The short answer—Yes, you can sue a property owner for a personal injury. Proving a property owner failed to protect a person from injury depends heavily on the relationship between the injured party and the property owner. The relationship can establish, or even nullify, any duty the property owner might have to prevent an injury. To know if your injury may warrant a lawsuit, consult with a legal team that has years of trial experience. Top law firms will have an on-staff private investigator to gather evidence and help prove the property owner was at fault.
In most premise liability lawsuits, you need to prove 5 items to win:
In most cases, when you enter someone’s property you can assume you will not be injured. In Wisconsin, property owners are responsible for maintaining a safe environment. For example, a pizza delivery driver could win compensation if they slipped on ice in someone’s unsalted driveway. If the same pizza driver was intoxicated, however, they would not have a case. Warshafsky’s Wisconsin dog bite lawyers often handle cases where property owners are held liable for failing to prevent their dogs from biting visitors, especially if the owner was aware of the dog’s dangerous propensities. A property owner must maintain their property, or, at the very least, inform individuals of the hazards on their property.
Your ability to sue a property owner for injuries rests upon the status of your relationship with the property owner. If a neighbor comes over for dinner the property owner has a duty to create a safe environment for them, but the same property owner has no legal obligation to protect an unanticipated trespasser. In premise law there are three types of relationships an individual can have with a property owner:
An invitee is anyone who has been invited onto a property by the owner. Invitees have every legal right to assume the property is safe. A property owner has a duty to protect invitees from known and unknown dangers. As long as you are behaving in a safe and lawful manner, you can sue a property owner for injury.
As an invitee, you may be able to sue a property owner for injury compensation if:
A licensee is anyone who is conducting business on someone’s property. A pizza delivery driver and an HVAC technician would be considered licensees. Property owners do not have a duty to make their property safe for licensees. They do have a duty to inform licensees of potential dangers on the property. Once informed the licensee is largely responsible for their own safety. A licensee can sue a property owner if they were improperly informed of the dangers on the property. A property owner is liable to protect licensees from known dangers but not from unknown dangers.
As a licensee, you may be able to sue a property owner for injury compensation if:
There are two kinds of trespassers: anticipated and unanticipated. Anticipated trespassers are defined as an individual who may wander on to someone’s property. A common example is an area where public and private lands meet. Property owners have no duty to protect anticipated trespassers, but they do have a duty to inform them of potential hazards. Unanticipated trespassers are typically defined as individuals who enter someone’s property illegally with the intent to commit a crime. A property owner has no duty to protect or inform unanticipated trespassers.
As a trespasser, you may be able to sue a property owner for injury compensation if:
Wisconsin State Statutes: Injury to a person. Wisconsin Statute § 893.54 (2024). Recreational activities; limitation of property owners’ liability. Wisconsin Statute § 895.52(6)
“The insurance companies of a semi-trailer that collapsed while tens of thousands of pounds were being unloaded, told me ‘Too bad, so sad.’ The B-grade attorney I hired initially told me, ‘Sorry, no liability.’ Desperate, I turned to Warshafsky. Their expertise and tenacity building the case resulted in a 1.7 million dollar settlement.”
I’m attorney and licensed medical doctor Werner Adam Reis. Ann Mary is no football player or actor. She did take home a check for 1.1 million dollars, after all of her medical expenses. Insurance companies value your claim based on the quality of your attorney.
“I saw the first attorney once in the year he represented me, and he had a helper try to talk me into a settlement, leaving me to pay my medical bills, then fired me as a client when I said no. Warshafsky has the highest quality lawyers and good human beings. They treated me with respect and care and even set up a trust for my young daughter.”
We’ve helped clients win lawsuits for all types of personal injuries, including:
Most Milwaukee law firms try to fix everything in just one phone call. Warshafsky Law knows your injury deserves more than just a phone call. Our team of personal injury lawyers isn’t afraid to challenge private property owners or commercial property owners. Warshafsky will fight to prove the property owner is liable for the injuries you sustained.
The only thing a property owner or their insurance company cares about is giving you the lowest settlement possible. We aren’t saying the farmer who lets you hunt on his land is a bad person. He’s trying to minimize his costs just like anyone else would. It can be tempting to just sign the check and put everything behind you. You’ll be lucky if the lowball offer from the insurance company will even cover your medical expenses. Warshafsky Law cares about one thing: getting you the most compensation possible.
Fighting a corporation’s massive legal team in court is frightening to most law firms. Warshafsky Law is not most law firms. If a business can afford an expensive legal team, they can afford to compensate someone they’ve wronged. Insurance companies base your claim on the quality of your lawyer. Having the best personal injury lawyers fight for your premise liability case is the first step to getting the compensation you deserve. We know that no amount of money will ever undo the injuries you’ve endured or the trauma you’ve experienced.
When people choose their Wisconsin personal injury lawyer based on the endorsement of a football player or actor, they risk choosing an attorney who has never won more money in a courtroom. Settlement mills forward your paperwork and take a cut of your damages. Warshafsky is no settlement mill. Hundreds of times we have prepared cases to win at trial. Facing unlimited liability AND a jury trial, insurance companies settle for a much larger amount than they initially offer. They HATE when you choose Warshafsky. Insurance companies know:
If you can prove you have an invitee, licensee or trespasser relationship with the property owner, you may be able to sue for physical, emotional & monetary damages. Consult a personal injury lawyer for a case evaluation.
Generally, trespassers cannot sue as they were breaking the law when they were injured. An exception would be if the property owner was fully aware of the unsafe conditions on the premises.
Anyone that enters someone else’s property or stays longer than invited on the property is considered a trespasser.
If the cause of the fall was due to negligence of the property owner, you may be able to sue for damages. For example if a pizza delivery person slips on an icy, unsalted driveway, he may be entitled to compensation.
Premise liability cases require you to prove your relationship with the property owner, the existence of duty, a breach of duty and the injury occurred on the property. The three relationships you may have to a property owner are: invitees who are invited onto the property, licensees who are conducting business on the property and trespassers (anticipated or unanticipated) who are not invited onto the property.
