Establishing Duty of Care in Premises Liability Cases

When a property owner fails to keep their space safe, and you suffer an injury because of it, you have the right to file a claim for compensation. However, you must be able to establish a duty of care for your claim to succeed. Proving that a property owner owed you a duty of care takes hard work, a deep understanding of local laws, and a willingness to stand up to big insurance companies.

At Denning Law Firm, LLC, our father-daughter legal team brings years of dedicated courtroom experience and is experienced in handling complex premises liability cases. If you fell at a grocery store, tripped in a parking lot, or suffered an injury at a private residence, we can help you establish whether the property owner owed you a duty of care and hold the responsible party accountable for your injury.

Located in Overland Park, Kansas, we serve clients throughout the Kansas City metro area. Contact us today to schedule a consultation and discuss your Kansas City premises liability case.

What is a Duty of Care?

A duty of care is a legal obligation requiring a person or company to adhere to a standard of reasonable care when performing any act that could foreseeably harm others. In the context of premises liability, this means property owners must keep their environments safe for visitors. When they fail to fix known hazards or ignore dangerous conditions, they break this obligation. 

To win a premises liability case, you must first prove that the property owner actually owed you this duty. This obligation does not automatically apply to every person who steps onto a property. The level of responsibility changes depending on why you were on the property in the first place. 

The Three Types of Property Visitors

The law generally categorizes visitors on a property into three distinct groups. The category you fall into directly impacts whether the property owner owed you a duty of care and to what extent they owed it.

• Invitees: An invitee is someone who has express or implied permission to enter the property for the financial benefit of the property owner, such as shoppers at a retail store, diners at a restaurant, or clients at an office building. Property owners owe the highest level of care to invitees. They must regularly inspect the property, discover hidden dangers, and fix them promptly. 

• Licensees: A licensee enters a property for their own purposes but with the owner's permission. A friend attending a dinner party or a neighbor coming over to borrow a tool serves as a good example. Owners must warn licensees about known dangers, but they generally do not have to conduct regular inspections to find hidden hazards. 

• Trespassers: A trespasser enters a property without any permission or legal right to do so. Generally, property owners owe trespassers the lowest level of care. They simply must not intentionally cause harm to someone trespassing on their land. However, special rules often apply if the trespasser is a young child. 

How to Prove a Breach of Duty

Once you have established a duty of care, you will need to prove that the property owner breached that duty. A breach happens when the owner fails to act as a reasonably prudent person would under similar circumstances. You should look for specific failures when investigating your case.

For example, did the grocery store manager ignore a spilled gallon of milk for hours? Did a landlord refuse to fix a broken staircase after receiving multiple complaints? Did a business fail to shovel ice from its main walkway during the winter? These actions show a clear failure to maintain a safe environment. 

You will need to gather sufficient evidence to prove a breach. Our attorneys can help you obtain surveillance footage, request maintenance logs, and speak with witnesses who saw the accident. We can also examine past safety violations to determine whether the property owner has a history of ignoring hazards. Building this foundation can help demonstrate to the insurance company how the property owner failed to fulfill their duty of care.

Missouri Premises Liability Laws

In Missouri, the law strongly protects individuals injured by property owners' negligence. Missouri categorizes visitors into the traditional groups of invitees, licensees, and trespassers, and applies specific standards to each. 

Missouri also follows a pure comparative fault rule. This means if you are found to be partially at fault for the accident, you can still recover compensation minus your percentage of fault. For example, if a jury decides you are 90% at fault for a slip and fall because you were looking at your phone, you can still recover the remaining 10% of your total damages from the property owner.

Kansas Premises Liability Laws

Kansas handles premises liability cases differently. Kansas law recently shifted away from strictly categorizing visitors as invitees or licensees in many situations. Instead, Kansas generally requires property owners to exercise reasonable care for anyone legally on the property. 

Furthermore, Kansas follows a modified comparative fault rule. Under this rule, you can only recover financial damages if your percentage of fault is 50% or less. If a judge or jury determines you are 50% or more at fault for your own injuries, you will be barred from recovering compensation. This strict rule makes it incredibly important to build a strong case from day one.

Contact Our Premises Liability Attorneys Serving Missouri and Kansas

If you have been injured on someone else's property due to a hazard or poorly maintained premises, you have the right to pursue compensation. However, you will need to first prove that the property owner owed you a duty of care and that they breached that care. At Denning Law Firm, LLC, our attorneys William Denning and Paeton Denning can help you establish this duty and build a strong case.

Located in Overland Park, Kansas, we proudly serve clients throughout the Kansas City metro area in both Missouri and Kansas. Contact us today to schedule a consultation.