Dangerous Property

Published on: April 25, 2013

Injuries Reported After Hotel Stairway Collapses In Richmond, Kentucky

Multiple people were injured in Madison County, Kentucky when a stairway of a motel collapses. The Motel was the Super-7 motel located off of I-75. One person on the stairway, Vivian Gatlin, has been reported to have escaped with little to no injury, but two of her friends were seriously injured.

In cases where property owners fail to properly and safely maintain their public walkways, such as a stairway, the property owners can be legally liable for injuries that occur. Here is a link (LINK) for more information on Kentucky property owners’ legal liability for negligently maintained property and/or the rights of injured persons due to negligently maintained property in Kentucky.

Persons injured by dangerous property conditions can seek compensation under Kentucky Law.

Published on: March 7, 2011

Louisville, Kentucky Fire On Ruth Avenue

By Ackerson Law Offices

Louisville Fire and Rescue have responded to and are battling a fire on the1600 Block of Ruth Avenue, in Louisville, Kentucky. Reports are not in yet on whether anyone has been injured in this fire. Home and apartment fires are tragic for the residents involved, including the residents in the direct proximity of the fire. Not only can a fire result in loss of life, but residents of the premises and the surrounding residents can loose all of their belongs to the fire, smoke damages, and water damage (from the attempts to fight the fire).

In cases of fires, the hope is that those affected have had the forethought to purchase insurance to cover such losses. Renters insurance is cheap and can help to put families’ lives back in a position to move forward in the event of a total loss. Anytime there is a fire, the question will be raised of who is at fault and what happened. From there, the victims of the fire can move forward with seeking to try to put their lives back in order. Examining fault will help to know who to seek financial redress from.
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Published on: February 20, 2011

Cigarette Is To Blame In Apartment Fire In Louisville, Kentucky

By Ackerson Law Offices

An unattended cigarette has caused a fire in an apartment in Louisville, Kentucky in the Butchertown area. Other apartments suffered damages as a result of the fire. Luckily no one was injured in the blaze, which occurred on Mellwood Avenue. Tow adults and two children were able to escape the residence before firefighters arrived. The fire occurred around 11:00 p.m. and smoke detectors alerted the residents of the fire.

Apartment fires can be costly, due to fire and smoke damage, coupled with water damage from attempts to put out the fire. Many times families loose everything they own to these types of fires. Additionally lose of life can occur. Families living in apartments should have insurance to cover these types of events. Renters Insurance can be very cheap and afford a lot of coverage and protection.
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Published on: January 20, 2011

Kentucky Swimming Pool Injuries & Deaths

By Ackerson Law Offices

In Kentucky swimming pool accidents can be the responsibility of the owners of the property. The area of Kentucky law that deals with these types of injuries related to swimming pools are premise liability laws. Whether the pool is part of an individual homeowner’s property or at a setting such as a school, park, neighborhood pool area, hotel, or resort, the property owner has a legal duty to maintain safety and health standards at the pool. Premises liability laws, including those pertaining to injuries involving swimming pools, considers who is at fault and why.

Liability examinations boil down to looking at what caused the accident, what did the owner do or should have done related to preventing the accident, and what was the status the person injured. The status of the person injured will affect what duty the owner has towards that injured party. In Kentucky a person’s status upon a property is broken down into three categories:
• Invitee: Someone who the property owner allowed onto the premises for social reasons, such as a guest invited to a pool party at a private residence, or the guests of a hotel using the pool there;
• Licensee: A person who was allowed on the property for reasons of business; for example, a swimming pool serviceman or a utility company technician;
• Trespasser: A person who was not given permission to enter the property where the swimming pool is located. For instance, if the injured person jumped over two high fences and broke a gate’s lock to get into the pool and was then injured, he or she will be found to have some or all of the liability for the accident.

The degree of the duty owed by the property owner to the person injured upon the property varies based upon the status. A trespasser status, for adults, will require the lowest form of duty owed by the property owner.

In Kentucky, young children, even if determined to be a trespasser, will likely not be liable for their own injuries in a swimming pool. This is because Kentucky law will consider the swimming pool an attractive nuisance to the young child, and thus considered to have lured the child to it, even if wrongfully entering the property to get to the pool.
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Published on: January 19, 2011

Kentucky Landlords Can Be Liable To Their Tenants For Certain Types Of Injuries

By Ackerson Law Offices

Kentucky Landlord Tenants laws limit personal injury lawsuits against landlords. In Kentucky, a landlord is “not a guarantor of the tenants’ safety.” See Davis v. Coleman Management Co., Ky.App., 765 S.W.2d 37 (1989). However, a landlord owes a duty to his tenants to exercise reasonable diligence to keep common areas retained under the landlords control in a safe condition for the tenants. See Davis v. Coleman Management Co., Ky. App., 765 S.W.2d 37, 38 (1989).

“A possessor of land who leases a part thereof and retains in his control any other part which the lessee is entitled to use as appurtenant to the part leased to him, is subject to liability to his lessee and others lawfully upon the land with the consent of the lessee or a sublease for physical harm caused by a dangerous condition upon that part of the land retained in the lessor’s control, if the lessor by the exercise of reasonable care could have discovered the condition and the unreasonable risk involved therein and could have made the condition safe.” See Restatement (Second) of Torts, Section 360 (1965).

Only when the tenant is put in complete and unrestricted possession and control of the premises, will the landlord not be liable for known defects which existed at the time the tenant leased the premises. See May v. Moore, 2008 WL 2152274 (Ky. App.), citing Carver v. Howard, Ky., 280 S.W.2d 708, 711 (1955).
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Published on: January 14, 2011

Kentucky Slip & Fall Injuries And Injuries To People In Stores

By Ackerson Law Offices

In Kentucky, people have slip & fall and trip & fall accidents in store everyday due to the negligence of store owners and store employees. These type of accidents and injuries are often avoidable if only the stores took proper precautions. These types of cases fall under Kentucky premises liability laws.

In Kentucky, store owners owe as duty to protect the public from dangers or hazards the store knows about or should know about. The main Kentucky court case on this issue of people slipping or falling in a business and injuring themselves is Lanier v. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. In this case, the Court said that to maintain a lawsuit against a business for an injury involving a customer or person slipping or falling, while at the business, the injured party must prove:
(i) he or she slipped or fell on a substance or object while at the store, which was dangerous,
(ii) the substance or object was a substantial factor in causing the person to slip or fall, and
(iii) because of the substance or object, the business was not in a reasonably safe condition for the person or customer who slipped or fell.

Kentucky businesses have a duty to check the store premises for hazardous conditions, including spilled liquids and other slipper substances and clean such up or correct such before it causes a person to be injured.

A substance that could create an unsafe condition could be food, water, or some other fluid on the floor, including substances that have leaked out of products on the shelves. An object that could create an unsafe condition could be a product or part thereof on the floor, a problem or defect with the floor itself, a loose or broken step, a hole, or a loose or broken handrail. These examples are not all encompassing, as many other substances or hazardous conditions may qualify. When a person slips and/or falls due to an unsafe condition in a store, they have a right to be compensated for the injuries, the pain & suffering, lost wages, and medical bills, that result from such.
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