Premises Liability Lawyer in California
Hurt on unsafe property anywhere in California? You generally have two years to file an injury claim — and as little as six months if the property is owned or controlled by a public entity. Talk to us before you speak to the property owner’s insurer.
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California legal deadlines
In California you generally have
2years
from the date of injury to file a personal injury lawsuit (Code of Civil Procedure § 335.1)
6months
to present a written government claim when the property is owned or controlled by a public entity (Government Code § 911.2).
Unsafe property tends to be repaired soon after someone is hurt on it. Photographs of the condition, maintenance and complaint records, and security video are mostly held by whoever runs the property, so the condition should be documented and a written preservation request sent as early as possible.
Parks, public buildings, public schools, transit facilities and public parking structures are public property. An injury there is a claim against a public entity, and the six-month deadline applies rather than the two-year one most people have heard about.
Miss those deadlines and a strong case can end before it starts. Working out early whether the property is private or public is one of the first things that has to be done.
Responsibility Follows Control of the Property
Premises liability is the area of law that covers injuries caused by the condition of a property or by the way it is managed. It reaches well beyond a wet floor: an assault in an unlit garage with no security, a pool gate that does not latch, an elevator kept in service after complaints, a balcony that gives way, stock stacked overhead in a store aisle.
What these cases share is that the danger existed before you arrived, and someone had the ability to fix it. The legal question is who that someone was and what they knew.
People often assume the claim runs against whoever holds title to the building. In practice the duty sits with whoever owned, leased, occupied or controlled the specific area where you were hurt, and that can be more than one party at once: the owner, a commercial tenant, a property manager, a maintenance or security contractor, or a public entity. Each may carry separate insurance.
Expect a call from an adjuster for one of those insurers, often while you are still in treatment. Adjusters are measured on what a claim costs. They may ask for a recorded statement, suggest the danger was obvious, or say their insured had no way of knowing about it.
None of that is a verdict. It is an opening position, and it moves when the records show what the people in charge of the property knew, when they knew it, and what they did about it. Those records — complaints, work orders, inspection logs, security reports — are almost entirely in the other side’s hands, which is why the first days matter so much.
California Premises Liability Rules That Decide Your Claim
| Rule | What California law requires |
|---|---|
| Deadline to sue for injuries | 2 years from the date of the injury (Code of Civil Procedure § 335.1). The same two-year period applies to a wrongful death claim, running from the date of death. |
| Injuries on public property | A written claim is generally due within 6 months (Government Code § 911.2). If the claim is formally rejected, suit must usually follow within 6 months of the rejection notice (§ 945.6). This covers parks, public buildings, public schools, transit facilities and public parking structures. |
| Dangerous condition of public property | A public entity can be liable when its property was in a dangerous condition that created a reasonably foreseeable risk of the kind of injury that occurred, and the entity either created the condition or had notice of it in time to act (Government Code § 835). |
| The basic duty of care | Everyone is responsible for injury caused to others by a want of ordinary care in the management of their property (Civil Code § 1714). In practice the duty follows ownership, lease, occupancy or control of the area, not the deed alone. |
| Who can be responsible | Often more than one party: the owner for common areas and structure, a tenant for its leased space, a property manager, and contractors hired for maintenance, cleaning or security. How responsibility is divided depends on the lease and the service contracts. |
| Knowledge of the danger | The responsible party must have created the condition, known about it, or been able to discover it through reasonable inspection. Complaint histories, work orders and inspection records are where this is proven. |
| Negligent security | Where prior similar crimes made an assault foreseeable, a property owner can be responsible for failing to provide reasonable security measures. The more foreseeable the harm, the more the law expects. |
| Recreational use of property | An owner who allows the public to use property for recreation generally owes no duty to keep it safe for that use, subject to exceptions including a willful failure to warn of a danger (Civil Code § 846). |
| If you were partly at fault | California uses pure comparative fault (Li v. Yellow Cab Co. (1975) 13 Cal.3d 804). Your recovery is reduced by your share of fault, but you are not barred even if you were mostly responsible. |
| If the injured person is a minor | The two-year deadline is generally paused until the child turns 18 (Code of Civil Procedure § 352). Government claim deadlines are treated differently and should not be assumed to pause. |
Types of Premises Liability Cases in California
Premises liability is a category, not a single kind of accident. The cases below look very different from one another, but each asks the same thing: who controlled the property, what did they know about the danger, and what did they do about it.
Negligent security and assaults on property
When someone is attacked in a parking garage, apartment complex, hotel or nightlife venue, the question is whether the attack was foreseeable and whether the security in place was reasonable in light of that risk. Prior crimes at or near the location, calls for service, lighting, camera coverage, broken gates and access controls, and whether promised patrols actually took place all bear on it.
Swimming pool and drowning incidents
Pool cases usually turn on access and supervision: fencing, gates and latches that failed or were never installed, missing safety equipment, and poor upkeep. Children are most often the ones hurt, and where a safety requirement applies to the pool, whether it was met is central evidence.
