your injury.

Contact an Experienced Mississippi Premises Liability Lawyer

The possibility of success in a Mississippi premises liability case is enhanced by a thorough investigation, a knowledge of the law and the facts, and good negotiation and trial skills. If you have been involved in a premises liability accident, start the process of evaluating your case by calling The Guthrie Firm, PLLC, at 601–991–1099 or toll–free at 866–991–1055, or please fill out our contact form here. We will answer any questions you may have, and then get to work on your case when you want to proceed.