Premises Liability Litigation
Premises Liability Trial Lawyer
A business profits from every customer who walks in. The duty to keep the property safe comes with that profit. When an owner fails and someone is seriously hurt, the proof of why is almost always sitting in the owner’s own records — and we go get it.
Why These Cases Are Different
The Owner Holds the Evidence. We Know How to Get It.
Premises cases are won on notice and records — what the owner knew, when they knew it, and what they did about it. All of that evidence starts out in the defendant’s hands, and some of it starts disappearing the day of the injury.
Notice Is the Battleground
It is rarely enough that a hazard existed. The case turns on proving the owner knew — or should have known — and did nothing. That proof lives in logs, schedules, and employee testimony.
The Evidence Belongs to the Defendant
Sweep sheets, inspection logs, incident reports, surveillance video — the owner holds all of it, and much of it is routinely overwritten or discarded. Preservation demands go out immediately.
"Open and Obvious" and Other Deflections
The playbook is predictable: the hazard was obvious, the warning was adequate, the victim wasn’t watching. We prepare every case to put the property — not the person — on trial.
Corporate Layers
The storefront is one company; the building is another; the janitorial contract is a third. Each points at the others. Full recovery means untangling the web and putting every insurer on notice.
What We Investigate
The Property Keeps Records. We Read Them.
A premises case is won inside the owner’s own paperwork — the logs, the footage, the incident history, the corporate structure. This is where we look — on every case.
01
The Hazard
The dangerous condition is the heart of the case — and it is usually repaired, cleaned, or replaced within days. It has to be documented first.
- Photographs and measurements before the condition disappears
- Building codes, safety standards, and industry practices
- Defective doors, stairs, railings, and flooring
- Lighting, sightlines, and warnings — or the absence of them
02
The Notice
The owner’s defense is almost always the same: we didn’t know. The records usually say otherwise.
- Inspection and sweep logs — and the gaps in them
- How long the condition existed before the injury
- Employee statements and internal incident reports
- Complaints the owner received and ignored
03
The Cameras
Most commercial properties record everything — and overwrite everything. The footage has a shelf life measured in days.
- Surveillance video of the incident and the hours before it
- Retention policies and overwrite schedules
- Preservation letters sent immediately
- Footage that proves how long the hazard sat there
04
The History
A property that hurt someone once has usually hurt someone before. The pattern is evidence.
- Prior incidents at the same location
- Code violations and citation history
- Maintenance and repair records
- What the owner knew from the last time
05
The Ownership
Behind the storefront is a web of companies — owner, operator, maintenance contractor, security vendor — each pointing at the others.
- Property owners and management companies
- Tenants, operators, and franchisees
- Maintenance and janitorial contractors
- Every entity’s insurance, identified early
Serious Injuries, Taken Seriously
A Fall Is Not a Small Case
Insurers treat premises injuries as nuisance claims — right up until the medicine is undeniable. A fall onto concrete can mean a fractured hip, a broken femur, a brain injury, a shoulder rebuilt with hardware. For older clients especially, these injuries change everything — and insurers discount them anyway, betting that no one will make a jury look closely.
We do not accept that math. Among our representative matters: an $890,000 settlement for an 86-year-old client whose hip and femur were broken by a malfunctioning door. Serious preparation gets serious results — at any age.
And premises cases reach well beyond falls — defective doors, stairways, and railings, negligent maintenance, inadequate security, dangerous conditions of every kind. If a property hurt you, the property’s records probably explain why.
The TrialReady Approach
Prepared for Trial From Day One
Premises cases are records cases — and records cases reward preparation. As lead trial counsel, Evan Garcia has secured more than $86 million in verdicts and settlements for injured clients by treating every case, from the first day, like a jury will see it.
Insurers track which lawyers actually try cases. When a premises case arrives prepared — the footage preserved, the logs obtained, the corporate web mapped — settlement negotiations change. And when they don’t change enough, we are ready.
$86M+
Recovered for Injured Clients
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