Premises Liability

The stairwell railing had been loose for months. Management knew. Tenants had reported it. Maintenance emails documented it. Nobody fixed it. Then you fell, and the property owner’s insurance company started looking for reasons it was your fault.

Georgia law does not require you to inspect someone else’s property for hidden dangers before walking through the door. That responsibility belongs to the owner. When a property owner knows about a hazard, or should have known about it through reasonable inspection, and fails to fix it or warn visitors, the owner is liable for the injuries that result.

At Adams, Jordan & Herrington, P.C., we represent people throughout Macon, Warner Robins, Milledgeville, Albany, and Middle Georgia who were injured because a property owner chose to ignore a known danger. Our attorneys have recovered millions of dollars in premises liability cases, including an $8 million wrongful death settlement involving unsafe property conditions. If you were hurt on someone else’s property, call 478-312-4503 for a free consultation.

Georgia Premises Liability Law: What Property Owners Owe You

Georgia law divides the duty a property owner owes based on why you were on the property.

Invitees are people who enter the property for a purpose connected to the owner’s business or interests: customers in a store, diners in a restaurant, tenants in an apartment building, hotel guests, patients in a medical office. Under O.C.G.A. § 51-3-1, property owners owe invitees the highest duty of care: they must exercise ordinary care to keep the premises safe and must inspect the property for hidden hazards that a reasonable inspection would reveal.

Licensees are people who enter with the owner’s permission but for their own purposes: social guests, delivery drivers, door-to-door salespeople. Under O.C.G.A. § 51-3-2, owners owe licensees a duty to avoid willfully or wantonly injuring them and must warn them of hidden dangers the owner actually knows about. The duty to inspect is lower than for invitees, but concealing a known hazard creates liability.

Trespassers receive the least protection. Under O.C.G.A. § 51-3-3, owners generally owe trespassers only the duty not to willfully or wantonly cause harm. The significant exception is children: Georgia’s attractive nuisance doctrine imposes a higher duty when a property contains a condition, such as a swimming pool, that is likely to attract children who cannot appreciate the danger. For drowning cases involving children and pools, see our drowning accident practice page.

Understanding which category applies to your situation is essential because it determines what the property owner was legally required to do and whether the failure to act constitutes negligence.

Types of Premises Liability Cases We Handle

Premises liability covers a broad range of injuries caused by unsafe property conditions. Our attorneys handle cases involving:

• Slip and fall injuries caused by wet floors, uneven surfaces, loose carpeting, broken tiles, icy walkways, and debris in aisles. For detailed information, see our slip and fall page
• Trip and fall injuries caused by broken stairs, missing handrails, uneven pavement, potholes in parking lots, and poorly maintained sidewalks
• Negligent security cases where inadequate lighting, broken locks, missing security cameras, or absence of security personnel contributed to an assault, robbery, or sexual attack
• Elevator and escalator injuries caused by mechanical failure, sudden stops, or maintenance neglect
• Falling merchandise, ceiling collapses, and structural failures in retail stores, warehouses, and commercial buildings
• Swimming pool and drowning accidents involving unfenced pools, broken gate latches, and absent safety equipment
• Dog bites and animal attacks on another person’s property
• Toxic exposure from mold, lead paint, asbestos, or chemical contamination in residential or commercial buildings
• Fire and electrical injuries caused by faulty wiring, code violations, or failure to maintain fire safety equipment

Each type of case involves different evidence, different defendants, and different standards. Our attorneys investigate the specific conditions that caused the injury and identify every party responsible.

What Property Owners Argue and How Georgia Law Responds

Insurance companies defending property owners rely on a predictable set of arguments to avoid paying claims. Understanding these arguments before they are raised helps you prepare.

“We did not know about the hazard.” Georgia law does not require actual knowledge. Under the standard established in Robison v. Kroger Co., 268 Ga. 735 (1997), a property owner who conducts reasonable inspections would have discovered the hazard. If the dangerous condition existed long enough that a routine inspection should have found it, the owner cannot claim ignorance. Robison v. Kroger is the foundation of most premises liability cases in Georgia. The question is not whether the owner personally saw the hazard but whether a reasonable inspection program would have caught it.

