Premises Liability in Arizona
Construction defect and premises liability are an area of the law that refers to personal injury due to faulty construction or injury or assault on premises where adequate security was not present.
Basic “slip and falls” as well as building collapses, robberies in parking garages and sexual assaults may be considered construction defect or premises liability cases.
If you think you have a construction defect and premises liability case, you need an aggressive personal injury attorney who will be able to focus on the various details of your specific situation. For example, if your construction defect or premises liability case involves robbery or sexual assault, Hirsch & Lyon Accident Law will gather information about any previous incident that took place at that specific location.
In the past, Wal-Mart was sued for not protecting their parking lots adequately, resulting in areas where robberies and sexual assaults took place. Aggressive investigation showed that there was one Wal-Mart store in particular where police frequently visited due to ongoing issues. A number of internal reports were filed to deal with the crimes, but there were not any additional steps taken to protect their patrons more. This oversight resulted in Wal-Mart having to pay millions of dollars to the victims.
When it comes to Construction Defects, the news commonly shows events like buildings collapsing during wedding receptions and piers or balconies collapsing during parties. A lot of devastation can occur when there is a construction accident. Subtle losses happen when there is a poorly designed parking garage that results in a car accident. At times, the traffic flow of a parking lot may be improperly directed without the necessary yield and stop signs, which can cause a car accident or a pedestrian injury. There are cases of elevators regularly getting stuck, during which people attempt to escape, which causes a serious injury. The most common type of construction defect and premises liability occurs in stores, when merchandise falls off high shelves or when spills are not cleaned up properly. Sam’s Club and Costco have both faced similar construction defects and premises liability cases.
Even in simple construction defect and premises liability cases, if permanent impairment is a result, the settlement may range from five to seven figures or more. The most important factors to consider when determining the amount of settlement offered include medical bills, pain and suffering, employment damages and cost of life care.
Medical Bills after a Premises Liability Injury
It is not uncommon for medical bills to total more than $100,000 when hospitalization and vocational or physical rehabilitation is required. The victim and the victim’s family usually have to pay these bills as their main goal. If the property owner is at fault, the insurance company may have an “adjuster” approach the victim immediately following the injury in order to offer a settlement. Often, these settlements claim to include paying for the medical bills. While it is tempting to sign the settlement papers and get paid quickly, the money offered will not likely pay for the years of life care that tend to follow an accident. The settlement also will not be able to cover the vocational training needed following your stay in the hospital. Do not accept a settlement from an adjuster before contacting a Phoenix accident lawyer who handles construction defect and premises liability cases. Keep in mind that construction defect and premises liability cases are quite different from other types of cases. It is important to contact Hirsch & Lyon Accident Law immediately if you are contacted by an insurance adjuster or if an attorney has contacted you and claimed to help you settle for “three times the cost of your medical bills.”
Pain and Suffering
Calculations for pain and suffering damages are added to employment losses and the damage caused to the victim’s family’s life. In order to figure out these types of damages, Hirsch & Lyon Accident Law will look at the lifelong impact of the accident and injury. It is necessary to take into account the life care costs on top of employment losses and damage to the life of the victim and the victim’s family. Often, juries award a greater sum for pain and suffering than the cost of all the damages combined. For example, even if somebody would earn a total of one million dollars in their lifetime, that is nothing compared to the cost of living a life in constant pain or living with a lowered IQ. Even if the victim is still able to work, their quality of life and ability to enjoy life may be greatly reduced.
Life Care Costs
Lifecare costs take into account future medical bills and the amount it costs to get rehabilitative treatment as well as in-home care. Often, in-home care is carried out by relatives of the victim. However, this does not mean the care is cost-free. Family care can be extremely taxing to the family unit because those family members who are providing care are not able to keep normal employment. It is important to your construction defect and premises liability case that you get the right experts working for you. You will need the correct testimony during settlement or the trial. It is important to have Hirsch & Lyon Accident Law provide “life care experts” to work on your case.
Employment Damages
When working on a construction defect and premises liability case, it is important to calculate employment damages. Often, the victim is no longer able to perform the same work they were able to do before the accident. However, it is possible that they will be able to be employed in a different field. This secondary employment may pay a lower wage than they were originally earning, though. In serious cases, victims may not be able to work at all. Also, there are some cases when a child is injured before they are able to go to college, get job training or secure a job. It takes a highly skilled attorney (such as those at Hirsch & Lyon Accident Law) to determine the losses that the victims endure.
At times, construction defects and premises liability cases are discrete. The victim may be able to find employment, but they may quickly lose that employment or they may not be eligible for a promotion. In these cases, it is important to have our aggressive and experienced construction defect attorneys and premises liability attorneys working to determine the appropriate employment losses.
When a person suffers any type of injury, their employment lifespan can be shortened. In order to determine the number of damages, it is important to take into account the amount the victim was making prior to the accident. Then, the current amount that the victim is making has to be considered. The Hirsch & Lyon Accident Law team will calculate the difference to determine how much money was lost or will be lost during the course of the victim’s career. It is also important to take into consideration whether or not the victim’s working career is shortened due to the injury. In order for an expert to figure out a realistic number, a “multiplier” that includes inflation is used and an increase in specific market value is considered. A “vocational expert” will be used to calculate future losses. While this may not be the largest number used when calculating damages, it tends to be the number that is easiest for people to understand.
Most jurors understand that a victim will lose a certain amount of money throughout their lifetime due to an injury. When this number is added to the victim’s medical bills and the future life care costs, it increases the pain and suffering amount award. Juries understand that a victim may once have been destined to have a rewarding personal life and career and that due to a personal injury, they need to settle for less. Jurors also often understand that It is their responsibility to make sure that the liability victim gets what they deserve and that they no longer have to settle for less when it comes to damages awarded. The Hirsch & Lyon Accident Law team will make sure that the insurance company is aware of this as well, which increases the victim’s chances of getting a large settlement before the case goes to trial.
If you or a loved one is a victim of a Premises Liability, contact Hirsch & Lyon Accident Law today by calling (602) 535-1900 day or night, or click this link to Schedule a Free Consultation. It takes about 30 minutes and we will go over your case from top to bottom.