Porches, balconies and decks offer an enjoyable space for entertaining and mingling with friends. Individuals spending time outdoors on a balcony, porch or deck automatically assume that it is structurally sound and safe to support their weight. Deck collapse and porch collapse are very serious issues in Rhode island and Massachusetts and the injured victims need to seek the best Rhode Island and MA personal injury attorneys for legal assistance.

However, if the porch collapses or the railing fails the end result can be catastrophic. This is because these types of Providence, Woonsocket, Central falls or Warwick accidents often cause serious injuries including head trauma, broken bones, spinal cord injury, disfigurement, torn ligaments and damage to internal organs. In some cases, a porch railing failure accident or collapsed porch or deck collapse can be fatal if the victim becomes covered under a massive amount of heavy debris or falls from a great height.

Premises Liability in Rhode Island

These types of serious accidents and mishaps can happen on public property, commercial buildings and residential homes. Porch collapses and deck collapse in Rhode Island and Massachusetts are caused by various factors including defective design, shoddy construction, rotting wood or lack of maintenance by the contractor, site manager or property owner. These cases often involve premises liability when others responsible for the property are negligent in their actions or inaction a creating a safe environment. A poor design, inadequate construction and lack of maintaining the building can cause various problems on the deck or porch under certain circumstances, which often include:

• A building violation
• Structural defect or design flaw
• Overcrowding
• Inadequate supports
• Decaying wood on the porch’s structural supports
• Rotting handrail
• Rusty fasteners or nails
• Weakened beams
• Defective components
• Decomposing flooring material caused by weather conditions or termites
• Deterioration of the building’s foundation
• Unnatural accumulation of ice and snow
• Failure to adequately maintain or repair the premises

Determining who is at fault in Providence Superior Court deck collapse injury case

If you, or a loved one, have suffered serious injuries in a porch collapse or failing porch railing, hiring the skills of a RI or MA premises liability attorney may help. By law, the property owner, manager and others in charge of maintaining the premises are legally bound to ensure everyone’s safety. This means the decks, balconies and porches must remain clear of obstacles and other debris. In addition, all supported structures must be properly designed to accommodate normal weight loads when the porch is used as it is designed.

When a serious accident occurs in Rhode island or Mass., the victim seeking financial compensation through a claim or lawsuit must prove which parties are at fault for their injuries and losses. However, this is a complicated process that often requires the skills of a seasoned RI personal injury attorney who specializes in premises liability cases in Rhode island. The East Providence, Rhode Island lawyer must have a comprehensive understanding of civil procedure, the statute of limitations and filing a claim for recompense.

A personal injury attorney in RI can use proven methods to determine if the business owner, landlord, property owner, lessee or others have a legal duty to ensure that the premises remained safe for all visitors, tenants and guests. Under certain situations, the responsibility might be shared by multiple parties. Through experience and knowledge of state civil tort law, the Pawtucket, East Greenwich or Barrington attorney working on behalf of the victim may build the case on:

• Premises liability
• Negligence
• State construction laws
• Wrongful death

Proving the deck collapse case

A MA or RI lawyer fighting on behalf of the victim will file a premises liability claim or lawsuit based on the duty of the property owner or occupier. To be successful, the Rhode Island defective stairs personal injury lawyer must show specific elements of the claim including:

• The property owner, property manager or occupier knew, or should have reasonably expected, that the condition could occur
• Individuals, businesses and entities in charge of the property failed to provide the victim a safe environment, which led to their injuries or death
• The victim’s injuries, losses and damages are real

“• 6/11/2012 Manchester, N.H.: Portable classroom trailers at five city schools were closed after children were injured when a wooden platform attached to a trailer collapsed at one school.
• 5/19/2012 Ashland, N.H.: Rear deck porch collapse
• 5/2012 Churubusco, Ind.: A report of a collapse at a pre-prom gathering where 12 teenagers tumbled.
• 9/20/2011 Castleton, Vt.: Seven Castleton State College students were injured when a deck holding revelers collapsed.
• 9/26/2004 Milford, Conn.: Eight people were injured, including a soon-to-be bride, when a deck at the back of a house “collapsed like a house of cards.”Recent Study Reveals Dramatic Increases In Collapses And Failures Of Decks And Balconies  The Jere Beasley Report http://www.jerebeasleyreport.com/2015/03/recent-study-reveals-dramatic-increases-in-collapses-and-failures-of-decks-and-balconies/

The insurance defense deck collapse attorneys will seek to establish that:

• The victim was aware that the dangerous condition existed before the accident
• The dangerous condition was obvious to the victim prior to the RI stair accident

These types of cases are handled on contingency, meaning the victim is not required to make an upfront payment for legal services. The personal injury law firm in Rhode Island handling the porch collapse case or lawsuit will be paid from a successful jury trial award or through a negotiated out of court settlement.

