Call The Harris Firm LLC today at (205) 201-1789
Premises cases are bigger than slip and falls — collapsing decks, falling merchandise, unsecured pools, assaults in unlit parking lots the owner knew were dangerous. If unsafe property hurt you, the law has something to say about it.
In short: Alabama premises liability law makes property owners answer for injuries caused by hazards they created, knew about, or should have found and fixed — from structural failures to negligent security.
The framework: Your legal status on the property sets the duty owed. Invitees — customers and business visitors — are owed reasonable inspection and care. Licensees and social guests are owed warnings of known hidden dangers. Children can be owed duties even as trespassers where attractive hazards like pools are involved.
The defenses: Owners argue the danger was open and obvious, or that you contributed to your own injury — and Alabama’s contributory negligence rule makes that argument dangerous. These cases are won by building the notice-and-negligence record before it disappears.
Act now: Two years under Alabama Code §6-2-38 for most claims — but inspection records, maintenance logs, and camera footage live on the owner’s timetable, not yours.
Premises Cases We Handle
Collapsing stairs, railings, and decks. Merchandise falling from big-box shelving. Dangerous conditions at apartment complexes the landlord ignored for months. Swimming pool incidents. Burns, electrocutions, and injuries from code violations. Negligent security cases — assaults and robberies in parking lots and complexes where the owner knew about prior crime and did nothing about lighting, gates, or patrols.
Simple falls on slick floors have their own page — see our slip and fall practice. And when unsafe property costs a life, the claim becomes an Alabama wrongful death case, which we handle along with the estate.
Compensation in Alabama Premises Cases
Premises injuries run the full range — fractures, head injuries, burns, and in negligent security cases, the physical and psychological aftermath of an assault. Compensation accounts for medical care past and future, lost income and earning capacity, and the pain and disruption the injury caused. Where an owner’s conduct was worse than careless, punitive damages can enter the picture.
Commercial property owners carry substantial liability coverage. The question is never whether coverage exists — it is whether your claim is documented well enough to command it.
How Your Premises Case Works
The owner controls the evidence. Step one is making sure it survives.
Free Consultation
Tell us what happened and where. We tell you whether the owner’s duty was breached and what the claim looks like — honestly, including when it is not a case.
Preserve and Investigate
Preservation demands go out for footage, logs, and incident reports. In security cases we pull the property’s police call history — the record of what the owner knew was happening on their lot.
Document and Demand
Your medical picture gets fully developed, the liability record gets assembled, and the demand goes out built to withstand the open-and-obvious script.
Settlement or Suit — No Fee Unless You Recover
Fair settlements get taken; unfair ones get filed. Trial co-counsel is added where a case benefits from it, disclosed and agreed in writing. No attorney fee unless there is a recovery.
Alabama Premises Liability — Frequently Asked Questions
1.What does it cost to hire you for a premises case?
Nothing up front. The consultation is free, and the case is handled on a contingency fee — the attorney fee is a percentage of any recovery. If there is no recovery, you owe no attorney fee.
2.I was assaulted in an apartment complex parking lot. Is that really a premises case?
It can be. Negligent security claims hold owners responsible when prior crime on the property put them on notice and they failed to take reasonable measures — lighting, gates, cameras, patrols. The property’s police call history usually tells the story.
3.Does it matter why I was on the property?
Yes — Alabama grades the owner’s duty by your status. Customers and business visitors are owed the most; social guests are owed warnings of known hidden dangers. The label the insurer puts on you is not the final word, and the analysis is worth a lawyer’s eyes.
4.My child was hurt on a neighbor’s property. Do the same rules apply?
Children get extra protection. Alabama law can hold owners responsible for hazards that attract children — pools, equipment, structures — even when the child wandered in uninvited. And as with dog bites, claims are typically paid by homeowners insurance, and minors’ settlements are court-protected.
5.How long do I have to file a premises claim in Alabama?
Generally two years — but the owner’s footage and logs will not wait that long, and neither should you. Claims involving government property carry much shorter notice requirements.
6.The property owner is a big company. Can I really win?
Size cuts both ways — big owners have big insurance and big paper trails. Corporate inspection policies they failed to follow are some of the best evidence a premises case can have. What you need is a firm willing to demand the records and use them.
Unsafe Property Has an Owner. Hold Them to It.
One free phone call tells you whether the owner breached their duty, what evidence needs preserving today, and what your claim looks like. No obligation, no fee unless you recover.
Have This Handy When You Call
✓ Where and when the injury happened
✓ Why you were on the property
✓ What the dangerous condition was
✓ Photos, incident reports, or witness names, if any
✓ Where you have treated
Call the Office Nearest You
Birmingham — (205) 201-1789
Chelsea — (205) 677-5490
Huntsville — (256) 665-9473
Montgomery — (334) 782-9938
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