Our New Orleans law firm hears stories of hotel injuries all the time, often during the summer when people are traveling and vacationing in new areas. Although most vacations provide for a relaxing break from everyday stress, if the hotel, motel, or resort where you are staying does not take proper precautions to protect guests, a vacation could turn into a nightmare.
For example, earlier this month, two men from Louisiana died in a double drowning while canoeing at their resort in Georgia. Although the accident is under investigation, it is possible that the canoes they rented from the resort were defective, or they lost their lives because the resort supervisor was not present to ensure that guests who were canoeing were safe, etc.
However, they were guests at the resort, and (arguably) it is foreseeable that guests could drown in a canoeing accident. When you are a guest on a merchant’s (hotel, resort) property, it is the owner’s duty to ensure that the premises are safe—a concept known as premises liability law.
Burden Of Proof in Premises Liability Law Claims against Merchants
Premises liability law claims can sometimes be difficult to prove, as not only are all the typical requirements of a personal injury lawsuit involved (regarding causation, whereby you and your attorney must prove that one incident gave rise to your injuries), but you must also prove that the owner owed you a duty, the owner breached that duty, and owner was previously warned about the issue that eventually gave rise to your injuries (and could have prevented the injury by exercising reasonable care). Courts have been clear that a merchant is not liable every time there is an accident on their property.
Specifically, Louisiana law states that a merchant owes a duty to people who use his premises to exercise reasonable care to keep aisles, passageways, and floors in a reasonably safe condition. This includes a duty to exercise a reasonable effort to keep the premises free of any hazardous conditions which might give rise to damage. Therefore, if a plaintiff is injured on those premises and maintains that it is due to something the merchant did wrong, the injured plaintiff has to prove that the merchant’s conduct was a cause-in-fact of their injury; this means that the injury would not have happened but for the merchant’s negligent conduct. So, for example, if another patron is responsible for the injury, and that patron’s behavior could not have been controlled by the merchant, the merchant cannot be held liable for the injury.
Specifically, the plaintiff has the burden of proving that:
- The condition (which gave rise to the injury) presented an unreasonable risk of harm to the plaintiff and that risk of harm was reasonably foreseeable;
- The merchant either created or had notice of the condition which caused the damage beforehand; and
- The merchant failed to exercise reasonable care.
Premises Liability Law Attorneys
Property owners have a legal responsibility to ensure that their premises are safe for guests, customers, clients, employees, and other visitors. Under premises liability law, victims can seek compensation for their hospital bills, lost wages, and other expenses. However, it is crucial that experienced premises liability attorneys take the lead in these cases, as they can be difficult to argue.
A premises liability attorney at Harrell & Nowak can guide you through every step of the judicial process. Contact our office today for a free consultation from our Louisiana lawyers.