When you or a loved one has  been a victim of negligence causing a slip and fall accident in Rhode Island, you may try to seek justice for this accident through  a lawsuit. You will have to prove your injuries and that your injuries were caused by the mishap. In some situations, it is enough to prove that a preexisting condition was exacerbated as a result of the fall.  You will have to prove your case to a judge and jury and have them rule in your favor to win.

Slip and fall in RI

In many circumstances, the insurance company will  attempt to settle the  RI premises liability cause of action out of court. If you were injured in a slip and fall incident in Rhode Island then you should contact one of the best Rhode Island slip and fall attorneys. Also visit this website What are the steps to prove to win your Providence Superior Court  slip and fall injury claim? Today we will be covering what must be proved.

Property Owner Duty to Provide Safe Environment

A property owner in Rhode Island should always be aware of trying to make his property accident free. Property owners must take reasonable steps to ensure their property is free from dangerous conditions that could cause a person to slip and fall. However, visitors , customers and guests must also be careful and aware of their surroundings so that they avoid a slip down and fall on a  property.

The Supreme Court of Rhode Island (RI) stated “[A] landowner has a duty to exercise reasonable care for the safety of persons reasonably expected to be on the premises, and that duty includes an obligation to protect against the risks of a dangerous condition existing on the premises, provided the landowner knows of, or by the exercise of reasonable care would have discovered, the dangerous condition. The burden of proving that sufficient evidence existed to show that the defendants knew or should have known of an unsafe condition on their premises is on the plaintiff.”  http://www.slepkowlaw.com/slip-fall-ri.htm Lieberman v.  Bliss-Doris Realty Associates

Liability for Slip and Fall Claims

When you slip and fall on someone’s property because of dangerous conditions, you will need to be able to show some proof of your injuries by:

• The  Rhode Island property owner or his staff should have known about the the state of the area because another reasonable individual in their place would have known about that specific area and tried to fix it or put a warning up while it was trying to be fixed.
• The property owner did know about the dangerous condition, but showed negligence and didn’t make any effort to fix it in a reasonable amount of time.
• The property owner or their employees caused the dangerous, problematic area by the means of a spill, broken floor, leak or another method.

Many non commercial property owners, are slip shod  and reckless about the maintenance of their properties. Nonetheless, the property owner or maintenance company will typically deny liability asserting that they acted reasonably and that they they were not aware of the defective or dangerous condition on their property.

 Reasonable Person 

When you present, your evidence to show how a property owner is liable for the injuries sustained when you slipped and fell you will have to show how the property owner was negligent in their actions.  Your  Rhode Island slip and fall lawyer will have to prove how a reasonable person should have acted in that situation.   A Providence County Superior Court jury would decide if the defendant had acted as a reasonable person in light of  the facts and circumstances of the negligence case.

To help your RI personal injury attorneys win your Rhode Island premises liability claim, you might want to help your East providence Tort attorney with some of the following facts about your case and the property owner.

• Did your slip and fall accident involve tripping over something that was left on the floor that should not have been there?
• What kinds of cleaning activities did the property owner engage in and how often did occur? Is there proof to help support your claim?
• If someone was with you, did they see where you slipped? If so, did they see anything on the floor, did they have any pictures possibly on a cell phone or tablet? Do you have any other witnesses?
• If the slip and fall were caused by a leak in the roof, did the property owner allow a normal amount of time before being fixed or was it left in its condition for  days, weeks or months?
• Were you being careful and watching out for your surroundings or were you comparatively negligent?

” One out of five falls causes a serious injury such as broken bones or a head injury. Each year, 2.5 million older people are treated in emergency departments for fall injuries. Over 700,000 patients a year are hospitalized because of a fall injury, most often because of a head injury or hip fracture. Each year at least 250,000 older people are hospitalized for hip fractures.More than 95% of hip fractures are caused by falling,⁶ usually by falling sideways. Falls are the most common cause of traumatic brain injuries (TBI). Adjusted for inflation, the direct medical costs for fall injuries are $34 billion annually. Hospital costs account for two-thirds of the total.”  Center Disease Control Home and Recreational Safety   Important Facts about Falls

Conclusion

If you want to prove your  Warwick, Cranston or Woonsocket RI slip and fall case and win, you need to have proof that a property owner was not reasonable within the terms of that definition. You want to have a good Rhode Island slip and fall  attorney who is on your side who takes into account all the proof and proves to the jury and judge that a property owner was negligent.

