Premises liability cases are complex legal issues, and navigating your injury claim on your own can be overwhelming and disheartening. If you have been injured on someone else’s Litchfield property, the premises liability lawyers at D’Amico & Pettinicchi, LLC, can provide personalized guidance on your legal options.
Property owners and occupiers in Litchfield have a duty of care to visitors and guests of their property. The exact requirements of that duty depend on whether the visitor was an invitee, licensee, or trespasser.
In Connecticut, a licensee is someone who can enter a property because the owner has provided consent and because they are performing a function on the property. Mail carriers, contractors, and delivery drivers are examples of licensees. A property owner owes the following duties to a licensee on their property:
An invitee is someone who has been invited onto the property either through an explicit or implied invitation. They are on the property for a specific purpose that is intended to benefit the owner or be mutually beneficial to both the invitee and owner. There are three types of invitees: public, business, and social.
Property owners owe invitees the highest level of care, including the same duties owed to licensees and the following additional duties:
Property owners rarely owe trespassers any duty of care. Typically, the only duty that is owed to trespassers is to refrain from willful, reckless conduct that could cause them to be injured. Trespassers are not entitled to a warning about dangerous hidden conditions, and they are not owed a duty of care when it comes to the condition of the property.
However, there are notable exceptions. Once a property owner or occupier is aware of the trespasser on the premises, they have a duty of care if they are engaged in a dangerous activity that could harm the trespasser. There are also some exceptions for children if a condition on your property, such as a pool, would be seen as reasonably attracting children onto your property.
To establish that you are entitled to compensation for the injury you sustained on someone else’s property, you must show that they owed you a duty of care. In some situations, this is relatively straightforward. For example, if you were shopping as a customer at a grocery store during operating hours and were injured by hazardous conditions in the store, your attorney will be able to establish that you were an invitee who was owed a duty of care.
Another element to be aware of in premises liability cases is Connecticut’s modified comparative fault system. State law says that more than one person can be found liable for an accident, including the injured person seeking compensation. If you are determined to be partially at fault for the accident that caused your injury, you can still recover monetary damages as long as you are less than 50% responsible.
If you have questions about how fault is determined or how your shared fault may impact your compensation, contact the premises liability attorneys at D’Amico & Pettinicchi, LLC, to schedule a free consultation.
