Defending the Rights of Property Visitors in St. Louis
A sudden fall on a wet restaurant floor, a collapsing balcony railing, or an unmarked hazard in a retail store can transform your life in seconds. These premises liability incidents often leave victims facing mounting medical bills, lost wages, and prolonged recovery periods—all because a property owner failed to maintain safe conditions. When property owners neglect their responsibility to provide safe environments, you deserve skilled legal representation to hold them accountable.
Meyerkord & Kurth has proudly served the St. Louis community for over 40 years, establishing a reputation for excellence in premises liability cases. With extensive experience in slip and fall cases, inadequate security claims, and other premises liability matters, we bring deep knowledge to every case we handle. Our commitment to communication means you’ll never be left in the dark—we keep you informed at every stage while fighting relentlessly to secure the compensation you deserve. Contact us for a free consultation today.
What Is Premises Liability?
A fall or other accident can cause serious injuries with long-lasting consequences. In some cases, such accidents can’t be prevented, but if you, as a visitor to a property, are hurt due to a hazard the owner should have taken care of, you should know your rights. If you are injured while on another person’s property, the legal principle of premises liability dictates that the manager or owner of that property is responsible for your injuries if the accident was caused by negligence.
While some accidents are unavoidable, many can be directly attributed to carelessness on the part of a property owner: Failure to remove hazards on the property or to warn against known dangers can have real consequences for visitors and should be punished.
Nearly any property owner can be sued for premises liability, from a private homeowner to a restaurant, hotel, retail store, or even a landlord who fails to provide reasonable security measures.
Common Causes of St. Louis Premises Liability Claims
There are many situations which can lead one to be injured while on another person’s property; the most common circumstances include:
- Poor lighting conditions
- Poor layout or design of the property
- Poor maintenance or repair of the property
- Broken handrails/stairwells
- Slippery or wet floors
These are all hazards a property owner or manager has a responsibility to take care of in a timely fashion, because failing to do so puts visitors in danger. If you’ve been hurt in an accident because of one of the above factors, reach out to our team to see if you might be eligible to sue.
Our St. Louis team is here to help you recover compensation after an accident. Call Meyerkord & Kurth at (800) 391-4318 to schedule your free consultation.
Proving a Premises Liability Claim
Receiving compensation after an accident caused by a property hazard is not as easy as bringing your medical bills to a judge. To prove a premises liability case, you must be able to demonstrate:
- There was a hazard on the property that
- The owner or manager could reasonably expect to be aware of, and
- You were injured because of that hazard.
This may be harder than it sounds. No one wants to lose in a lawsuit and property owners are likely to deny your claims with everything they have. The more evidence you can bring, the stronger a case we can help you build for your premises liability claim in St. Louis.
Proving the Existence of a Hazard
An un-marked bump in a sidewalk, an invisible patch of ice, or an overhanging shelf ready to spill its goods on passers-by are all examples of dangerous elements that could be the basis of a property liability case. However, if you’re injured by such a hazard, a property owner may do all they can to fix it right away. If you got pictures of the dangerous situation at the time of your accident, they can be a great help in showing there was a problem. If you did not, our attorneys can investigate, looking for witnesses who may be able to attest to the hazard.
Making the Case for Reasonable Awareness
A property owner can’t be expected to know of a hazard on their property the reason it pops up, but they cannot maintain ignorance of a longstanding issue, either. They must have a reasonable means of checking their property for dangers. Finding a way to prove a hazard existed and should have been known can be difficult. Our attorneys are here to help construct reasonable arguments on your behalf.
Showing How the Hazard Caused Injury
An injury and your word unfortunately aren’t enough to prove your case to a judge and jury. You will need specific evidence of the incident and a way to show your injuries are directly linked. We could be able to help you retrieve evidence including video camera footage. If you gathered contact information from any witnesses, this could also help us make your case.
Understanding the Types of Visitors in St. Louis, Missouri
Your rights as a property visitor in St. Louis depend largely on your visitor classification. As an invitee—someone on the property for business purposes like shopping or making deliveries—you receive the highest level of protection. Property owners must exercise reasonable care to protect you from both known dangers and those that would be discovered through proper inspection.
If you are a licensee—visiting for social purposes or reasons unrelated to business—property owners must warn you about known hazards. However, they are not required to inspect for other dangers. Examples include house guests or someone entering a business just to use the restroom. The property owner’s duty is to take reasonable steps to protect you from dangers they are aware of.
Trespassers receive minimal legal protection because they lack permission to be on the property. However, property owners cannot intentionally harm trespassers, and higher duties of care apply to child trespassers or when the owner knows a trespasser is present.
How a St. Louis Premises Liability Lawyer Can Fight for You
When you are injured on someone else’s property, it can be difficult to face the aftermath alone. The moments after an injury often blur into a confusing maze of medical appointments, financial difficulties, and unanswered questions about who should be held accountable.
Your St. Louis premises liability lawyer from Meyerkord & Kurth becomes your strongest advocate during this vulnerable time. Our firm has spent over four decades standing beside St. Louis residents just like you, transforming complex premises liability cases into clear paths toward justice. Our premises liability attorneys in St. Louis personally visit accident scenes to document dangerous conditions before the evidence disappears—whether that involves examining the uneven pavement that caused your fall or the inadequate lighting that concealed a hazard.
Property owners often claim you were careless or that hazards were obvious, which are tactics designed to diminish your rightful compensation. We counter these arguments with meticulous evidence and expert testimony that establishes the true cause of your injuries. Our deep understanding of Missouri premises liability law enables us to identify when property owners have fallen short of their legal obligations to maintain safe environments.
Throughout your case, we maintain regular contact, explaining developments in plain language, answering your questions promptly, and involving you in strategic decisions. This combination of legal acumen and genuine care has helped countless St. Louis residents rebuild their lives after a serious accident. Our premises liability lawyers in St. Louis will fight to secure the resources you need for medical care, lost wages, property damage, and more.
Filing a Premises Liability Lawsuit in St. Louis
If an unsafe condition has resulted in you being injured while on another’s property, speak to one of our attorneys to see if you may have a case. We want to help injury victims through the hardship that can be caused by missed work and long-term injury or disability. We represent clients in a wide variety of premises liability claims, from slip & fall, food poisoning and assaults/attacks, to dog bites, casino accidents, fireworks accidents, and elevator/escalator accidents.
At Meyerkord & Kurth, we understand how difficult it can be to see a clear path forward after a serious injury. Our goal in every case is to secure the compensation our clients need to make full recoveries, and we employ all means at our disposal to increase the likelihood of fair compensation.
Call our offices today at (800) 391-4318 if you have been injured on another’s property and want to learn whether you have grounds to sue for premises liability.