Legal Notice per Rules of Professional Responsibility: The Rhode Island Supreme Court licenses all lawyers and attorneys in the general practice of law, but does not license or certify any lawyer / attorney as an expert or specialist in any field of practice. While this firm maintains joint responsibility, most cases of this type are referred to other attorneys for principle responsibility.

If you have suffered injuries on another’s property in Rhode Island, you are likely wondering if the landlord is legally responsible to provide compensation for your medical expenses, lost wages, suffering and pain. Determining who is responsible for causing the problem can be complicated, and often requires the skills of a RI  personal injury attorney that handles landlord liability claims.

Landlord liability in RI

Anytime a landlord leases or rents their property to another in Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, they might be liable for any personal injury claim under the umbrella  of premises liability laws. When a victim is injured on the  RI property, they must show how the landlord had a duty to provide a safe environment and that a breach of that duty caused the injury.

As an example, if you suffered injuries from a fall  in Providence because a stairwell railing came loose, you will need to prove that the landlord  knew or should have known of the dangerous condition on the premises. The injured tenant’s  RI personal injury lawyer  will need to establish that the victim suffered real injury or damage as a result of the landlord’s negligence. Finally, you will need to prove that the injuries you endured are directly associated with the landlord’s failure to maintain a secured railing.

Common Types of Tenant Accidents

Many tenants that rent or lease a building or home are subject to liability when a visitor or invitee is injured on the premises. Common types of tenant accidents include:

• Slip and fall injuries / fall down stairs
• Electrocution
• Drowning
• Cuts
• Assault and battery
• Wrongful death

Determining Liability

Tenant accident cases in Rhode Island can be complex. Liability often involves a determination on the type of landlord-tenant relationship in the lease or rental agreement. Typically, a Rhode Island  personal injury attorney specializing in  RI premises liability injuries will build their case on certain factors that include:

Who Has Control of the Property in Rhode Island?

Generally, any structure or building on the property along with permanent elements and fixtures are usually under the control of the landlord. The property owner can be held liable if any type of hazardous condition with these structures and components directly caused the loss or injury.

In many cases, the landlord is not held responsible for any other fixed or element under the control of the leaser or renter. This could include shelving, furniture or ensuring that the floor remains free of any debris.

Specific Terms of the Rental Agreement

In all likelihood, the terms of the rental agreement or lease indicates whether the landlord or the tenant is in charge of maintaining the premises and landscaping. If anything under the control of the tenant as indicated in the rental agreement causes harm or injury to the victim, the landlord may not be liable for compensation.

Hiring a RI slip and fall Lawyer

If you, or a loved one, have suffered serious injuries due to a landlord’s failure to properly maintain the property, you might have a valid claim for damages and loss. You can file a claim or lawsuit to hold the landlord accountable for their neglect. The funds you received can pay medical expenses, recoup lost wages, and provide compensation for your pain, mental anxiety, emotional distress and suffering.

Rhode Island Personal injury attorneys who specialize in landlord liability accident claims  and RI premises liability take cases on contingency. This means their legal fees will be paid only through an out-of-court settlement or jury award at trial. These  RI Slip and Fall law firms offer an initial free consultation to discuss your case.

The Providence Superior Court justice granted the Defendant Town Of Lincoln’s motion for summary judgment in favor of the defendant town of Lincoln*. The RI Supreme Court affirmed the lower Court ruling determining that two legal notices sent by the injured victim’s lawyers were defective under RI law which according to the Court was clear and well established precedent. The victim asserted that ““the street collapsed under her, causing her to fall into a large sinkhole.” She claimed serious injury and faulted the town of Lincoln for improper maintenance which caused a “hazardous condition” Maria Carbone :v. :John Ward, in his capacity as Finance Director for the Town of Lincoln et al. No. 2011-276-Appeal. http://www.courts.ri.gov/Courts/SupremeCourt/Opinions/11-276.pdf

RI personal injury attorneys

The Providence Superior Court Judge believed that 2 attempts to give notice by two different RI personal injury attorneys were both defective and did not meet the statutory and common law requirements. In layman’s terms, the victims claims for compensation for injuries as a result of a premises liability fall were dismissed on a legal technicality resulting from lack of proper notice. The Providence Superior Court Justice ruled in favor of the defendant’s determining that two different Rhode Island  Slip and Fall attorneys for the injured victim failed to comply with RI Negligence Law by giving proper notice to the town of Lincoln (The Second notice was given by Plaintiff’s current  RI appellate Injury lawyer as an amended notice.) Id.

