Eugene Premises Liability Lawyers

How Premises Liability Attorneys in Eugene, OR, Can Help

While some people prefer to settle their own case, we do not recommend going solo on this journey. Premises liability cases are complex, and you have rights that insurance companies do not care about. Additionally, you might not realize that there is more than one person or entity who is accountable for your injuries or the death of a loved one.

A premises liability law firm in Eugene, OR, properly documents your case, including investigating the accident scene and reviewing your medical records. Your legal team also ensures that you do not miss any settlement or court deadlines and will disburse the funds you win to medical professionals so that you do not have to worry about it.

Finally, if you have any injuries, especially injuries that cause long-term or permanent disabilities, your legal team ensures that you get the compensation you deserve – not an unfair settlement from an insurance company trying to prevent paying a claim.

Common Causes of Premises Liability Accidents

A property owner has a duty to ensure that their guests are safe while on their property. The property owner must maintain the interior and exterior of the property, including walkways, steps, stairs, porches, balconies, flooring, parking lots, railings, and more. When a property owner notices something in disrepair, he or she must repair the item or at the very least put up a sign that warns guests of the danger. Some of the common causes of premises liability accidents include:

• Loose rugs, mats, carpeting, and other floorings
• Poor security, such as not repairing lights in dark corners of parking lots or entryways
• Cracked and/or uneven sidewalks
• Poor maintenance to the inside or outside of the property
• Slippery and/or wet floors
• Damaged or missing handrails and steps
• Lack of warning signs, such as at construction sites and other dangerous job sites, and when floors might become wet because people are tracking in rain or snow
• Poor lighting in cases where there are no lights but should be.

Injuries You Could Sustain in a Eugene Premises Liability Accident

The injuries you could sustain in a premises liability accident range from minor cuts to death. However, even minor cuts and scratches could cause extensive problems if they become infected. Some of the injuries you could sustain include:

• Cuts, scratches, bruises, bumps, and scrapes
• Road rash
• Face and eye injuries
• Ear injuries, including deafness, if the danger was something that exploded
• Head, neck, and shoulder injuries
• Traumatic brain injuries
• Internal injuries
• Back and spinal cord injuries
• Friction, cold, chemical, electrical, thermal and radiation burns
• Amputation
• Excessive scarring and/or disfigurement
• Death.

Depending on your health, some injuries could cause secondary injuries, such as infections, which might require weeks of medical care or even amputation, especially if you have immunodeficiency or are taking medications or treatments that lower your white blood count.

Premises liability attorneys in Eugene, OR, can review and discuss your medical records with your doctors and those who serve as expert witnesses at trials to determine whether your injuries will lead to long-term or permanent disabilities.

They will also work with doctors to determine whether the injuries exacerbated pre-existing conditions. The defendant must pay for medical expenses if the premises liability accident injuries exacerbated preexisting conditions, as you would not have had the extra pain and expense if not for the defendant’s negligence.

What to Do After a Premises Liability Accident

After suffering injuries in a premises liability accident, you should always take photos of what caused the accident. Seek medical attention immediately. These two actions start the documentation process of your claim against an insurance company.

Even if you received injuries at a friend’s or relative’s house, you are going after their insurance company – not your friend or relative. Injuries might seem minor at first, but the adrenaline is most likely masking some of the pain you should feel. Seeking medical attention ensures that you do not have serious injuries. If you do have serious injuries, you should always seek medical attention right away.

If you wait to receive treatment, insurance companies will use that against you. They will argue that you were not really injured, when in fact, you might have suffered severe injuries, such as a concussion, and did not realize it until days later.

Additionally, always attend all doctors’ appointments unless you have a true emergency. Insurance companies also keep track of your appointments and will try to deny a claim or offer you less if they believe you are not as hurt as you say.

The Steps for Filing a Claim with the Eugene Premises Liability Lawyer

You might be entitled to compensation if you were injured on someone else’s property. The process of filing a claim is complex, and you need a skilled Eugene premises liability lawyer to guide you. Here are the steps we take when filing a claim for your injuries.

Get a second opinion: Our team will review all medical records taken by doctors at the time of the injury. These offer insights into the severity of your injuries at the time in question. We encourage you to get a second opinion from another doctor. Sometimes, lingering injuries will come up later that could have a devastating impact on your health. A second opinion looks at the injuries we know about and those that could be recurring.

Aggressively investigate: Our team will investigate your case by interviewing witnesses, looking at surveillance videos, and going where the evidence takes us. We collect and analyze evidence to strengthen your case.

Filing the paperwork: We file all the paperwork and handle requests from the other side. You work with a skilled premises liability lawyer that makes things easy.

Representing you: Your premises liability attorney will represent you during the negotiations and at all legal proceedings. We work to achieve an out-of-court settlement but are prepared to go to court. Our preparation is what makes a difference in creating successful outcomes.

Collection: Once the case is resolved, our team will help you to collect compensation for your injuries, lost income, and damages.

We are the liability lawyer in Eugene, OR, to call if you have been injured on someone else’s property. Our dedicated team will only stop once we create favorable outcomes for you.

Recoverable Damages for a Premises Liability Accident

After a premises liability accident, you can recover compensatory damages in the form of economic and non-economic damages. The court orders defendants to pay compensatory damages in an attempt to make you financially whole again. You can recover two types of compensatory damages: economic damages and non-economic damages.

Economic damages have a monetary value and include:

• Medical expenses
• Lost wages
• Loss of future earning capacity
• Death-related expenses.

Medical expenses include doctors’ appointments, surgeries, long-term care, ambulatory aids, prescriptions, hand controls for your vehicle, upgrades to your home to make it more accessible, and various therapies, including cognitive therapy, physical therapy, occupational therapy, and psychological therapy.

If your injuries or the death of a loved one causes your household income to decrease, you can recover compensation to make up for the wages you can no longer earn or those you lose because a loved one died because of injuries. You can recover the loss of future earning capacity until your normal retirement age – or the age that your loved one would have retired.

Finally, death-related expenses might include funeral, burial and cremation expenses, and some probate court expenses and probate attorney fees.

Non-economic damages are more subjective and do not have a fixed dollar value. They include:

• Pain and suffering, including emotional distress
• Loss of companionship and/or consortium
• Loss of quality of life
• Inconvenience
• Compensation for amputation
• Compensation for excessive scarring and/or disfigurement.

Frequently Asked Questions for Eugene Premises Liability Attorneys

Are premises liability claims only limited to businesses?

No. If you got hurt at a friend’s or relative’s home, you could file a claim against the property owner’s insurance company.

Do I have a case against a retail establishment if someone injured me on the retail establishment’s property?

In certain circumstances, yes. Never try to guess which circumstances are valid – let a Eugene premises liability lawyer make that decision. However, an example of this is if a retail establishment does not repair security lights and you are mugged in the dark corner of the parking lot, you might have a claim.

How long do I have to take legal action for a Eugene premises liability claim?

In most cases, you have two years to take legal action because the negligence of someone else caused your injuries or the loss of a loved one.

Do I need an attorney to represent me in a premises liability case?

No, but we do not recommend you tackle a premises liability case yourself. These types of cases are often complex, especially if more than one defendant is responsible for your injuries or the death of a loved one or if doctors expect your injuries to result in long-term or permanent disabilities. Even a case that seems simple is often complex, simply because of the laws involved with premises liability cases.

Do I have to go to court?

Not necessarily. Most insurance companies prefer to settle out of court because premises liability litigation is expensive. However, the Eugene, OR, premises liability lawyers will not hesitate to bring your case to court if the insurance companies are not fair and reasonable.