If you’ve been lucky enough to avoid a personal injury case until now, you might not be familiar with the concept of premises liability.

Premises liability outlines a landowner’s duty to make sure their property is safe for their neighbors. If they fail to meet a legal standard of safety, landowners can be held responsible for any injuries incurred due to their negligence.

A premises liability lawsuit is one that addresses a property owner’s negligence and the injuries that arose from it.

A property owner’s “duty of care” is the legal requirement that they take reasonable action to maintain their property and prevent it from causing injuries.

It is important to know that duty of care applies only to people who legally access a property. Therefore, it does not apply to trespassers. Duty of care only applies to licensees, who are invited for non-business purposes, and invitees, who are invited for business purposes.

If you suffered an injury as a customer at a business, then you are considered an invitee who accessed the premises for business purposes. Most premises liability cases are filed by invitees who were patrons of a business. This can include any type property or the premises of larger companies like Walmart or The Dollar Store.