Proven Attorneys for Your Premises Liability Case

Under New York State law, property owners have an obligation to provide people on their premises with a safe place to walk, travel, learn and shop. When the neglect of an owner, maintenance company or other property manager creates a hazardous condition which causes you to be injured, it may be possible to file a premises liability lawsuit.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. Premises Liability Case Results
2. What Is a Premises Liability Lawsuit?
   1. Establishing Negligence in a Premises Liability Case
3. Common Types of Premises Liability Cases
4. Contact a Premises Liability Attorney

The experienced personal injury attorneys at Block O’Toole & Murphy have a history of obtaining successful verdicts and settlements for clients across New York. Select results include:

• $20,181,484 verdict against the State of New York for a recurring ice condition, for a claimant with serious elbow injury, case settled for $22,5000,000 due to post verdict interest
• $9,000,000 settlement in a wall collapse case for a teenager climbing a utility wall at a shopping mall
• $7,200,000 settlement for a fatal elevator accident case
• $7,000,000 settlement for worker injured in elevator shaft fall
• $5,850,000 settlement after an apartment ceiling collapse case
• $5,500,000 settlement for a defective elevator case
• $3,500,000 settlement in pedestrian fall case
• $3,125,000 award for a Brooklyn slip and fall case

These types of accidents can occur anywhere, including office buildings, hotels, restaurants, shopping malls, grocery stores, schools or parks. At Block O’Toole & Murphy, we can assist in a number of premises liability matters, including those involving:

• Slip and Fall Accidents
• Negligent Roadway Maintenance
• Negligent Security
• Defective Stairs/Inadequate Lighting
• Supermarket & Retail Store Accidents
• Fire Safety Issues & Code Violations
• Drowning Accidents
• Elevator Accidents
• Road Design Accidents
• Ceiling Collapse Accidents
• Tree Fall Accidents
• Manhole Explosions
• Sidewalk Accidents

Block O’Toole & Murphy has won over 300 verdicts and settlements exceeding $1,000,000 each. Call 212-736-5300 to receive a free legal consultation from one of our experienced premises liability lawyers today.

What Is a Premises Liability Lawsuit?

A premises liability lawsuit can be filed when you are injured on somebody else’s property due to a defect or condition which the owner, maintenance company, or other entity responsible for safety on the property should have been able to prevent if they were acting with reasonable care.

It must be then be established that the defect or condition which caused you to be injured only existed due to negligence on the part of the landowner or employees at the business. To establish negligence, one of three things must be true:

• The Defendant created the dangerous condition. Examples: The floors of a grocery store are cleaned and waxed, but the business is re-opened before the floor can properly dry, causing somebody to slip and fall. A contractor negligently installs a cinder block enclosure for utilities at a shopping mall; the property manager fails to understand what cracks in the foundation indicated in terms of instability.
• The Defendant had “actual notice” of the defect, meaning that the owner or their employees had direct awareness of a hazard on the premises but did not correct it. Example: Employees see that the entrance to their business is covered in black ice. They know they must put down salt but want to have a cup of coffee first. While they wait, somebody walks by and slips on the black ice. Importantly, property owners are given a reasonable amount of time to rectify icy conditions, but in this case, the property owner chose his comfort and coffee over the safety of people lawfully on his property.
• The Defendant had “constructive notice” of the defect. Constructive notice means that there should have been an awareness of a hazardous defect if the controlling entity was taking good care of their premises. To prove this, it must be demonstrated that the defect was visible for a reasonable amount of time to have been noticed. Example: Block O’Toole & Murphy represented a young woman who slipped and fell when walking into a CVS in her neighborhood. Photographs and the investigation revealed a recurring ice condition resulting from poor maintenance procedures (shoveling snow up against the high point of the building causing the snow to melt and flow downward to a low point often icing up). This young woman sustained fractures to the pelvis. The case was settled for $1,200,000.

To successfully file a premises liability lawsuit, the burden of proof falls on you and your lawyer to establish that the defect in question should have been preventable by the parties responsible for the property.

Common Types of Premises Liability Cases

Accidents that result in a premises liability lawsuit can happen anywhere. Defects which commonly lead to these types of lawsuits include:

• Dirty floors or obstructed walkways which cause slip and fall accidents
• Negligent or inadequate security which leads to bodily harm to a customer
• Defective stairways or handrails which can cause falling accidents
• Inadequately lit areas with high foot traffic
• Ceiling or roof collapses, often brought on by a neglected water leak
• Violations against fire code, such as broken smoke alarms or blocked emergency exits
• Malfunctioning elevators or escalators
• Tree falls when it was clear that the tree was a hazard
• Accidents at school, particularly those that occur on a playground or in the cafeteria

Photo and video evidence of the defective condition is important because two common defense strategies are to label a defect either trivial or open and obvious. A trivial defect is one that is insignificant enough that a person acting responsibly should not have been injured by it. Along similar lines, an open and obvious defect is one that is clearly visible to anybody near it, and thus one that the owner is not obligated to warn people of.

