Salt Lake City Premises Liability Lawyers

Filing a Premises Liability Claim in Utah

If you were injured on someone else’s property—whether it was a private home, a retail store, or even a public park—you could be entitled to financial compensation. In Utah, private and public property owners alike are required to ensure their properties are free from hazards that pose a foreseeable risk of injury to others. When they fail to conduct proper maintenance or adequately remove, repair, or warn others of dangerous conditions, property owners can be held legally accountable for resulting accidents, injuries, and damages.

At Steele Adams Hosman, our Salt Lake City premises liability lawyers represent injured clients in complex personal injury cases throughout Salt Lake County and the surrounding areas. Combined, we have more than 35 years of experience and have recovered millions of dollars in compensation for our clients. We are proud to offer personal attention, compassionate care, and aggressive advocacy for every single client.

If you would like to speak to a member of our team for free, please call (801) 999-1506 and request a complimentary case evaluation today.

Click on any of the topics below to jump to that section on this page:

• What is Premises Liability?
• What are "Dangerous Conditions"?
• Schedule Your Free Consultation

What Is Premises Liability?

Premises liability refers to the responsibility property owners have to visitors.

Utah law defines three types of visitors to which property owners have a duty of care:

• Invitees: An invitee is someone who lawfully enters a property that is open to the public, typically for the purpose of conducting business. A customer in a grocery store is an example of an invitee.
• Licensees: A licensee is someone who enters any property with the express or implied permission of the property owner. This includes people who visit a property for social reasons, as well as those who lawfully enter a property of some other reason, such as a solicitor.
• Trespassers: A trespasser, also known as an “unlawful entrant,” is someone who does not have the property owner’s express or implied permission to be on the property. In other words, trespassers are those who enter a property unlawfully.

Property owners have varying degrees of responsibility to different types of visitors, with the greatest duty of care owed to invitees, followed by licensees. Generally speaking, Utah property owners do not owe any duty of care to trespassers, though there are some exceptions.

When it comes to invitees and licensees, property owners can be held liable for injuries and damages when they knew about or reasonably should have known about a dangerous condition that existed on the property yet failed to adequately remove, repair, or warn others about the condition. To have a claim against a property owner, you will need to prove that the dangerous condition was the cause of your injuries and that you suffered damages related to your injuries. Under Utah’s modified comparative negligence rule, you could lose your opportunity to file a claim if the court finds that you were 50% or more to blame for your injuries, and your total recovery will be reduced by your percentage of fault if you are found to have contributed to your injuries whatsoever.

What Are “Dangerous Conditions?”

To have grounds for a premises liability claim or lawsuit, you will likely need to prove the existence of a “dangerous property condition.” But what exactly constitutes a dangerous condition?

A dangerous property condition is any condition that poses a “foreseeable risk of injury” to others. This means that the condition is one that any reasonable person would know could cause injury to another person. If the property owner fails to properly address a dangerous condition, and you are injured as a result, you could have a case.

Some examples of common dangerous property conditions include:

• Wet or slippery floors
• Accumulated ice or snow
• Cluttered walkways and aisles
• Spills and fallen merchandise
• Poor lighting
• Faulty mechanical equipment
• Exposed electrical wiring
• Tripping hazards
• Defective steps or stairs
• Missing handrails
• Torn, ripped, or uneven carpeting
• Potholes
• Sidewalk defects
• Lack of security cameras or personnel
• Unrestrained dogs and other animals
• Unsafe swimming pools
• Improper signage
• Inadequate fencing, gates, locks, or barriers

These and other dangerous property conditions can lead to serious accidents and traumatic events, such as slip and falls, dog bites and attacks, swimming pool accidents, elevator and escalator accidents, toxic exposure, and more.

Call our Salt Lake City premises liability attorneys at (801) 999-1506 today!