NO FEE UNTIL WE WIN, CALL OR TEXT US 24/7
(561) 266-9191 
Text CELEBRATING OUR 25th YEAR IN PRACTICE
This blog will discuss premises liability personal injury cases in Delray Beach. During the holiday season, friends and family members often get together to celebrate a holiday or the New Year. As our Delray Beach personal injury lawyers know, hosting a party brings with it potential risk. You could be held liable for injuries resulting from events at your hosted party. So be careful about premises liability and hosting holiday parties. As long as you are aware of and risks and fix them before someone gets hurt, you should be okay. Our firm specializes in premises liability personal injury cases Delray Beach.
During the winter, something that millions of people across the country have to worry about is the chance of snow, sleet and ice making walkways and driveways dangerous. This cold weather obviously increases the chances of somebody slipping on your property. But just because us Floridians can cross that risk off the list, that doesn’t mean that we don’t still have a number of other risks to keep in mind during the season of joy.
The big risk hosting a party is when people drink alcohol. The law across the country is called “dram shop law”. This law says that a bar or a host at a house party, who serves alcohol to a guest knowing that the guest is intoxicated and has to drive home, is liable for the injury that the drunk guest causes. This can occur when the drunk guest causes a car crash. In other words, as our personal injury lawyers know, in States where this dram shop law applies, if you continually serve drinks to a guest who you know is (a) drunk and (b) going to drive home, and they leave and cause a car crash, you can be held liable for that damage.
In Florida, things are a bit different. Our dram shop law is found at Florida state statute, 768.125. Our Florida law is more forgiving to homeowners and bar owners. In Florida, someone who gives alcohol to a person who is of legal age (21 or above) will not be liable for injury caused by the drunk person. There are exceptions. Someone who willfully and unlawfully gives alcohol to a person who is underage. Or someone who knowingly gives alcohol to someone the person knows is an alcoholic. In these two scenarios, the host may be liable for the injury caused by the drunk person.
So, in Florida, a host generally will not be liable for their guest getting drunk and causing an accident. A host could be liable for their drunk guests actions if the guest was given alcohol by the host and the host knew that the person was either (a) underage or (b) addicted to alcohol.
Premises liability applies to everyone, regardless of which state they live in. Premises liability occurs when someone gets hurt on your property caused by unsafe property conditions. For example, if you know or you should have known that your walkway has a misplaced brick that can cause someone to trip, you should fix it. If you do not and someone gets hurt, you can be responsible. This same applies to torn carpets or loose hanging doors inside the home, etc.
Florida state statute 767.04 governs dog bite injuries. The law discusses how a homeowner is liable for injuries from a dog bite by his or her dog. The owner of a dog that bites a guest is liable for damages. It does not matter if the dog has been vicious in the past. It does not matter whether the owner knew that the dog is vicious. If the person bitten was also negligent it may reduce the liability of the dog owner. In other words, if a party guest continuously sticks his hand into the dog’s mouth, and gets bit, the negligence of the dog owner may be reduced.
Our personal injury lawyers at Aronberg & Aronberg wish you a safe and happy holiday season. If you have any questions, please contact us. To schedule a free consultation call us at 561-266-9191. Or you can email us at daronberg@build.simple.biz. We look forward to assisting you. Premises liability personal injury cases in Delray Beach.
Views: 0