Virginia Premises Liability Lawyer
Getting hurt on someone else’s property can leave you with medical bills, lost income, and overwhelming pain. If the property owner or manager’s negligence led to your injury, Virginia law may allow you to seek compensation for those damages through a premises liability claim.
Even if the property owner is clearly at fault, getting the results you deserve can be challenging without an experienced attorney on your side. Our Virginia premises liability lawyers can help you navigate the commonwealth’s strict negligence rules and build a strong claim on your behalf.
On This Page
- Why Choose Cooper Hurley Injury Lawyers To Represent You?
- What Is a Premises Liability Case?
- Who May Be Liable in a Virginia Premises Liability Case?
- Determining Fault in Premises Liability Cases
- Types of Compensation Available in Virginia Premises Liability Cases
- How Long Do You Have To File a Premises Liability Claim in Virginia?
- How an Attorney Can Help With Your Virginia Premises Liability Case
- Trust the Experienced Virginia Premises Liability Attorneys at Cooper Hurley Injury Lawyers
Why Choose Cooper Hurley Injury Lawyers To Represent You?
Property owners and their insurers often have enormous power to fight claims and minimize victims’ compensation. Our team is prepared to match their resources and persistence.
Your injury is our fight. This approach is just one reason why we’ve earned the trust of injured people throughout Virginia. Here are more reasons why we’re the firm you want on your side after a serious injury on someone else’s property:
- Our attorneys have 120+ years of combined experience representing people facing a wide range of injuries.
- Injury law is all we do.
- We’ve recovered tens of millions of dollars for thousands of injured Virginians.
- Our track record features groundbreaking case results, including $6 million for a veteran paralyzed in a fall, $5 million for tenant burned in apartment fire, $635,000 for tenant injured due to defective stairs, and $400,000 for an injured hotel guest.
- We’ve earned national recognition as Super Lawyers, Top 100 Trial Lawyers, Lawyers of Distinction, and Top Lawyers of Coastal Virginia.
- With local meeting locations in Virginia Beach, Norfolk, Chesapeake, Newport News, and beyond, we provide convenient access to quality representation across Hampton Roads.
- You can meet with us at no cost, and we only get paid if you win.
What Is a Premises Liability Case?
Premises liability lawsuits provide a way for people hurt on someone else’s property to seek damages for injuries suffered because of someone else’s negligent actions or inactions. Injured parties can sue property or business owners, management companies, security firms, or others responsible for failing to maintain the area where the injury occurred or warn you of hazards.
There may be one or more parties responsible for your injuries. You can name all who are liable in your claim.
Types of Premises Liability Cases
Some common reasons for bringing premises liability claims include:
- Slip and falls
- Trip and falls
- Poorly maintained equipment
- Elevator and escalator accidents
- Dog bites
- Inadequate security
- Swimming pool accidents
- Falling objects
- Fires and explosions
- Poorly maintained decks and stairs
If you were hurt on someone else’s property because they failed to maintain it, partner with our experienced Virginia premises liability law firm so we can help you seek fair compensation.
Who May Be Liable in a Virginia Premises Liability Case?
Several parties may have played a role in creating or failing to correct the hazard that caused your injuries. While property owners are often at fault in premises liability cases, others may also share the blame, including:
- Property managers
- Maintenance companies or contractors
- Security companies
- Tenants or landlords
- Government entities, such as state or city agencies
When we start building your case, we’ll thoroughly investigate what happened and identify each liable party. If multiple parties are at fault, we’ll pursue a claim against each one to maximize your compensation.
Determining Fault in Premises Liability Cases
To hold someone responsible for your injuries, you must show that they owed you a duty to keep the property reasonably safe and that they breached that duty. Additionally, their breach must have directly injured you and resulted in damages.
Some examples of the duties that might arise in a premises liability claim in Virginia include:
- Conducting regular inspections: Owners must routinely inspect their property to identify hazards before someone gets hurt.
- Addressing dangers: They must correct unsafe conditions within a reasonable timeframe once they discover them.
- Providing clear warnings: If a property owner cannot immediately fix a hazard, they must warn visitors with signs or barriers.
- Maintaining adequate lighting and security: Owners must keep lighting and security features in good working order.
The exact duty of care a property owner or occupier owes you depends on why you were on their property. Invitees, such as customers, are owed the highest level of care—including taking proactive safety measures such as frequent inspections. Owners owe a lesser duty to licensees, such as social guests, but they must still warn them about known hazards. Owners are only responsible for not intentionally injuring trespassers.
