People can suffer serious injuries on properties they have every reason to expect are safe. You might slip on a wet floor at a grocery store, fall because of a dangerous walkway or suffer an injury at someone’s home. When unsafe property conditions cause harm, you may have the right to pursue compensation.
At Johnson, Mulholland, Cochrane, Cochrane, Yung & Engler, P.L.C., our premises liability attorneys help injured people in Fort Dodge and throughout North-Central and Northwest Iowa. Our law firm has served Iowans since 1950, combining substantial legal resources with the personal attention of local lawyers who understand the communities they represent.
Premises liability is an area of personal injury law involving injuries caused by unsafe conditions on someone else’s property. Property owners and others who control property may have a duty to use reasonable care under the circumstances. Whether someone is legally responsible for an injury depends on the specific facts.
Important questions in a premises liability case may include:
Did the condition cause the injury? A claimant must connect the unsafe condition and the responsible party’s conduct to the injuries and resulting losses.
Our Fort Dodge attorneys can investigate these issues and determine whether the circumstances may support a personal injury claim.
Dangerous property conditions can exist at stores, restaurants, apartment buildings, homes and other locations. In rural Iowa, injuries can also occur on farms and other agricultural properties.
Premises liability cases may involve:
Simply being injured on another person’s property does not automatically make the owner responsible. Our lawyers look at how the injury happened, who controlled the property, what the responsible party knew or should have known and whether reasonable precautions were taken.
Unsafe conditions can change quickly. A spill may be cleaned, snow or ice may melt, or a damaged area may be repaired after an accident. Evidence showing the condition of the property at or near the time of an injury can therefore be important.
Depending on the case, useful evidence may include photographs or video, incident reports, witness information, medical records and documentation of financial losses. Businesses may also have surveillance footage or maintenance records relevant to what occurred.
Our law office can investigate the circumstances and help preserve and gather available evidence. Our attorneys can also handle communications with insurers while you concentrate on recovering from your injuries.
A serious injury can affect more than your immediate health. You may face medical treatment, time away from work and lasting limitations that affect your daily activities. Compensation in an Iowa premises liability case depends on the losses caused by the injury.
Depending on the circumstances, damages may include:
Our premises liability lawyers evaluate the individual circumstances rather than assuming what a claim is worth. The goal is to identify the losses supported by the facts and pursue appropriate compensation under Iowa law.
A slip-and-fall inside a business may support a premises liability claim when negligence contributed to the accident. For example, a case could involve damaged flooring, a leak or a spill that employees failed to address. The circumstances must show more than the fact that a fall occurred.
Evidence can be particularly important in these cases because the dangerous condition may disappear soon after the accident. Our firm’s related article explains more about when a business may be liable for a customer’s slip-and-fall.
Liability for a fall involving snow or ice depends on the circumstances rather than a rule that makes every property owner automatically responsible whenever someone falls. Questions can include who controlled the property, the nature of the condition and whether reasonable care was used under the circumstances.
Local ordinances may also impose snow-removal requirements in particular communities. Because duties and defenses can vary depending on whether property is private, commercial or governmental, a lawyer should evaluate the particular location and circumstances of the fall.
Farm and rural properties can present hazards that differ from those found in stores or other commercial settings. Depending on the property, potential dangers can include structures, uneven ground, equipment and other conditions associated with agricultural operations.
Liability is not automatic simply because an injury occurred on a farm. Iowa law may also provide specific protections in certain agricultural and recreational circumstances. Our attorneys can examine why you were on the property, what caused the injury and which legal rules apply.
Iowa uses a modified comparative fault system. An injured person generally can recover damages when their percentage of fault is not greater than the combined fault attributed to the parties from whom recovery is sought. Any damages awarded are reduced according to the injured person’s percentage of fault.
For example, allegations that you failed to notice a hazard do not necessarily mean you have no claim. Our attorneys can evaluate the circumstances rather than assuming an insurer’s assessment of fault is correct.
Iowa generally provides a two-year limitations period for actions involving injuries to a person. The applicable deadline can depend on the circumstances, however, and special rules may apply to certain defendants or situations.
Waiting can also make evidence harder to obtain even before a legal deadline expires. Speaking with a lawyer early gives your law firm more time to investigate what happened and determine which deadlines apply.
The Johnson Law Firm has served Iowans since 1950. Our attorneys understand that people injured in Fort Dodge and surrounding rural communities want capable legal representation without feeling like another case number at a distant firm.
Our law office brings together the resources of an established practice and the personal service of local lawyers. We take the time to understand how an injury has affected you and your family, explain the legal process in understandable terms and help you make informed decisions about your case.
If an unsafe condition on someone else’s property caused a serious injury, you may have questions about who was responsible and what options are available. The attorneys at Johnson, Mulholland, Cochrane, Cochrane, Yung & Engler, P.L.C., can review the circumstances and explain how Iowa premises liability law may apply.
Our Fort Dodge law firm serves injured people throughout North-Central and Northwest Iowa. Contact our premises liability lawyers online to discuss your next steps.
