Van Nuys Premises Liability Lawyer Prestige Law Firm P.C.

Every premises liability case begins with establishing that the property owner or occupier owed you a legal duty of care. This duty depends on your legal status as a visitor:

• Invitees (such as customers in a Van Nuys grocery store) are owed the highest duty of care. Owners must regularly inspect the property and fix or warn about hazards.
• Licensees (such as social guests) must be warned about known dangers.
• Trespassers may have limited protection, but property owners cannot intentionally harm them. Children are treated differently under the “attractive nuisance” doctrine, meaning owners may be liable if a child is hurt by something especially dangerous and enticing, such as an unfenced swimming pool.

In every scenario, the central question is whether the defendant acted with reasonable care under the circumstances.

After showing that a duty of care existed, you must prove that the property owner breached that duty. A breach can occur in two ways:

• Carelessness: When an owner’s actions create a hazard. For example, a Van Nuys shop owner leaves a ladder and tools out during a break, and a customer trips and is injured.
• Negligence: When an owner fails to address a hazard they knew, or should have known about. For example, water accumulates in the lobby of a Van Nuys office building during a rainy day, and management ignores it, leading to a slip and fall.

Failure to warn visitors of dangerous conditions, such as not posting a wet floor sign or failing to repair broken lighting in a parking garage, can also be considered a breach of duty.

It is not enough to show that a property was unsafe. You must connect the unsafe condition directly to your injury. This requires proving that the breach of duty was the proximate cause of your accident.
Defense lawyers often argue that injuries came from other sources or pre-existing conditions, so strong evidence is essential. Examples include:

• Witness testimony confirming the hazard and your accident.
• Expert analysis from engineers, safety inspectors, or security professionals.
• Medical records showing your injuries are consistent with the incident.
• Photographs, video footage, or incident reports documenting the dangerous condition.

Using the earlier example of a wet lobby floor, a witness who saw you slip and fall, combined with a doctor’s testimony linking your fracture to that fall, would establish causation.

Finally, you must prove that you suffered actual, compensable damages. These can include:

• Medical expenses (current and future treatment, rehabilitation, or surgery)
• Lost income and reduced future earning capacity
• Pain and suffering (physical and emotional distress)
• Property damage in certain cases (such as fire-related incidents)

Without damages, even a clear breach of duty does not support a valid claim.
Comparative Fault in California
California follows a comparative fault system, which means you can still recover damages even if you were partially responsible for your accident.
For example, if you slipped on a wet supermarket floor in Van Nuys while running, a court may assign you 25% of the fault. If your total damages were $100,000, you could still recover $75,000.
This is why gathering strong evidence is critical, not only to prove negligence but also to counter arguments that attempt to shift blame onto you.