Premises Liability
The owners of buildings and land—along with their tenants, and the companies that manage and maintain property for the owners and tenants—have a legal obligation to keep the premises safe for the employees, customers, workers, visitors, and others who use property. If an unsafe condition or other hazard is present and the owner, tenant, manager, or someone else who controls the property or provides services on the property, knows about it (or should know about it), they are liable for the injuries caused by the dangerous condition.
SMB handles complex, high-value premises liability litigation involving factors far beyond the typical slip-and-fall case. From analyzing evidence to selecting experts, we have mastered the difficult task of establishing a relationship between a property’s condition and the injuries that occur there.
These cases involve property owners who fail to ensure that people who are in and around their buildings have a safe place to walk, work, shop or eat. We make sure that owners and property managers who cut safety corners are held accountable.
Robert N. Braker
SMB has successfully represented victims of many serious accidents that have occurred on public and private properties, including those caused by:
- Building and construction site collapses
- Explosions
- Falls from heights
- Negligent Security
- Negligent alcohol servers
- Negligent maintenance of the property
Unmatched Results
SMB has secured numerous multimillion-dollar verdicts and settlements for our clients in premises liability cases, including some that rank among the largest in the U.S.:
- $101,000,000 settlement for 34 victims (including four fatalities) of Tropicana Casino parking garage collapse in Atlantic City, NJ
- $29,500,000 settlement for 46 victims (including three fatalities) of Pier 34 collapse in Philadelphia
- $11,700,000 settlement for New Jersey plant explosion that killed three workers and injured eight others
- $11,000,000 settlement for family of worker killed in a fall at a steel factory
- $10,000,000 settlement for warehouse worker paralyzed by pallet falling on him
- $5,900,000 settlement for four construction workers and four homeowners injured in natural gas explosion
- $4,000,000 settlement for two police officers injured in elevator shaft fall at Bucks County winery
- $3,850,000 settlement for two maintenance workers injured by boiler room explosion
- $13,900,000An industrial software technician who suffered serious burns in a plasma explosion when a high-voltage circuit breaker at an asphalt plant shorted ...Read Story
- $12,000,000A roofer who was paralyzed from the neck down after a 40-foot fall will be paid $12 million to settle his suit against a general contractor that ...Read Story
- $227,000,000$227 million in damages will be paid to the 19 plaintiffs—including the loved ones of the seven that died in the June 5, 2013, Salvation Army ...Read Story
Unmatched Experience
SMB’s premises liability lawyers have decades of experience grappling with the complex technical issues that are central to these cases. For example, we understand the coefficients of friction that determine the slipperiness of floors, the effect of lighting and visual cues, as well as building and safety code requirements for safe stairways and handrails. Our lawyers work closely not only with engineering experts who study these accidents, but the doctors and therapists who treat those who have been injured by hazardous conditions.
Unmatched Compensation
In addition to the owners of dangerous properties, others may be liable in a premises liability case, including:
- Tenants
- Property managers and maintenance companies
- Construction contractors
- Providers of janitorial, security, landscaping, and paving services
- Manufacturers of dangerous or defective building materials
- Governmental entities responsible for public facilities
SMB can help you get all the compensation to which you may be entitled—including payments for pain and suffering, emotional trauma, past, and future medical expenses, lost income, and future earnings.
If you have been injured, or a family member has been injured or killed, because of an unsafe or hazardous property, SMB is committed to obtaining all the results you need and deserve.