Personal Injury/Wrongful Death

people can easily be injured on someone's property

Premises Liability

Many people do not think of premises liability as a large area of the law, but especially in a state like Montana, where weather conditions vary and buildings are often aged, people can easily be injured on someone's property. At Meridian Law, we have handled many different types of premises liability claims. These include slip and fall claims, injuries resulting to a person because a building is not code-compliant, ADA accessible, or is otherwise not properly maintained, fire claims, and ranching accidents.  

Injured parties are often told, by the insurance company for the land/building owner, that they cannot recover under an applicable insurance policy. We often see this in cases involving slip and falls. Insurance companies will attempt to "blame" the injured person for the fall, and as such, deny liability. We have seen this same situation on multiple occasions involving a fall on wet flooring inside a building. However, Montana law places a duty upon property owners to ensure that both the exterior and the interior of a building are safe and secure for their invitees. Even in wet and snowy conditions, as often exist in Montana, a property owner bears responsibility for keeping parking lots, sidewalks, and entryways clear of moisture, ice, and debris. In addition, entryways, entrances, and exits must be properly equipped with weather-appropriate protection for those entering and exiting a building. We encourage you, if you have been injured in a slip and fall incident, not to allow an insurance company or business owner to convince you that they are not responsible. We know the information to obtain to establish liability, and we are well-familiar with experts that will help us establish the appropriate standard of care.  

We also handle injury and property damage claims resulting from fire, as well as injuries caused by an owner's failure to ensure code-compliant property. We work directly with experts in code requirements and proper building standards to establish liability on your behalf. It is critical, in claims arising from injuries on someone's property, to be able to prove that the property owner was negligent in their duties. To do that, you need a Team of people on your side, including excellent expert witnesses, and here at Meridian Law, we can provide you that Team.