How to Prove Negligence in a Portland Premises Liability Case

If ever there was a complex legal area, the proving of negligence in a premises liability claim must be top of the list. Portland premises liability lawyers must demonstrate a number of things to validate a personal injury claim caused by a slip and fall, burn or any of the other multiple types of injuries that can occur because the owner of a property didn’t take care to honor their responsibility to look after your safety while you were on their property.

To start with, a Portland premises liability lawyer will have to show:

• The injury occurred because of a hazardous condition on someone else’s property.
• The accident occurred because the person who owns the property was negligent in their duty to ensure your safety.
• You also must prove you were actually injured while on someone else’s property.

Proving the Premises Liability Injury:

If your injury was very severe, the damage will be quite obvious. However, if the damage was relatively minor, it will be necessary to supply photographs, medical records and, if possible, witness statements to prove you were actually injured through someone else’s negligence. A competent Portland premises liability lawyer will advise you on what types of evidence will be necessary to support your personal injury claim. For example, you may have encountered a hazardous condition which led to your injury, such as broken or wet flooring, ice, water, snow, poor lighting, unmarked stairwells…the list is lengthy.

It’s also possible that you encountered a faulty product while on someone else’s property, in which case photographic evidence will be very important. If you visited an amusement park, for example, and were injured by a defective ride or machine, you should get pictures of the scene of the accident as quickly as possible, even on your cell phone, if necessary.

What kinds of precautions are Oregon property owners obligated to take?

Oregon property owners are responsible for taking what is called a “reasonable level of care” to maintain a safe premises and prevent injury to visitors. Portland premises liability lawyers will try to determine:

• The circumstances under which the injured party found himself on the property
• The intended use of the property where the person was injured
•  Whether the accident could or should have been foreseen
•  Did the property owner take reasonable measures to prevent injury, or at least warn visitors of potential hazards?

If the injured party was on the property by right, and using the property correctly, and if the property owner neglected to take the appropriate measures to keep visitors safe, the property owner can be held liable for personal injuries to visitors to the property. Where these cases become complex, is when the property owner puts forward a case that the injured party is at least partially responsible for his own injuries. If this argument is upheld, damage awards will be adjusted accordingly.

There are a number of elements of negligence which must be determined, and the services of one of the experienced Portland premises liability attorneys will be essential in getting those points across. Your attorney must show:

• The duty the defendant (property owner) owes to the plaintiff (injured party)
• That there was a breach of that duty by the defendant
• That there is an actual connection between the defendant’s breach of duty and the injury to that plaintiff
• The actual injury caused by the defendant’s negligence.

In Oregon, the most common types of premises liability injuries are caused by slip and fall accidents. Frequently, these take place in supermarkets and shopping malls, but they can also occur in apartment buildings, hotels, government buildings and even on public streets.

For Portland premises liability lawyers to prove fault in slip and fall cases, they must show one of the following:

• The owner/operator put the foreign substance that caused the slip on the floor.
• The owner/operator knew the foreign substance was on the floor and failed to remove it, or
• The foreign substance was on the floor so long that had the owner/operator exercised normal care, the substance should have been discovered and removed.

Contact a Portland premises liability lawyer if you believe you’ve been injured through someone else’s negligence. While the laws surrounding premises liability are complex, an experienced Portland premises liability attorney will guide you through the process of putting your claim together, and help you get the compensation you deserve.