Shame on these RI injury lawyers

(Editor’s notes: C’mon Man! Established RI common law interpreting Rhode Island Statutes is clear that proper notice must be given. Shame on these Rhode Island tort lawyer’s for not properly reading and or interpreting clear RI precedent concerning notice to a town for premises liability injury. And then there is an amended notice and the amended notice gets it wrong, again. Pathetic, actually! Somebody, may be checking their legal malpractice policies?) 

Certainly, this lower court decision was not on the merits of the injured victim’s cause of action. It is unclear whether the victim broke a bone, fractured a wrist or the extent of her injuries. The plaintiff appealed this decision to the highest Court in Rhode Island sitting in Providence, the RI Supreme Court.

RI Supreme Court speaks

The RI Top Court, affirmed the decision of the motion justice. The top court rejected both notices asserting that “Our precedent is clear.” as to notice required when someone is injured on a sidewalk, highway, street or other area in a town or city in Rhode Island. Id. “[p]laintiff‟s notice did not fix the location in a [reasonably] sufficient manner.” The statute clearly and unambiguously requires that the notice of claim must be specific, therefore the notice in the case at bar must be deemed insufficient.” Id. ““[W]hen a notice of claim fails to provide substantial certainty about the time and place of the injury and the character and nature of the defect that caused it, a suit for failure to maintain the property cannot be preserved.” Id. Prout, 996 A.2d at 1143. Id.

As a result of the appellate win by the town of Lincoln’s premises liability lawyers’, the Plaintiff never got her day in court to prove that the town of Lincoln was negligent and such failure of due care caused her injuries.

Applicable Facts:

“On April 3, 2008, plaintiff sent a notice of claim to the town for injuries she sustained on March 31, 2008, alleging that “the street collapsed under her, causing her to fall into a large sinkhole.” The place of incident was described as a “[s]idewalk and street outside of the Coventry Credit Union at the corner of Railroad Street and Summer Street.” The notice stated that plaintiff “sustained serious personal injury due to this incident” and faulted defendants “for failure to properly maintain said area, resulting in a hazardous condition which injured Ms. Carbone.” On April 11, 2008, plaintiff sent a second notice, indicating that the injury occurred when she fell in a hole “on Winter Street parallel to Railroad Street in the Town of Lincoln/Manville, Rhode Island.” The record reflects that the notice of April 3, 2008, which was sent by plaintiff’s first attorney, may have been incorrect; the April 11, 2008 notice was sent by plaintiff’s second—and current—attorney.” Id.

RI Statute:

§ 45-15-9  Notice of injury on highway or bridge – Commencement of action. – http://webserver.rilin.state.ri.us/Statutes/title45/45-15/45-15-9.HTM

“(a) A person so injured or damaged shall, within sixty (60) days, give to the town by law obliged to keep the highway, causeway, or bridge in repair, notice of the time, place, and cause of the injury or damage; and if the town does not make just and due satisfaction, within the time prescribed by § 45-15-5, the person shall, within three (3) years after the date of the injury or damage, commence his or her action against the town treasurer for the recovery of damages, and not thereafter.”” “The statutory duty of municipalities to maintain all highways located within their borders“extends to sidewalks contiguous thereto.” Town of Lincoln v. State, 712 A.2d 357, 358 (R.I.1998); see also Barroso v. Pepin, 106 R.I. 502, 508, 261 A.2d 277, 280 (1970) (“It appears to be well settled in this state that the liability of a municipality to keep its sidewalks safe is established by statute.”). Id.

RI Supreme Court reasoning:

The Rhode Island Supreme Court quashed plaintiff’s Personal Injury Premises Liability claim when it ruled “Our precedent is clear. In this case, plaintiff failed accurately to describe the place of injury. The first notice incorrectly described a “[s]idewalk and street outside of the Coventry Credit Union at the corner of Railroad Street and Summer Street.” The second notice stated that plaintiff fell in a hole “on Winter Street parallel to Railroad Street in the Town of Lincoln / Manville, Rhode Island.” Although the statute does not require “complete accuracy,” this notice is deficient in more than one respect and neither the first nor the second notice identifies the location of the defect in a reasonably sufficient manner.” Id.

Read also: Prout v. City of Providence, 996 A.2d 1139 (R.I. 2010) Supreme Court of Rhode Island  https://www.courtlistener.com/ri/bKKV/prout-v-city-of-providence/ *(Lincoln is near Cumberland, Central falls, Pawtucket, Providence Woonsocket and North Smithfield)

Legal Notice per Rules of Professional Responsibility: The Rhode Island Supreme Court licenses all lawyers and attorneys in the general practice of law, but does not license or certify any lawyer / attorney as an expert or specialist in any field of practice. While this firm maintains joint responsibility, most cases of this type are referred to other attorneys for principle responsibility.