Falling objects and merchandise
Stock stacked overhead, unsecured displays, loose fixtures and items dropped during work above can strike a person who had no chance to react. Stocking practices, store video and earlier incidents show whether the danger was created by the business itself.
Elevator and escalator incidents
Sudden stops, mislevelled floors, doors that close on a passenger and escalator entrapments typically trace back to maintenance. Service records, complaint logs and the maintenance contract show who was responsible for the equipment and whether it was kept running after problems were reported.
Stairway, balcony and structural failures
Balconies, decks, railings, stairs and ceilings that give way are rarely sudden. Rot, corrosion, water intrusion and overdue repairs develop over time, and inspection, permit and repair histories show how long the problem was there to be found.
Fires and missing safety equipment
Fire, smoke and electrical injuries are made worse by blocked or locked exits, exposed wiring and safety equipment that is absent or not working. These cases look at what protections the building was supposed to have and whether they were maintained.
Dangerous conditions in rental housing
A landlord must maintain common areas and deal with dangerous conditions the landlord created, knew about, or should have discovered through reasonable inspection. Prior written complaints and repair requests from tenants are powerful evidence, and a property manager or contractor may share responsibility.
Dog attacks on property
The dog’s owner is the first place to look after an attack, and in some situations a landlord or other party in control of the property may also bear responsibility. These cases have their own rules, covered on our dog bite page.
Dangerous public property
Parks, public buildings and transit facilities are held to the dangerous-condition standard for public entities (Government Code § 835) rather than the ordinary rule. These claims carry the six-month deadline, which is why they are so often lost.
Slips, trips and falls
Falls are the most familiar premises case, and they raise their own questions about inspections and how long a hazard was present. We cover them in detail on our slip and fall page.
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Premises Liability Injuries We Represent
The injury drives the value of the claim, and the kind of property failure shapes the kind of injury. Documentation from day one is what connects the two.
Head and brain injuries
Falling objects, structural collapses and assaults all cause head trauma. A concussion does not require losing consciousness, and headaches, light sensitivity, memory trouble and difficulty concentrating often surface days later.
Spinal cord and back injuries
Herniated discs, nerve impingement and vertebral fractures can require injections, surgery, or lifelong management. Complete or partial paralysis changes the entire structure of a claim, including future care costs.
Fractures and crush injuries
A collapsing balcony or stair, an elevator or escalator malfunction, or heavy merchandise coming down can break and crush bones. Surgery, hardware and months of rehabilitation are common, along with long periods away from work.
Burns, smoke and electrical injuries
Fires, exposed wiring and blocked exits cause burns, smoke inhalation and electrical injuries. Treatment can involve repeated procedures and lasting scarring, and the full extent is often not clear for some time.
Drowning and near-drowning injuries
A person who survives being under water can be left with brain injury from lack of oxygen, with care needs that last for life. These claims call for life-care planning to value properly.
Assault, laceration and bite injuries
Injuries from an attack on poorly secured property, deep cuts and dog bite wounds can mean surgery, infection risk, nerve damage and permanent scarring, alongside the fear that follows a violent event.
Wrongful death
When an unsafe property costs a life, California law allows specified surviving family members to bring a wrongful death claim (Code of Civil Procedure § 377.60), and the estate may bring a separate survival action.
Psychological injuries
Post-traumatic stress, anxiety and depression are real consequences of an assault, a fire or another serious incident, and are compensable when properly diagnosed and documented.
After an injury on someone’s property in California: what to do
Get to safety and call 911
If you are seriously hurt, or if you were assaulted, call 911. In an assault case the police report is the first record of what happened and where.
Photograph the condition right away
The broken rail, the dark garage, the gate that does not latch, the stacked merchandise. Conditions are often repaired within days of an injury.
Report it in writing
Ask that an incident report be created, and get the report number, the manager’s name and the name of the company that operates the property.
Find out who runs the property
The sign at the entrance, the parking operator, the security company and the management office can each point to a different responsible party and a different insurer.
Get witness names and numbers
Other tenants, customers and employees may know how long the problem existed and who had complained about it. A name and mobile number is worth a great deal months on.
Note cameras and lighting
Where the cameras are and which lights were out are both evidence, and both tend to be corrected quickly after an incident.
Get examined the same day
Early treatment records connect the injury to the incident and take away the most common argument about what caused it.
Do not give a recorded statement
You are not required to give the property owner’s insurer a recorded statement. Early statements are used later to narrow your injuries and shift fault onto you.
Talk to a lawyer before accepting anything
An early offer usually arrives before the full picture of your injury exists. Once you sign a release, the claim is over, including for treatment you have not had yet.
Speak With a California Premises Liability Lawyer Today
If you were injured on unsafe property in Los Angeles or anywhere in California, you do not have to handle the claim alone. Akhavan Law Firm can review what happened, explain your legal options, and help you take the next step with confidence.
