Indianapolis Premises Liability Lawyer

A vibrant city of nearly 880,000, Indianapolis boasts so much for both locals and tourists to see and do, from first-rate cultural institutions like the Indianapolis Museum of Art at Newfields to internationally renowned events like the Indy 500.  There is rarely a dull moment in Indiana’s capital, but a serious accident could turn even the most pleasant day out into a nightmarish ordeal, inflicting devastating injuries demanding prolonged treatment that few Hoosiers could afford without assistance. 

Fortunately, that assistance could be obtained after an injury on somebody else’s property through a premises liability claim, and you could improve your chances of success by getting in touch with the dedicated Indianapolis premises liability lawyers at Hensley Legal Group.  Our firm has been advocating for the wrongfully injured for over a quarter century, and we are eager to make a difference for you and the ones you love. 

You can schedule a complimentary case review with a knowledgeable Indianapolis premises liability attorney by calling us at (317) 472-3333, chatting with us online, or filling out our contact form today. 

How an Indianapolis Premises Liability Claim Can Help You 

A premises liability claim is a type of personal injury case that concerns property-based injuries.  Under Indiana law, property owners have a duty to exercise care to avoid causing harm to lawful visitors on their premises.  When this duty of care is neglected, the property owner could be liable for the harm that is incurred. 

For an Indianapolis premises liability claim to be valid, an injured plaintiff must prove three separate elements:  

• The property owner had a duty to the plaintiff to keep a property safe;  

• The property owner breached that duty; and 

• This breach of duty directly injured the plaintiff.       

Proving all three of these elements can be challenging, though a plaintiff could prevail by showing that a property owner did not: 

• Inspect the premises to identify defective conditions; 

• Correct defective conditions that were found; or 

• Warn about known defective conditions. 

Very often, property owners may plead ignorance of a problem to shirk their fiscal responsibilities, and their insurance companies have a strong incentive to beef up their profit margins by paying out on as little as they can.  Nevertheless, Hensley’s Indianapolis premises liability lawyers will hold property owners and their insurers to account by uncovering actionable breaches of duty. 

Were You Actually Owed a Duty of Care? 

This raises an important question: Were you actually owed a duty of care by the property owner who harmed you?  If you were, what did that duty really entail? 

The duty of care owed to you will largely be determined by why you were on the owner’s premises.  Under Indiana law, visitors to a property may be classified as invitees, licensees, or trespassers, each of whom merits a distinct duty of care: 

• Invitees – Someone who visits a property for the economic benefit of its owner is considered an invitee, a category that might include store patrons or hotel guests, among others. 

Invitees are owed the highest duty of care in Indiana, where property owners must take precautions to keep them safe, such as regularly examining their properties for defects and either repairing them or alerting invitees about them. 

• Licensees – Someone who is permitted to enter a property but does not benefit its owner is designated as an invitee, such as a relative stopping by an owner’s home or a hunter granted access to an owner’s land.  

Licensees are owed a lesser duty of care by Indiana property owners, who must inform them about defects and take pains not to willfully hurt them but are not required to search their premises solely to locate defects that might hurt licensees. 

• Trespassers – Someone who is on a property without permission is technically a trespasser, though a member of this group could be as innocuous as a neighbor taking a shortcut through an owner’s yard or as sinister as burglar attempt to pry open an owner’s window. 

While trespassers are owed the lowest duty of care by far, property owners still can’t intentionally injure trespassers when they are aware of them, though they have no obligation to tell the trespassers about defects or fix them for the trespassers’ sake.  

However, this minimal duty of care may not apply to child trespassers, who are not expected to fully comprehend the risks of being on a stranger’s property, and an elevated duty may exist regarding “attractive nuisances,” which are dangers that are especially appealing to the young.  In fact, Title 34, Section 31, Chapter 11 of the Indiana Code states that a property owner “may be subject to liability for physical injury or death to a child trespasser” if he or she doesn’t address an attractive nuisance despite believing that children might trespass and be hurt because of it. 

Clearly, what you were doing when you were injured could heavily influence the viability of your case, so don’t delay in consulting a capable Indianapolis premises liability attorney. 

