Premises Liability

The term “Premises Liability” refers to a broad category of accidents that happen on someone’s property, or “premises.” Premises liability accidents can happen inside or outside a building, and in places ranging from retail stores to public places and even private homes. The key principle in premises liability cases is that a property owner must keep the property safe for visitors. While the specifics of this duty depend on who is visiting the property, the owner is always responsible for the conditions – and dangers – on the property. At Cook, Bradford & Levy, our Boulder premises liability lawyers have over 60 years of collective experience representing people injured in premises liability accidents across Colorado. If you have been injured on someone else’s property, we encourage you to call us today at 303-543-1000 for a free consultation about your case.

Over the years, our Boulder premises liability attorneys have helped numerous clients get compensated for their injuries and hold careless property owners accountable. We are familiar with the many common (and not so common) ways that people can get hurt on property, as well as the places where injuries often happen, such as parking lots and sidewalks, bars and restaurants, hotels, big box retailers like Home Depot and Costco, casinos, swimming pools, electric transformer boxes, and many more. We also know the safety rules that a property owner must follow in a given situation, and we regularly use the best national and local experts to help prove when a safety violation has occurred. Our team has represented clients across Colorado, and we can help you regardless of where you live, including if you live in a different state or country.

Our experience has given us a strong understanding of Colorado’s Premises Liability Act (PLA), which is the law that governs premises liability accidents in Colorado.

A skilled Boulder premises liability lawyer knows that under the PLA the duty of a landowner to keep the property safe depends on the status of the person who was injured on the premises. The PLA has three categories of visitors to someone’s property: 1) invitee; 2) licensee; and 3) trespasser. A property owner owes the highest duty of care to an invitee, a lesser duty of care to a licensee, and a minimal duty of care to a trespasser. More specifically, a landowner must reasonably protect an invitee from dangers it should know about, and reasonably protect a licensee from dangers it actually knows about.

In most cases, a person who is injured on business property during business hours will be considered an invitee and be owed the highest duty of care. However, whether you are an invitee, licensee, or trespasser depends on the facts and circumstances of your case, and our experienced premises liability attorneys will investigate and conduct legal research to determine your classification at the time of your injury, and what duty of care was owed to you.

If you or a loved one has been injured in an accident on someone’s property, you can take immediate action that will help your case down the road. Our Boulder premises liability attorneys recommend that as soon as possible you notify an on-site representative of your accident. For example, if you were injured at a store, this may be the store manager or other store employee. If you were injured at an apartment complex, this person may be the on-site manager or a landlord representative. Reporting your accident usually, but not always, causes the business or other entity in control of the premises to launch an investigation into your accident and issue a report. This can be a helpful piece of evidence in identifying the employees who witnessed the conditions, whether there was video, what violations may have occurred, etc.

An experienced Boulder premises liability accident lawyer will also send a “preservation letter” to the landlord, business, and any other potentially responsible party, requesting that all evidence be safeguarded for later use and examination. While this letter does not guarantee that evidence will not be lost or destroyed, a preservation letter can serve as the basis for asking a judge to sanction the landlord for “spoliation” or destroying evidence when it was on notice of your claim and had been specifically asked to preserve it.

At Cook, Bradford & Levy, we understand that premises liability accidents in Colorado can raise many complex questions. Our experienced Boulder premises liability lawyers can answer your questions and provide you with confidence and clarity as you recover from your injury. If you or a loved one has been hurt on someone’s property, we encourage you to call us today at 303-543-1000 for a free consultation with one of our experienced and knowledgeable lawyers.