West Palm Beach Premises Liability Lawyer
Hurt on someone else's property in West Palm Beach? Maybe it was an apartment complex with broken gates and dead cameras. A parking lot with no lighting. An unsafe condition in a store or hotel that everyone who worked there knew about. Florida premises liability law may entitle you to compensation, but these cases rise or fall on evidence the property owner controls. Surveillance footage. Maintenance records. Prior incident reports. I'm Shannon Sagan, The Dash Cam Lawyer®, and I go after that evidence first, fast, and in writing. Free consultation. No fee unless I win.
What Property Owners Owe You in Florida
Florida scales a property owner's duty to why you were there. Customers, tenants, and invited guests get the highest duty: reasonable maintenance, reasonable inspection, and warnings about dangers the owner knows or should know about. Social guests get warnings about known hidden dangers. Even trespassers can't be intentionally harmed.
Most real cases involve a business or landlord who knew about the hazard and did the math. The leaking cooler. The broken stair rail. The burned-out lights. The gate that never locked. Fixing it cost money, so they ignored it. Then you got hurt.
Negligent Security: When the Danger Is a Person
If you were assaulted or robbed on commercial property, the owner may be liable for failing to provide reasonable security where crime was foreseeable. These cases got harder in 2023. Juries can now assign fault to the criminal attacker, which shrinks the owner's share. And apartment complexes that adopt certain security measures earn a legal presumption against liability.
Translation, nobody wins these cases on sympathy anymore. You win them on proof. Prior police calls to the property. Broken cameras and gates documented before they get quietly repaired. Lighting surveys. Security staffing records. That's evidence work, and evidence work is what I do.
The Camera Angle. Mine, Not Just Theirs.
Everyone knows me for dash cams. The mindset travels. In premises cases, the property's own surveillance system is usually the single most important witness, and it's sitting in the defendant's hands. I send preservation demands immediately covering camera footage, sweep and inspection logs, incident reports, and work orders. If footage "disappears" after that letter, Florida law gives me remedies that can hurt the defense worse than the video would have. Either way, delay is the enemy. Most systems overwrite in days.
Premises Cases I Handle in West Palm Beach
Negligent security assaults at apartment complexes and the nightlife spots around Clematis Street and The Square. Falls and unsafe conditions in stores on Okeechobee and Palm Beach Lakes. Hotel and short-term rental injuries. Parking garage incidents. Pool drownings at complexes without required barriers. Injuries at gyms, gas stations, and grocery stores. Although I mainly handle automobile type cases, the largest case I’ve ever handled was premises injury case resulting in amputation. If a property owner's negligence put you in a hospital, it fits here.
Deadlines and Fault Rules You Can't Ignore
You generally have two years from the injury to file a negligence lawsuit in Florida. And if a jury finds you more than half at fault, you recover nothing. Property insurers know both rules cold and build their whole strategy around your delay. The best day to start a premises case was the day you got hurt. The second best day is today.
Call The Dash Cam Lawyer® at 561-561-DASH (3274). Free consultation. No fee unless I win. Offices in Palm Springs and Belle Glade, serving West Palm Beach and all of Palm Beach County.
Frequently Asked Questions
What counts as a premises liability case in Florida?
Any injury caused by a property owner's failure to keep the premises reasonably safe. Falls, negligent security assaults, drownings, falling merchandise, structural failures, bad lighting, and more.
Can I sue my apartment complex after being attacked there?
Possibly, if crime on or near the property was foreseeable and security was inadequate. Florida law now gives complying complexes a presumption against liability, so these cases demand serious evidence: prior incidents, broken security features, staffing failures. Talk to me before anything gets "fixed."
The property owner is blaming the person who attacked me. Can they do that?
Since March 24, 2023, yes. Florida juries in negligent security cases can put fault on the criminal, which reduces the owner's share. It's now the standard defense play. It's also beatable with the right proof of what the owner ignored.
How long do I have to file a premises liability claim in Florida?
Two years from the date of injury. The evidence disappears far faster than that. Surveillance footage is often gone within days.
I was hurt at a business but no incident report was made. Now what?
Your case isn't dead. Medical records, witnesses, photos, and above all camera footage can establish what happened. Report it as soon as possible and preserve everything you have.
What compensation can I recover?
Medical expenses, future care, lost income and earning capacity, and pain and suffering. In fatal cases, the family may have a wrongful death claim. See my West Palm Beach wrongful death page.