Duty of Care in Cherry Hill Premises Liability Cases

If you have recently received serious injuries due to dangerous conditions on one’s property, you may have questions involving the duty of care in Cherry Hill premises liability cases.  Know that an experienced Cherry Hill personal injury attorney can answer your questions while helping you determine the best strategy for your compensation. Read on to learn more about the duty of care in Cherry Hill premises liability cases, as well as the ways a professional Cherry Hill premises liability lawyer can make a difference in your case.

Premises Liability Under Cherry Hill Law

Premises liability means that if an individual sustains an injury on another’s property, that property owner may be liable for those injuries. This liability depends on certain factors. In a premises liability case, it must be proven that the premises was the reason that the individual was hurt. Often, these individuals have been injured by a slip and fall or other accident that could have been prevented if the property owner took the proper measures to ensure their guest’s safety, or at least warn them about the dangerous condition.

The Property Owner’s Duty of Care

The property owner’s duty of care in Cherry Hill premises liability cases is going to depend on the injured individual’s status or category. There are multiple categories including adult trespassers, infant trespassers, licensees, and business invitees, and different duties apply to each.An injured individual is considered a licensee when they are invited to someone’s home for no business purposes, like a social guest. The jury charge for a business invitee is that a property owner must exercise reasonable care for the invitee’s safety. They must take such steps as reasonable and prudent to correct or give warning of hazardous conditions or defects actually known to them, and of hazardous conditions or defects which they, by the exercise of reasonable care, could discover.

The Standard of Reasonable Care

Cherry Hill’s standard of reasonable care is what a reasonable person would do as far as inspections to determine if there were any dangerous conditions and to correct those dangerous conditions, or at the very least, warn any guests of these dangerous conditions so that they are aware of them and they do not cause injury. In general, a property owner in Cherry Hill needs to prevent dangerous conditions from causing injury to individuals who come on to their property. However, that duty is going to change depending on the status of the injured individual on their property. 

Cherry Hill’s Duty of Care to its Residents

Since the Cherry Hill township falls under the class of public entity, the Tort Claims Act would apply so that the township has a duty of care in Cherry Hill premises liability cases to its residents. Depending on the nature of the dangerous condition, the Tort Claims Act has many immunities and different components that need to be proven with regard to the injury thresholds that are needed. Cherry Hill does have a duty of care to its residents, but depending on what the exact circumstances are to the case, it will fall into the Tort Claims Act and specific aspects would need to be proven. 

What Happens if a Property Owner is Unaware of Their Obligations? 

Ignorance cannot be used as a defense. Depending on the status of the individual on the property, the property owner would still owe a duty of care to them to prevent dangerous conditions from causing injury. It is a heightened duty when it is a commercial landowner versus a residential landowner, but any property owner, whether or not they know what the law is, does not get absolved of their responsibility. Their duty is to prevent dangerous conditions from causing injury, and whether or not they know that will not impact their liability.

If you have been seriously injured due to the negligence of a property owner, reach out to a knowledgeable Cherry Hill premises liability lawyer to learn more about the duty of care in Cherry Hill premises liability cases and gain an aggressive advocate for your compensation.