St. Louis Premises Liability Attorneys

Over 40 Years of Experience Representing Individuals

If you or a loved one was injured because of a dangerous condition on someone else’s property, our St. Louis premises liability attorneys can investigate what happened, determine who controlled the area, and evaluate whether the evidence may support a claim.

At Sedey Harper Westhoff, we represent individuals, not employers, insurers, or corporations. Our attorneys bring more than 40 years of legal experience to personal injury and employment matters, and our personal injury lawyers prepare claims with the possibility of litigation in mind when a fair resolution cannot be reached through negotiation.

Premises liability cases may arise from slip and falls, unsafe stairs or walkways, inadequate security, animal attacks, dangerous pools or water features, and other hazardous property conditions.

We handle personal injury claims on a contingency fee basis, so no attorney fee is owed unless we obtain a recovery for you.

Call (314) 819-0963 or contact us online to schedule a free consultation with our St. Louis premises liability attorneys today.

What Is Premises Liability in Missouri?

Premises liability concerns injuries caused by unsafe conditions on property owned, occupied, managed, or controlled by another person or organization. Whether someone may be legally responsible depends on the circumstances, including who controlled the area, why the injured person was on the property, what dangerous condition existed, and whether the responsible party knew or reasonably should have known about it.

Missouri law may treat visitors differently depending on their legal status on the property. Customers and other invitees, social guests or licensees, and trespassers may be owed different duties. The specific duty should therefore be evaluated from the facts rather than assumed simply because an injury occurred on someone else’s property.

Common Types of Premises Liability Claims

Unsafe conditions can arise in apartment buildings, stores, restaurants, hotels, parking areas, private homes, workplaces, and other properties.

Premises liability matters may involve:

• Slip and fall accidents: Wet floors, unsafe stairs, uneven walking surfaces, loose flooring, snow or ice, and other fall hazards.
• Poor maintenance: Broken handrails, deteriorated walkways, unsafe electrical conditions, falling objects, or unrepaired property damage.
• Inadequate warnings: Hazards that were not corrected or clearly identified despite circumstances that may have required a warning.
• Dog bites and animal attacks: Injuries involving animals on residential or other property.
• Drowning and water-related accidents: Incidents involving pools, water features, barriers, supervision, warnings, or other potentially unsafe conditions.
• Negligent security: Claims involving assaults or other criminal acts when the facts may support liability based on inadequate security measures.

These categories can involve different legal standards and evidence. Our attorneys evaluate the particular hazard, who controlled the area, what information was available before the incident, and how the condition contributed to the injury.

Who May Be Responsible for an Unsafe Property?

The titled owner is not necessarily the only person or organization that may have responsibility for a dangerous condition. Premises liability frequently depends on who possessed or controlled the specific area and who had responsibility for inspection, maintenance, repair, or security.

Depending on the circumstances, potentially responsible parties can include property owners, landlords, tenants or business operators, property managers, maintenance companies, cleaning contractors, security providers, and public entities.

Leases, management agreements, maintenance contracts, repair records, incident reports, and other documents may help establish who had responsibility for a particular area.

What Must Be Proven in a Missouri Premises Liability Claim?

A premises liability claim generally requires evidence connecting a dangerous property condition and a responsible party’s conduct to the injury and resulting losses.

Important issues may include:

• Possession or control: Who owned, occupied, managed, maintained, or controlled the area when the incident occurred.
• The dangerous condition: What hazard existed and how it created a risk of injury.
• Notice: Whether a responsible party created the condition, actually knew about it, or reasonably should have discovered it.
• Reasonable care: Whether appropriate steps were taken to inspect, repair, restrict access to, or warn about the hazard.
• Causation: Whether the condition contributed to the injury.
• Damages: What medical, financial, and other supported losses resulted.

Evidence may include photographs, surveillance footage, incident reports, maintenance and cleaning records, repair requests, witness accounts, medical documentation, and documents identifying who controlled the property.

For additional information about these issues, read our guide to proving negligence in Missouri premises liability cases.

Missouri Comparative Fault and Filing Deadlines

Missouri applies comparative fault in many tort cases. If an injured person is assigned part of the responsibility for an accident, the amount recovered may be reduced in proportion to that share of fault rather than being automatically barred.

For example, an insurer or defendant may argue that a warning was visible, that the condition should have been noticed, or that the injured person’s own actions contributed to the incident. Photographs, witness testimony, surveillance footage, and other evidence can therefore be important when fault is disputed.

Missouri Revised Statutes Section 516.120 provides a five-year limitations period for certain actions involving injury to a person or the rights of another. That does not mean every property injury claim has the same deadline. Different rules or procedures can apply depending on the claim and the parties involved.

Claims involving government-owned property require additional care because sovereign immunity and statutory requirements may affect whether and how a claim can proceed.

Even when a filing deadline appears to be years away, prompt investigation can matter. Surveillance footage can be overwritten, physical conditions can change, repairs may be made, and witnesses may become harder to locate.

What to Do After an Injury on Someone Else’s Property

After a property-related accident, protecting your health should come first. Once it is safe to do so, several practical steps may help preserve information relevant to a later claim:

• Seek appropriate medical attention and follow the treatment instructions you receive.
• Report the incident to the property owner, manager, business, or other responsible party and request a copy of any incident report when available.
• Photograph or record the dangerous condition before it changes, if you can do so safely.
• Collect contact information from witnesses.
• Preserve damaged clothing, shoes, or other physical items that may relate to the incident.
• Keep medical bills, wage information, receipts, insurance correspondence, and other records together.
• Be cautious about signing releases or making detailed statements about fault before understanding their effect.

An attorney can also evaluate whether time-sensitive evidence, such as surveillance footage or maintenance records, should be requested promptly.