Our firm investigates injuries from every angle to prove negligence. We collect evidence, interview witnesses, and review maintenance logs to build strong cases from the start.
How Virginia’s Contributory Negligence Rule Could Affect Your Case
Virginia has one of the strictest negligence rules in the country. Under the commonwealth’s contributory negligence law, you cannot recover any compensation if you are even slightly at fault for your injury.
Insurance companies often take advantage of this rule to deny victims’ injury claims, even when the property owner is largely responsible for causing harm. For example, they may argue that you didn’t notice a warning sign, were walking while distracted, failed to hold a handrail, or wore shoes with poor traction.
While even a small percentage of shared fault can jeopardize your claim, our premises liability attorneys in Virginia have strategies to counter these arguments.
Types of Compensation Available in Virginia Premises Liability Cases
If you were injured because a property owner failed to keep their premises safe, you may be entitled to compensation for both your financial losses and the personal impact of your injuries. These damages generally fall into two categories:
- Economic damages: These cover your injuries’ financial impact. They may include past and future medical expenses, rehabilitation costs, lost wages, lost earning capacity, and home or vehicle modifications.
- Non-economic damages: These compensate you for the toll the accident takes on your daily life. Common examples include physical pain and suffering, emotional distress, and disfigurement.
If a loved one has died from an accident on someone else’s property, you may be eligible to pursue a wrongful death action. This allows you to seek recovery for your family’s mental anguish, funeral and burial expenses, lost support, services, and guidance, and other damages allowed under Virginia law.
The amount of damages available to you depends on the extent of your injuries and their effect on your finances, ability to work, and quality of life. For example, a traumatic brain injury may lead to more damages than a simple bone fracture. Our Virginia personal injury lawyers strive to maximize your recovery by documenting the full extent of your losses and negotiating for fair compensation.
How Long Do You Have To File a Premises Liability Claim in Virginia?
Virginia’s personal injury statute of limitations restricts the time you have to seek compensation. Under this law, you generally have two years from the date of your injury to file a premises liability claim.
Special rules apply if you were injured on government-owned property. Depending on the type of government entity that owned the property, there may be a notice requirement as soon as 6 months after the date of incident.
If you miss your case’s filing deadline, you may lose your right to take legal action. We encourage you to contact us as soon as possible after an injury to protect your claim. Acting quickly also allows us to preserve key evidence before it disappears.
How an Attorney Can Help With Your Virginia Premises Liability Case
After an injury on someone’s property, it’s common for insurers to argue that the victim’s actions or inactions contributed to the incident. In a contributory negligence state like Virginia, these assumptions can shut down your case entirely and leave you with enormous out-of-pocket costs.
You have enough to worry about after suffering an injury. Let our slip and fall lawyers in Virginia handle your claim while you focus on your recovery.
Our mission is to provide compassionate, exceptional service at every step of the legal process. Here’s what we can do when you turn to us for help:
- Investigate the incident to determine what went wrong and who’s at fault
- Gather supporting evidence such as photos, surveillance footage, incident reports, maintenance logs, witness statements, and medical records
- Collaborate with independent experts, such as medical professionals and safety specialists, to explain how the property owner was negligent and how the hazard caused your injuries
- Document and calculate your damages
- Handle communications with insurers to prevent them from using your statements against you
- Negotiate on your behalf and push back on low settlement offers
- Take your case to trial if the insurer refuses to settle for what you deserve
Trust the Experienced Virginia Premises Liability Attorneys at Cooper Hurley Injury Lawyers
You can file a claim on your own, but it is difficult to succeed without an in-depth knowledge of Virginia’s premises liability laws and experience working with insurance companies.
Insurance companies make money by denying claims or paying as little as possible. They are not on your side. Insurance companies often blame accident victims for their injuries, tell them they cannot win, or convince them to take a quick settlement that does not cover their damages.
You have enough to worry about after suffering an injury in an accident. Focus on your recovery. Let a premises liability lawyer in Virginia from Cooper Hurley Injury Lawyers handle your claim and hold the negligent property owner accountable. Contact us today at (757) 333-3333.
Find Out What Your
Case is Worth
Testimonials
Free eBook
Get a free copy of “The Best Book About Virginia Car Accidents & Injuries”
Learn what to do after an accident, how to deal with insurance agencies, and when to get help. Download your free copy of The Best Book About Virginia Car Accidents & Injuries.