“The hazard was open and obvious.” Property owners frequently argue that the dangerous condition was so visible that the victim should have seen it and avoided it. Georgia courts have held that the open and obvious nature of a hazard does not automatically eliminate liability. The analysis considers whether the owner could have anticipated that visitors might encounter the hazard despite its visibility, whether the owner had a duty to remedy it regardless, and whether the circumstances (lighting, distractions, crowding) made the hazard less apparent than it might seem in hindsight.

“The victim was not paying attention.” Georgia’s modified comparative negligence rule (O.C.G.A. § 51-12-33) allows the defense to argue that the injured person shared fault. If the jury assigns the victim 50 percent or more of the fault, recovery is barred entirely. Below that threshold, the recovery is reduced proportionally. Insurance adjusters inflate fault percentages as a negotiation tactic. An attorney who understands how to challenge comparative fault arguments with evidence, including surveillance footage, maintenance records, and witness testimony, protects the full value of the claim.

“The victim was not supposed to be in that area.” If the injured person was an invitee who wandered into a restricted area, the owner may argue the duty of care no longer applied. Whether this argument succeeds depends on signage, barriers, the layout of the property, and whether the owner reasonably anticipated that visitors might enter the area. The analysis is fact-specific, and assumptions about where a visitor “should” have been often collapse under scrutiny.

Each of these defenses can be overcome with the right evidence. Our attorneys gather maintenance logs, inspection records, incident reports, surveillance footage, building code compliance histories, and internal communications that reveal what the owner knew, when they knew it, and what they chose not to do.

Apartment Complexes, Hotels, and Commercial Properties

Premises liability cases involving commercial and multi-unit residential properties often involve multiple defendants with overlapping responsibilities.

An apartment tenant who falls on a broken stairway may have claims against the property owner, the property management company, and the maintenance contractor. Each may carry separate insurance. The lease agreement, the management contract, and the maintenance schedule all become evidence.

A hotel guest who slips on a wet lobby floor may have claims against the hotel corporation, the franchise operator, and the cleaning company. A shopper injured by falling merchandise may have claims against the store, the product distributor, and the shelf installation contractor.

In each of these scenarios, the responsible parties point at each other. The property owner says the management company was supposed to fix it. The management company says the maintenance contractor was supposed to inspect it. The maintenance contractor says they were never told. This blame-shifting is exactly what insurance defense teams are trained to do. An attorney who understands how to trace responsibility through contracts, work orders, and communication records identifies every liable party and every available insurance policy.

Our firm recovered $8 million in a wrongful death case involving unsafe property conditions where the property owner failed to address known hazards. That result reflects the difference between naming one defendant and identifying every party that contributed to the failure.

What You Can Recover Under Georgia Law

Georgia law allows injured individuals to pursue compensation through a personal injury claim. When unsafe property conditions cause death, surviving family members may file a wrongful death claim. For Georgia’s wrongful death filing process and damages framework, see our wrongful death practice page.

Economic damages include emergency and hospital costs, surgery, rehabilitation, prescription medication, assistive devices, lost wages, diminished earning capacity, and property damage.

Non-economic damages cover physical pain, emotional distress, scarring and disfigurement, loss of mobility, loss of enjoyment of life, and the psychological impact of the injury.

Punitive damages may apply when the property owner’s conduct was particularly egregious. A landlord who ignored repeated fire code violations, a store that falsified inspection logs, or a property manager who concealed a history of assaults on the premises may face punitive liability under O.C.G.A. § 51-12-5.1. Georgia caps punitive damages at $250,000 in most cases. That cap does not apply when the defendant acted with willful misconduct, malice, fraud, wantonness, or oppression.

Georgia’s statute of limitations for premises liability claims is two years from the date of injury under O.C.G.A. § 9-3-33. Evidence at commercial properties changes quickly: floors get cleaned, cameras overwrite, broken equipment gets replaced. The sooner the investigation begins, the stronger the case.

