Fort Wayne Premises Liability Lawyers

There is always something to do in Fort Wayne, whether you’re taking the entire family to the Fort Wayne Children’s Zoo, catching a concert at the Embassy Theatre, or simply enjoying the scenic beauty of the Rivergreenway.  But even the most pleasant day out can quickly turn into a nightmare when a serious accident takes place.

Fortunately, you may be eligible to seek compensation when you incur an injury on somebody else’s property, though a positive outcome is never guaranteed.  To increase your chances of success, get in touch with the Fort Wayne premises liability lawyers at Hensley Legal Group, where we have been tirelessly advocating for injured Hoosiers for over a quarter century. 

If you would like to discuss your accident with a knowledgeable Fort Wayne premises liability attorney, please call or text us at (317) 472-3333, chat with us online, or fill out our contact form for a free case review.

What Is a Premises Liability Case? 

A premises liability case is a personal injury claim that concerns property-related injuries.  Like other personal injury claims, it must produce evidence of both negligence and damages. 

Negligence is the failure to exercise sufficient care to avoid causing harm, often referred to as damages.  If a plaintiff sustains bodily damages because of negligence on a defendant’s property, the plaintiff could pursue that defendant for financial damages. 

For a Fort Wayne premises liability case to go forward, the plaintiff has to prove three separate elements: 

• The defendant had a duty to the plaintiff to maintain safe conditions on the property; 

• The defendant neglected to keep the property safe in breach of that duty; and 

• This breach of duty led to the plaintiff’s injuries. 

Establishing all three of these elements can be more difficult in a case of premises liability than it might be in a matter with a more obvious connection between a defendant’s behavior and a plaintiff’s injuries, such as a car accident.  However, a plaintiff may be able to overcome this difficulty by demonstrating that a defendant made an accident inevitable by failing to:

• Inspect a property for defects; 

• Fix known defects on a property; or 

• Inform the plaintiff about those defects. 

Our Fort Wayne premises liability lawyers can help your case withstand legal challenges by uncovering actionable breaches of duty by a property owner. 

Types of Fort Wayne Premises Liability Cases 

Premises liability cases can be broadly grouped according to their specific sources of injury.  Some of the most common types of Fort Wayne premises liability cases are based on:  

• Fall hazards – Falling is the top factor in preventable injuries, and property owners could be liable when a fall occurs because of hazards on their premises, such as slippery surfaces, loose floorboards, uneven stairs, poor lighting, or cracked walkways.  

• Inadequate security – Claims could be initiated when visitors are attacked because adequate security was not provided in spaces with frequent criminal activity, like parking lots, where almost 1,400 violent crimes happen in the United States each day. 

• Aggressive dogs – A dog may be man’s best friend, but unsuspecting visitors can be gravely injured if property owners do not warn about or control aggressive dogs on site. 

Hensley’s Fort Wayne premises liability attorneys are well versed in these types of claims and can determine the best way to proceed if you have grounds for a case. 

Do You Have Grounds for a Fort Wayne Premises Liability Case? 

This raises an important question: Do you actually have grounds for a Fort Wayne premises liability case?   

To be valid, your case must show that you were injured because a property owner breached a duty of care owed to you, but why you were on that owner’s property will have a bearing on whether you were owed a duty and what such a duty entailed. 

Under Indiana law, a visitor to a property can be classified as an invitee, a licensee, or a trespasser, each of whom is owed a distinct duty of care: 

• Invitees – Visitors who are invited to a property for the owner’s economic benefit are considered to be invitees, such as patrons in a store, diners in a restaurant, or guests in a hotel.  

Invitees are owed the greatest duty of care by Fort Wayne property owners, who must ensure that their properties are safe for them by looking out for dangers and either repairing or telling invitees about those dangers. 

• Licensees – Visitors who are permitted on a property but do not directly benefit the owner are considered to be licensees, such as relatives attending an owner’s holiday party or hunters authorized to be an owner’s land.   

Fort Wayne property owners owe a lesser duty of care to licensees.  Owners must avoid harming licensees and alert them about known dangers, but they have no obligation to search for dangers for the sake of licensees. 

• Trespassers – Finally, visitors who are on a property without permission are considered to be trespassers, a term that could describe individuals with a wide range of intentions, from neighbors cutting across an owner’s lawn to burglars picking an owner’s lock. 

Trespassers are owed the least duty of care by Fort Wayne property owners, who still have some obligations towards them.  The state does not allow owners to willfully hurt trespassers, but the owners do not have to notify trespassers about or address dangers on their properties.  

Nonetheless, there is a critical exception to this relaxed duty of care when it comes to child trespassers, and property owners may even owe them a heightened duty pertaining to “attractive nuisances.”  These are threats that may be especially appealing to the very young, such as abandoned appliances and unfenced pools.  Under Title 34, Section 31, Chapter 11 of the Indiana Code, property owners “may be subject to liability for physical injury or death to a child trespasser” if they do not deal with attractive nuisances despite being aware of them and expecting children to trespass and injure themselves because of them. 

As you can imagine, your reasons for being on a property could heavily influence the viability of your case, so you might want to talk to our Fort Wayne premises liability lawyers about those reasons right away. 

How a Fort Wayne Premises Liability Attorney Can Make a Difference 

A major injury can turn your world upside down, overwhelming you with mounting medical bills while making it harder to earn the money to pay for them. 

You need attorneys with the compassion to support you during this troubling period and the wisdom to guide you through it.  In short, you need the Fort Wayne premises liability attorneys at Hensley Legal Group.  No adversary is too intimidating, or task too daunting, to stop us from getting justice for our clients. 

Once retained, our Fort Wayne premises liability lawyers will conduct an exhaustive investigation into your accident and everyone who may be responsible for it, moving swiftly to amass the materials to build your claim and document defects before they can be remedied. 

After putting together the strongest case possible against every potential defendant, we will endeavor to get you compensated for the full spectrum of your losses, such as your: 

• Medical expenses 

• Lost wages 

• Pain and suffering 

• Psychological trauma 

• Diminished quality of life 

• Mobility limitations 

• Loss of consortium 

• Punitive and wrongful death damages (if relevant) 

And unlike many of our competitors, who seldom, if ever, venture into a courtroom, we are not afraid to go to trial if we do not receive a settlement offer that is worthy of your claim. 

We realize you may be reluctant to agree to more expenditures at this moment, but Hensley Legal Group works on a contingency basis, so you will not have to pay us anything unless our Fort Wayne premises liability attorneys win your case. 

We took you on as a client because we believe in you, and we are ready to shoulder every burden involved in making you whole again. 

Reach Out to Our Fort Wayne Premises Liability Lawyers 

Hensley Legal Group has been fighting on behalf of the innocent victims of negligence since 1998.  If you are struggling to cope with your property-related injuries, reach out to our Fort Wayne premises liability lawyers to explore your legal options. 

You can call or text us at (317) 472-3333, chat with us online, or fill out our contact form to schedule a no-cost consultation with a dedicated Fort Wayne premises liability attorney today.