Common Causes of Premises Liability Accidents in Indianapolis, IN 

Various factors on an Indianapolis property could result in a premises liability claim.  Some of the most common causes of premises liability accidents in Indianapolis include:  

Slip-and-Fall Hazards 

About 700 people die and many others are injured each year because they slipped or tripped and fell.  A range of hazards could make an accident like this more likely, such as: 

• Slippery surfaces – Floors that are wet, icy, or overly slick could bring about catastrophic slip-and-fall accidents, which are linked to more than a million American emergency room visits annually. A law-abiding property owner should wipe up spills promptly, put up signs on recently washed, waxed, or polished floors, and close off treacherous areas with barriers. 

• Loose or broken flooring – Tiles, floorboards, rugs, and mats have to be properly secured and preserved to keep passersby from stumbling. 

• Poorly maintained sidewalks and parking lots – An unremedied crack or hole in a sidewalk or parking lot could trip up a pedestrian with disastrous consequences. 

• Uneven or crumbling stairs – A slip and fall accident on the stairs can be fatal, and a property owner could be culpable when a staircase lacks handrails or has worn, warped, or cluttered steps. 

• Dim lighting – If you can’t see obstacles or threats in front of you, you could easily slip or trip on them, so property owners should make sure that paths and stairs are always well-lit. 

Vicious Dogs 

With at least one dog residing in almost fifty percent of Indiana households, it may be no surprise that the state ranks ninth in dog bite claims. 

If an unsuspecting visitor is gravely injured by a dog on a property in Indianapolis that did not post notifications about its presence, that visitor may pursue the owner civilly.  That being said, Indiana dog owners do enjoy certain protections under the law, including the state’s “One-Bite Rule,” so it is critical to seek out a legal practitioner with a record of overcoming the standard defenses in Indianapolis dog bite cases.

Inadequate Security 

Some kinds of properties are uniquely prone to criminal activity, including parking lots, which are the settings for around 1,400 violent crimes each day in the United States.

Property owners could be obligated to provide adequate security on their premises when they think that visitors might be assaulted, and failure to do so may constitute a compensable breach of duty. 

Do Your Workplace Injuries Justify a Premises Liability Claim? 

Under the Indiana workers’ compensation system, benefits are available for many on-the-job injuries, and Hensley’s seasoned workers’ compensation attorneys can guide you through the frequently confusing claims process and come to your aid if your claim is unfairly denied. 

Moreover, depending upon the circumstances of your workplace accident, a workers’ compensation claim may not be your only legal option.   For example, a particularly devastating work injury could justify a claim for Social Security disability insurance (SSDI).  Similarly, a third party or personal injury case might also be initiated against an outside entity if you are hurt on a construction site or in a deeply unsafe environment.   

Yet no matter how your work injury happened, our Indianapolis premises liability lawyers can analyze the circumstances leading up to it and advise you whether there are additional avenues of financial recovery. 

Our Indianapolis Premises Liability Attorneys Can Defend Your Rights 

A major injury on someone else’s property can change your life in a heartbeat, burying you beneath a mountain of bills while making it harder to earn the money to dig your way out from under them. 

You need attorneys who will support you during this difficult period while passionately defending your rights in the face of staunch opposition, like the Indianapolis personal injury attorneys at Hensley Legal Group. 

If you hire Hensley, we will launch a comprehensive investigation into your accident and everyone who contributed to it, then move swiftly to document defects before they can be repaired and amass any other evidence needed to build your claim. 

After putting together an airtight case, our tenacious Indianapolis premises liability lawyers will work tirelessly to get you compensated for the totality of your losses, including your:  

• Medical expenses  

• Lost wages  

• Pain and suffering  

• Mental and emotional trauma  

• Mobility restrictions 

• Reduced quality of living  

• Loss of consortium  

• Punitive damages (if relevant)  

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

We realize that committing to more expenditures is probably the last thing you want to do at this time, but our firm works on a contingency basis, so you won’t have to pay us anything until our Indianapolis premises liability attorneys win your case. 

The world may have seemed unstable since that fateful day you were injured, but we will do everything in our power to get you back on solid ground again. 

Speak to a Marion County Premises Liability Lawyer As Soon As Possible 

Hensley Legal Group has been fighting on behalf of the innocent victims of negligence since 1998.  If you have been badly injured through no fault of your own, speak to a Marion County premises liability lawyer at our firm as soon as possible. 

Please call us at (317) 472-3333, chat with us online, or fill out our contact form now to schedule a free consultation with an accomplished Indianapolis premises liability attorney.