​

Premises Liability refers to the legal responsibility that an owner of land has to those persons who are on the property. Florida law places a legal duty on the owner of real property to exercise reasonable care to maintain a safe premises. This applies to all owners and occupiers of land and structures. Although it applies to a broad range of real property, from undeveloped land, single family homes, apartments, condos, shopping malls, strip malls, stadiums, arenas, schools, and publicly-owned properties, this legal duty is most commonly associated with homeowners and business owners. Accordingly, the Law Offices of Ivan A. Schertzer recommends that all home and business owners, as well as all renters, obtain the highest limits of liability insurance possible on the properties so that in the event that a serious injury occurs at one's home or business, the responsible parties have adequate insurance coverage. This is especially true if there is a swimming pool on the property, if the property is located near water, or if the property is very old. Child drowning rates highly among the causes of death of people under the age of 18. Floridians who own pools or live near water must be extremely cautious when there are little children in and around their homes.
 
Slip and Falls occur when homes and businesses are dangerously designed, carelessly constructed, or poorly maintained. People commonly slip and fall on wet floors, slippery marble or tile, or uneven sidewalks. All of these dangerous and hazardous conditions cause injury to even the most careful people. Some folks get hurt when they trip over an improperly marked curb. Others trip over steps that are not safely leveled. Many clients of the Law Offices of Ivan A. Schertzer were injured while shopping at Publix, Walgreens, CVS, Winn-Dixie, or Walmart. Florida law requires grocery stores and other businesses that are open to the public to exercise reasonable care to maintain their premises in a safe condition.
 
The law also recognizes that slippery substances such as liquids or food waste that are in areas of the store where they should not be, i.e., the floor, are dangerous and hazardous conditions that lead to injuries. In fighting these types of cases in court, the Law Offices of Ivan A. Schertzer will obtain the corporate policy manual for cleanliness and safety and use the company's own policies against it. We do this by proving that the various lower level employees responsible for inspecting and cleaning the area of the store did not do their job as outlined by the checklist in the corporate policy manual. In digging deep into these cases, we often discover a treasure trove of paperwork. Many business mount store cameras throughout the stores over the aisles. These are constantly monitored in order to arrest and prosecute shoplifters. As the Law Offices of Ivan A. Schertzer, we uses these resources to prove the length of time between inspections and cleanings.
 
Daily and weekly cleaning checklists, inspection logs, and maintenance protocols are almost always incomplete and if they are filled out, it is often obvious that all date and time entries were made by only one of the employees and cover shits that that employee was not working. In other words, the company is providing records that have been falsely and fraudulently created and recorded. We cross-reference those cleaning sheets with personnel records and employee schedules and we can prove that the person who was responsible for the specific area where our client was injured was not the same person who signed or initialed the cleaning sheet! In other words, the company is providing records that have been falsely and fraudulently created and recorded.
 
Negligent Security cases often arise where someone has suffered a serious and catastrophic life-altering injury. Unfortunately, many cases involving bad security are absolutely foreseeable and preventable. Most of these incidents occur in and around bars, nightclubs, strip clubs, race tracks, liquor stores, casinos, and shopping malls. Often injuries are so severe that the force inflicted by a bouncer paralyzes a customer. Sometimes security companies like Wackenhut or Brinks employ completely unqualified people who simply like to shoot guns and use Tasers. Bouncers and security guards are often poorly educated, deficiently trained, juiced up on steroids, and quite often high on drugs or drunk on alcohol. This is a formula for fights, brawls, beatings, and shootings. There is no state licensing for bouncers and one need not pass any moral or ethical test to do the job. The main requirement is to be large, physically imposing, aggressive, and tough. The main purpose of the bouncer is to deter customers, patrons, and employees from starting fights.
 
Business establishments are not simply required to provide a safe environment inside the premises, but are also required to make sure that the exterior area surrounding the building is safe. To do so, it is often necessary for the parking lot and surrounding area to be extremely well lit with overhead lighting. It also helps to prevent crime if the owner has a visible security guard or two performing a roving patrol. This is true for businesses that operate in neighborhoods that have high crime rates like liquor stores, strip clubs, fast food restaurants, and check cashing stores, all of which are open late at night.
 
Just like in cases where someone is injured when he or she slips and falls on a wet floor, the surveillance video is a critical component to proving that the company is at fault. Even without high-quality equipment, basic camera technology will generally do a good job capturing what activity went on, who was involved, what weapons were used, and who was injured or killed.
 
If you or a loved one have been seriously injured while on someone else's property, contact the Law Offices of Ivan A. Schertzer in North Miami Beach, Florida. We can help you obtain justice for your incident. As a victim of a personal injury case, you may be entitled to receive thousands or even millions of dollars in benefits and damages. Our contingency fee policy allows you to fully concentrate on recovering from your injury without worries over the cost of our quality representation. You are never responsible for any expenses we incur throughout the legal process — and you owe no attorney fee unless we win your case.
 
Your initial consultation with our skilled, compassionate Miami personal injury lawyers is confidential and free of charge. Home and hospital visits are available to those whose injuries prevent travel. For honest answers to your questions, and to turn your life in a different, more positive direction, contact the Law Offices of Ivan A. Schertzer in Miami, Florida TODAY for a free initial consultation. Simply call 305-940-0007 or email us. Hablamos español; nous parlons Kreyol.
 

FREE CASE EVALUATION

Click here to receive a no-cost, no-obligation consultation on your case

CLICK FOR DIRECTIONS

Get location and directions to our Law Office conveniently located in North Miami Beach

HAVE A LEGAL QUESTION

Email a question about your personal injury case and our team will respond