Premises Liability Attorney in Charlotte

Premises Liability Lawyers Serving Mecklenburg County

The success of a premises liability claim rests on proving two things: that a dangerous condition existed, and that the owner knew about it or should have found it. Both come from evidence on the property, and that evidence usually ceases to exist within days: the spill gets mopped, the broken handrail gets replaced, and the burned-out bulb in the parking deck gets changed the same week.

Each repair is sound property management, and nothing requires an owner to leave a hazard in place after someone is hurt by it. The proof has to be gathered while it still exists.

DeCurtins Law Office handles premises liability claims in Mecklenburg County, including falls in retail stores, apartment complexes, and parking decks. Because that evidence has a short life, an early consultation is often the difference between a claim you can prove and one you can only describe. 

Call (704) 313-1131 or contact us online now to schedule a free case consultation with a premises liability attorney in Charlotte.

What Constitutes a Premises Liability Case?

Premises liability claims extend far beyond standard slip-and-fall accidents. Legal responsibility arises when a property owner or management company allows an unsafe condition to persist, causing harm to a lawful visitor. 

Dangerous conditions that frequently lead to these cases include:

• Wet floors and unmarked spills.
• Broken stairs, treads, and handrails.
• Uneven sidewalks and parking lot defects.
• Inadequate lighting in parking decks and stairwells.
• Falling merchandise and unstable retail displays.
• Swimming pool hazards and gate failures.
• Negligent security at apartment complexes and commercial businesses.

The legal concept of "notice" is where most premises liability cases are won or lost. For example, a spill that happened just three minutes before an accident rarely creates liability. However, a spill that remained on the floor for two hours while employees ignored it is a completely different situation. Our legal team works to secure crucial evidence, including sweep logs, incident reports, maintenance records, and surveillance footage, to establish exactly how the hazard occurred and for how long it persisted. 

We then use that information to build your case.

What Is Contributory Negligence?

In a state where a single percent of fault destroys an entire injury claim, a slip and fall case hands the defense a ready-made argument. 

Insurance adjusters rely on the same tactics every time. They will claim you should have been paying closer attention, that the hazard was in plain sight, or that your footwear was inappropriate for the surface.

State law gives them the "open and obvious" doctrine to work with. This legal standard generally relieves a property owner of the duty to warn about a danger a reasonable person would have noticed.

However, that is not the end of the analysis.

When your work requires you to be near a hazard, North Carolina still expects the property owner to take reasonable precautions, whether the danger is obvious or not. Ultimately, much of the case turns on what a jury believes was actually visible, and on whether you had any real choice about being in that area.

Because of this harsh legal standard, giving a recorded statement to an insurance company is incredibly dangerous. An adjuster will ask whether you saw a warning sign, whether your hands were full, or whether you were looking at your phone. Every single answer is weighed against that strict 1% standard of blame. 

From the moment you hire our firm, all communication from the adjuster goes directly through us. By cutting off their direct line to you, we prevent them from twisting your words and securing the one answer they need to completely deny your claim.