These issues are murky and can take years to sort through. When clear photo evidence is available, it can help remove much of the speculation and debate surrounding the conditions which caused your injury. In absence of photo evidence (or in conjunction with it), evidence such as previous lawsuits, complaints or citations for violating fire and safety codes can also shed light on the longstanding presence of unsafe conditions.

Contact an NYC Premises Liability Lawyer

If you have been injured on somebody else’s property, it’s important to reach out to an experienced personal injury attorney with a track record of success to help you receive compensation for the damages you have suffered. The attorneys at Block O’Toole & Murphy are experienced in premises liability law and have a long history of winning successful verdicts and settlements in premises liability lawsuits . Notable results include:

• $20,181,484 verdict in an upstate New York case for a client who suffered serious injuries after a serious crash resulting from icy roads
• $9,000,000 settlement for a minor who suffered multiple fractures and other arm injuries after a wall collapsed on him in a Nassau County shopping center
• $7,200,000 settlement for a wrongful death after a Brooklyn man died in an elevator accident due to a building power outage and lack of safety features in the elevator
• $7,000,000 settlement in a Supreme New York case for a worker at a major food retailer whose back came into contact with elevator doors that opened, causing him to fall down the elevator shaft
• $5,850,000 settlement for a woman who required multiple spinal surgeries after her apartment ceiling collapsed
• $5,500,000 settlement for a Manhattan worker injured in an elevator accident, causing multiple herniated discs
• $3,500,000 settlement for a pedestrian who fell through a deteriorated vault door in a Brooklyn sidewalk
• $3,125,000 award in a Brooklyn case for a woman who was injured when she slipped on a hotel floor
• $2,750,000 settlement for a mother of two who tripped and fell due to an uneven sidewalk at a shopping center
• $2,700,000 settlement for a woman who tripped and fell on a raised and cracked sidewalk flag, requiring multiple spinal fusion surgeries
• $2,650,000 settlement for an electrician who fell after stepping into a shallow depression while descending a newly-installed staircase
• $2,250,000 settlement for a Bronx woman who fell down her apartment stairs which were wet due to a water leak coming from the roof
• $2,250,000 settlement for a woman who was injured after a partial ceiling collapse occurred in her apartment due to water damage from upstairs
• $2,000,000 award for a man who was injured when the elevator he was riding malfunctioned and came to a sudden stop between floors
• $1,900,000 settlement for a woman who slipped and fell down steps which had recently been mopped, causing multiple cervical herniations
• $1,900,000 settlement for a worker who was injured when an elevator malfunctioned, causing an escape hatch to fall and injure him
• $1,650,000 settlement for a wrongful death caused by a building code violation of improper ventilation
• $1,500,000 settlement in the case of two workers injured in an elevator fall
• $1,500,000 settlement for a woman who slipped and fell on an icy sidewalk in the Bronx, requiring ACDF surgery
• $1,500,000 settlement for the tenant of an apartment who slipped and fell due to snow at the entrance of the building
• $1,500,000 award for a Bronx tenant who tripped over a slightly-raised metal strip on the edge of the step
• $1,500,000 settlement for a Plaintiff who was stabbed by an unknown assailant at a hospital due to negligent security
• $1,450,000 settlement for a Brooklyn tenant who suffered neck injuries after a portion of the ceiling collapsed on top of her
• $1,200,000 settlement for a Manhattan dental assistant who tripped on an uncovered, depressed drain while walking into her workplace, injuring her foot and ankle
• $1,175,000 settlement a woman was injured by jugs of juice which fell on her while she was shopping at a supermarket
• $1,000,000 settlement for a mother of four who suffered neck, back, and shoulder injuries that required two surgeries after the ceiling of her Bronx apartment collapsed onto her
• $1,000,000 settlement for a client who tripped over a raised sidewalk flag that was not properly maintained by the property owner

Contact the experienced personal injury attorneys at Block O’Toole & Murphy to receive a free legal consultation by calling 212-736-5300, or by filling out our online contact form. Serving Queens, Brooklyn, Manhattan, the Bronx, Long Island and upstate New York.