What Legal Duty is Owed to People at a Business or Property?

Missouri is a state that examines the classification of the person hurt in order to determine what, if any, legal duty is owed to that person. For example, if you are in a restaurant eating dinner or at a store shopping and you are injured during your visit then Missouri courts will classify you as an invitee. An invitee is a person "invited on the premises by the owner for the purpose of patronizing the business establishment." An invitation is not necessary. If the doors are open to the public and you are there to shop, you qualify. Examples of an invitee can include:

A prospective purchaser (whether you purchased an item or not) in a retail store (Wal-Mart, SevenEleven, etc.) A customer in a restaurant A grocery store patron while parking an automobile on the store's lot A driver of a truck making a delivery A postman while delivering mail A customer using a bathroom in a store where the bathroom was maintained for customers Government inspectors on a premises in furtherance of their duties

The duty of a premises owner to an invitee is absolute. The business duty: To actively seek out any dangerous conditions upon the premises and to either warn of its presence and set up a barricade or fix the dangerous condition to make it safe. If you are not at the business as a patron or a potential patron, your status may not achieve that of an invitee, but you still can be owed certain duty of care for known dangerous conditions. The two remaining classifications are a licensee and a trespasser. A Missouri slip & fall attorney can provide you with more information on liability in your injury case, and Joe Easter, Esq., at the Easter Law Firm, LLC, is a slip and fall attorney.

Liability of Premises Owners to Injuries Resulting from Third-Party Conduct

In Missouri, the owner of a business is subject to liability to invitees for personal injuries inflicted by the acts of other patrons or third persons if:

The owner, by the exercise of reasonable care, could have known that the conduct was occurring or was about to occur, and; The owner could have protected customers by controlling this conduct or by giving adequate warning to customers so that they could have avoided the danger.

It is important to know that a premises owner generally will not be liable for personal injuries caused by the intentional criminal acts of third persons. However, Missouri courts have determined that liability will attach in a few specific special circumstances:

There is a history on the premises of specific acts of criminal violence (i.e. aggravated assault, theft, etc); OR Specific persons have committed violent crimes on the premises in the past; OR The person who caused the plaintiff personal injuries on this occasion has been on the premises before and acted violently (the premises owner/renter or may have notice').

In order to fall into one of these special circumstances, a Missouri personal injury victim must prove that there had been specific incidents of violent crimes on the premises that are sufficiently numerous and recent so to place the defendant on notice of this history of violence. Some courts have ruled that when the premises owner adequately warns patrons of a presence of potential violence that the patron assumes a potential risk of injury. Contacting a slip and fall attorney immediately is critical to secure the evidence necessary to win your case. Sometimes the premises owner/renter will have surveillance cameras on the property available for only 30 days before their system erases the tape to be re-used.

Missouri Slip-and-Fall Cases

The elements that an injury victim must prove in a slip & fall claim are relatively straight forward:

There must have been some foreign substance (i.e. liquid, grease, bunched up rug, etc.) present on the floor, and The defendant knew, or should have known, of the existence of the foreign substance yet failed to warn others or remove the hazard

Premises owners have an obligation to exercise reasonable care to keep their property in a safe condition. Injury victims must demonstrate that defendants could have discovered the dangerous condition or substance in sufficient time to either correct it or warn of its presence. However, many clients contact our office and believe they have a case just by the very fact that they fell at someones property or business. This is not always true. There must be negligence (including failure to act as a reasonable person) on the part of the owner/renter.

Common Defenses in Missouri

One of the most common defenses in a premises liability case is that the defect was open and obvious. For example, a large, bright yellow board on a table might be dangerous, but it is open and obvious to anyone walking towards it. To the contrary, an uneven sidewalk is also dangerous, and may not be obvious to a pedestrian. There are exceptions to the open and obvious rule, but the public policy behind the defense is that people also need to take responsibility for their actions. Additionally, jury verdicts in Missouri are reduced for the comparative fault of the Plaintiff. The State of Missouri is a pure comparative fault state. Under Missouri law, any verdict is reduced for the percentage of fault of the Plaintiff. Even if a Plaintiff is 90% at fault, the Plaintiff will still recover 10% of the assessed damages. This can be an important advantage in Missouri because a Plaintiff with significant damages can still recover a significant verdict.

Slip and Fall on Ice or Snow

A particular area of premises liability that litigates often are slip and fall injuries as a result of ice and snow. Generally, property owners are not liable for accidents that occur as a result of natural accumulation of ice and snow. In other words, people do not have a duty to shovel their sidewalks and driveways, nor do business owners. However, if a property owner negligently attempts snow removal, causing a more dangerous condition, there can be liability. Most businesses attempt snow removal as a business gesture and in doing so, need to protect the safety of their patrons, but this is not always the case. Often businesses hire snow removal companies that do not have a business customer safety as a priority when clearing sidewalks or parking lots.

Insurance Companies

Businesses and property owners are usually covered for premises liability through homeowner insurance, general liability insurance or other applicable insurances. Insurance companies are at a distinct advantage when an injury occurs. They know the law and you do not. The insurance company does not have to tell you the law or your rights either. Insurance companies will contact you and ask you to give a written or recorded statement concerning the incident. Do not give statements without your slip and fall attorney present. Your statements will be used against you throughout your case and ultimately at trial.

Time Limits
Under Missouri law there are limitations on the amount of time you have to bring or file your claim. When municipalities (governmental entities like parks, schools, cities, etc.) are a defendant, which is often the case with sidewalks, streets and other similar areas, the statute of limitations can be one year or less. Further, there are even instances where municipalities must be put on notice of claims within a short period of time (90 days for Springfield, Missouri). This is another reason why you should contact a qualified slip and fall attorney immediately to discuss your potential case.

Prepared by: Joe Easter, Esq., of the Easter Law Firm, LLC (417) 888-0258 Toll free: (877) 875-0258 www.easterlawfirm.com