Call +1 310-694-8999 today to request a free consultation with a California premises liability lawyer. The sooner you get guidance, the easier it may be to protect evidence, manage insurance communication, and move your claim forward.
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Schedule a Free Consultation with a California Premises Liability Lawyer
Do not wait to get legal help after a serious injury on someone else’s property. Akhavan Law Firm can review your case, explain your options, and help you take the next step toward recovery.
No Win, No Fee — How Our Contingency Fee Works
You pay us nothing up front. Our fee is a percentage of what we recover for you, and if we recover nothing, you owe us no attorney’s fee.
California requires contingency fee agreements to be in writing and to state the fee rate, how costs affect your recovery, and that the rate is negotiable and not set by law (Business & Professions Code § 6147). You receive a signed copy before we begin.
We also explain case costs plainly — filing fees, records, expert witnesses — and how they are handled, before you decide whether to hire us. The consultation itself is free, with no obligation to proceed.
Working with our firm
We are a California personal injury firm led by founding attorney Edwin Akhavan, California State Bar #270338. We handle premises liability claims across the state, from disputed liability cases to catastrophic injury and wrongful death matters. Our main office is in Beverly Hills and we keep offices throughout California, so a local meeting is usually possible without a long drive. We work with clients in English and Spanish.
Premises Liability Help Across California
This page covers the statewide rules. For the courts, local agencies and properties where your injury actually happened, start with the office closest to you.
Related practice areas
We also handle other types of injury cases. If yours involved one of these, that page will be more specific:
Reviewed by Edwin Akhavan, Founding Attorney, California State Bar #270338
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Common questions answered
An injury caused by unsafe property raises questions quickly: who was responsible for the place, whose insurance applies, and how long you have to act. Below are plain answers to the questions we hear most from people hurt on someone else’s property across California. They are general information; a free consultation is the place to talk about your own situation.
Premises Liability Questions We Hear Most
What is premises liability?
It is the responsibility of a person or company that owns, leases, occupies or controls property to use reasonable care to keep it reasonably safe. Under Civil Code § 1714, everyone is responsible for injuries caused by a want of ordinary care in managing their property.
It covers far more than falls: security failures, pool and elevator incidents, fires, falling objects and structural collapses all come under it. Falls have their own page, our slip and fall page.
How long do I have to file a premises liability claim in California?
Generally two years from the date of injury (Code of Civil Procedure § 335.1). If the property is owned or controlled by a public entity, such as a park, a public building, a transit facility or a public parking structure, a written government claim is generally due within six months (Government Code § 911.2). Missing that deadline usually ends the case, so call early.
Who is responsible — the owner or the business?
Often both, and sometimes neither alone. California places the duty on whoever owned, leased, occupied or controlled the specific area, which can mean the property owner for common areas, a tenant for its leased space, a management company, a parking operator, a security firm or a maintenance contractor. Each may carry separate insurance, so identifying all of them matters.
Can I bring a claim if I was assaulted on someone’s property?
Possibly, under negligent security. The question is whether prior similar incidents made the assault foreseeable and whether the security measures in place were reasonable in light of that risk.
Prior crime history, calls for service, lighting, camera coverage, access control and whether promised patrols actually happened are the evidence that decides these cases.
What if I was injured in an apartment building?
A landlord must maintain common areas and address dangerous conditions the landlord created, knew about, or should have discovered through reasonable inspection, and prior written complaints are powerful evidence. Depending on the facts, a property manager, a maintenance contractor or a security company may share responsibility, each with its own policy.
What if the injury happened on public property?
A claim for a dangerous condition of public property (Government Code § 835) requires showing that the condition created a foreseeable risk and that the entity created it or had notice in time to correct it. A written government claim is generally due within six months (Government Code § 911.2), which is far shorter than the ordinary two years.
Does it matter that I was not a customer?
Usually not. California applies a general duty of reasonable care rather than separate rules for customers, social guests and other lawful visitors. One limit to know about: Civil Code § 846 restricts the duty owed to people using property for recreation, subject to exceptions including a willful failure to warn of a known danger.
What if I was partly at fault?
You can still recover. California follows pure comparative fault, so your damages are reduced by your percentage of responsibility rather than barred. Insurers commonly argue that a danger was obvious or that the injured person was not paying attention, which is an argument for a reduction rather than a complete defense.
What does it cost to hire Akhavan Law Firm?
Nothing upfront. We work on a contingency fee, so we are paid only if we recover money for you. There is no hourly billing and no fee if we do not win. The consultation is free, and we can meet you at the office, at home or at the hospital.
Do you help Spanish-speaking clients?
Yes. Se habla español. Our team handles consultations, documents and case updates in Spanish, and this page is also available in Spanish.
Areas We Serve
Akhavan Law Firm APC handles premises liability claims throughout California. Our headquarters is in Beverly Hills and we have eleven more offices across the state, so you can meet an attorney close to home. Visit the office nearest you or call us today for immediate legal assistance.