Our Attorneys

Virgil Adams has practiced personal injury and wrongful death law in Middle Georgia for more than 40 years. He has tried premises liability cases involving apartment complexes, commercial properties, and government-owned facilities in courtrooms throughout the Macon Judicial Circuit. When a property owner’s legal team assumes the case will settle without a fight, Virgil makes sure they reconsider.

Caroline W. Herrington concentrates on premises liability, wrongful death, and medical malpractice. She has managed complex litigation involving property management companies, hotel chains, and franchise operators with competing insurance carriers. Caroline is known for tracing liability through layers of contracts and corporate structures that are designed to obscure who is actually responsible.

Ashley Pitts focuses on personal injury with particular attention to building code compliance, inspection records, and safety standard violations. Ashley reviews local ordinances, maintenance schedules, and incident report histories to determine whether a property owner met Georgia’s standard of care. She collaborates with Virgil and Caroline on cases where regulatory noncompliance contributed to the injury.

After a Premises Liability Injury: Steps That Protect Your Claim

1. Report the incident to the property owner, store manager, or front desk. Ask for a written incident report and request a copy before you leave.
2. Photograph the hazardous condition that caused the injury: the wet floor, the broken step, the missing handrail, the unlit parking lot. Photograph your injuries as well.
3. Identify witnesses and collect their names and phone numbers.
4. Seek medical care the same day. Even if you believe the injury is minor, a medical record created on the day of the incident ties the injury to the property condition. Gaps in treatment become arguments for the defense.
5. Do not sign anything from the property owner or their insurance company. Early settlement offers and release forms are designed to close your claim before you understand its full value.
6. Do not give a recorded statement to the property owner’s insurance adjuster without speaking to an attorney.
7. Contact a premises liability attorney. Physical evidence at commercial properties changes rapidly: floors are mopped, equipment is repaired, surveillance footage overwrites. Early investigation preserves the evidence the defense would prefer to lose.

Call Adams, Jordan & Herrington, P.C. at 478-312-4503. Evidence at commercial properties does not wait. Neither do we.

Frequently Asked Questions

How long do I have to file a premises liability claim in Georgia? Two years from the date of injury under O.C.G.A. § 9-3-33. Physical evidence at commercial properties changes quickly. The sooner you act, the more evidence survives.

Can I recover if I was partially at fault for the accident? Yes, as long as your share of fault is below 50 percent. Georgia’s modified comparative negligence rule (O.C.G.A. § 51-12-33) reduces your recovery proportionally. At 50 percent or above, recovery is barred. Defense teams inflate fault percentages as a tactic. An experienced attorney challenges those arguments with evidence.

Can I sue a landlord if I am a tenant? Yes. Landlords owe tenants a duty to maintain the property in a reasonably safe condition. If a landlord knows about a hazardous condition and fails to repair it within a reasonable time, the landlord may be liable for injuries that result. Reporting the condition in writing before the injury occurred strengthens the claim.

What if the property owner says I was trespassing? Adults who trespass generally receive limited protection under Georgia law (O.C.G.A. § 51-3-3). However, children are treated differently under the attractive nuisance doctrine, and property owners may be liable even when a child entered without permission if the property contained a hazard like an unsecured pool.

Does it matter if the property owner was renting the space? It can. In commercial properties, liability may fall on the property owner, the tenant operating the business, or the management company, depending on the lease terms and who controlled the area where the injury occurred. Identifying the correct defendant requires reviewing the property’s ownership and management structure.

How much does it cost to hire your firm? Adams, Jordan & Herrington works on contingency. You pay nothing upfront and no hourly fees at any point. We advance all case costs. If we do not recover compensation, you owe nothing.

Property owners have a legal obligation to keep their premises safe. When they fail and someone gets hurt, they answer for it.

Call Adams, Jordan & Herrington, P.C. at 478-312-4503. Free consultation. No upfront costs. No obligation. Serving Macon, Warner Robins, Milledgeville, Albany, and all of Middle Georgia.

Adams, Jordan & Herrington, P.C. 915 Hill Park, Macon, GA 31201